Open Source Solutions for Governments

"Over the last ten years, Open Source has become unremarkable. I think that’s a great achievement. We no longer argue about whether it’s secure or not, or whether it’s safe to use. We focus now on how best to use Open Source to get the best value for every tax dollar,” said Gunnar Hellekson, Chief Technology Strategist for Red Hat’s US Public Sector Group.

He noted that for the past couple of years, Open Source software has been helping public sector organisations become more innovative, more agile and more cost-effective by building on the collaborative efforts of Open Source communities.

“I think it comes down to this question: Are there more smart people inside government, or outside government? If governments are using proprietary software, they are cutting themselves off from some very smart people who want to help. However, if they use open source, they are making themselves available to that intelligence and that enthusiasm, and can use it to improve the services that they deliver.