The value of open standards and open-source software in government environments

Among the most noteworthy topics surrounding the recent widespread adoption of open-source software (OSS) (1) are the convergence by governments worldwide to open standards (2) and the ways in which open source embraces this convergence. Many studies by governments and by information technology (IT) analysts indicate that OSS and open standards are inherently valuable. For example, a 2003 study conducted by the e-Cology Corporation reported that over 70 policy proposals, position statements, or actual government decisions had been made concerning OSS in some 24 countries around the world. (3) The study also found that open source is a good fit for current IT environments with respect to each of the following criteria: data integration, IT architecture, standards compatibility, and coexistence with commercial applications. Furthermore, the study revealed that open source embodies open standards critical to technology advancement and to flexibility of implementation.

Because of the rapid changes in the IT marketplace, the success of governments in applying these technologies will depend on how well the capabilities of proprietary software and OSS are understood and applied. This paper will evaluate the relative strengths of proprietary software and OSS as development techniques that embrace tile open standards valued by governments. The first section discusses the benefits of using open standards in governments and describes several prominent open standards valued by governments today. The second section explores the weaknesses and strengths of proprietary software and OSS. The third section provides examples of OSS in governments from various regions of the world and discusses how open standards have emerged from OSS. The paper concludes with a summary of our findings.

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