Nigel McFarlane

Forward-Thinking Government Roles in Open Source

Written by admin on April 28, 2009

Open Source software provides second-generation offerings of well-understood ICT architectures and componentry. For government organisations with any experience of first-generation software, such as UNIX or Microsoft Windows desktops, Open Source represents a chance to capitalise on existing experience without falling behind supplier-pushed advancements. In fact, the open and public nature of Open Source software means that there is little need to play catchup with specific supplier-pushed technology at all. This represents, in effect, a breathing space for government ICT, and that space is a fertile source of new government roles.

* The cost reductions, duplication and stability of existing infrastructure by Open Source software and related hardware mean that ICT activities within a government organisation can be reduced in favour of more emphasis on core organisational goals. For the near future at least, the technology blow to organisational systems is muted by the Open Source change, which is a simple replacement-for-equal-benefit strategy. This change is not locked to a vendor-engineered forced migration for the purposes of maintaining a profit stream. It does not require another conceptual leap by anyone except for a few technicians.
* The public nature of Open Source software allows agencies and utilities to form linkages that pool and exchange ICT experience in new ways. There is less compartmentalisation by supplier, since there is extensive supplier duplication and transparency. Dialog about ICT technology can be forward-looking rather than merely reactive to supplier announcements. Just as there are best practices in Occupational Health and Safety, a matter of individual and collective concern to all government organisations, so too public Open Source software enables dialog about best practices in ICT. Such public and publically owned discussions are empowering for organisations that might otherwise be isolated by the need to spend energy keeping up with a single supplier.
* As a publicly owned asset, Open Source software is a building block of civilisation, and one that is increasingly central to modern day life. There is no doubt that this asset will be subject to government policies that will be implemented in turn by suitable agencies. Whether it be educational institutions building intellectual capacity, regulatory bodies discriminating the worthy from the dangerous, or technology mediated service delivery, Open Source software is a growing aspect of the built and intellectual environment, an aspect whose public issues naturally devolve to government to address.

In summary, this article argues that the emphasis on suppliers for strategic technology leadership is decreasing in the face of Open Source software. As Open source software grows, as all indicators say that it must, the benefit to government organisations is an increasing freedom to determine the nature and scope of their relationships with the ICT technology they use.

- Nigel McFarlane.