Can the Government Really Move to Open Source IT? [UK]

The government has started making serious noises about using open source products. Bill McCluggage, deputy government CIO, held a meeting on Monday with suppliers to discuss the desire for much wider use of open source in public sector IT.

The meeting came hot on the heels of a new policy note published by the Cabinet Office to effectively mandate open standards in all government IT procurement specifications. But how close is the public sector to really using open source widely?

McCluggage says the government is looking to work on an open source implementation group, following his meeting with top-level suppliers.

"The engagement strategy has to address the systems integrators issue, we can't buy what's not offered. The government is serious about open source," he told Computer Weekly.
The meeting followed the Cabinet Office policy note which said that, wherever possible, government departments should deploy open standards.