Birmingham City Council is to carry out large-scale trials
to evaluate the viability of open source software on its desktop
PCs.
The council has secured government funding to run 1,500 PCs using
the Linux operating system with Openoffice applications and Firefox
web browsers.
The open source trial will include public-facing PCs in libraries
as well those used to access core systems in council offices.
Glyn Evans, director of business solutions and IT at the council,
said he was keeping an open mind going into the trials. "I don't
have any desire to use open source just because it is not
Microsoft," he said.
"I am not sold on open source software personally. I think the case
has to be made. We need to cut through the hype from that community
and cut through the cynicism from Microsoft."
The council is investigating whether an open source desktop could
produce efficiency savings and help contribute toward the Gershon
agenda - which outlines plans for efficiency savings - in local
government.
The Open Source Consortium, funded by the Office of the Deputy
Prime Minister, will provide the council's funding, running into
hundreds of thousands of pounds, said Evans.
The trial will last a year, and there will be an independent
evaluation at the end. "We will measure costs, both initial and
ongoing. We will look at the costs of retraining end-users and IT
staff," said Evans.
"Productivity will also be measured - does open source technology
make people more or less productive? We will also look at
integration costs. Overall we want to find out if there is a sound
business case for the open source desktop."
Meanwhile, public sector IT directors' organisation Socitm has
produced research on attitudes to open source software in local
government.
It surveyed 99 local authorities and found that more than half were
using open source software somewhere in their IT department. The
vast majority were using the technology in applications and
infrastructure, while only 8% were using it on the desktop.
Meanwhile, 60% of councils questioned thought their use of open
source software would increase over the next three years.
Evans said there was growing interest in open source in local
government.
"Even if we did not have funding for this desktop evaluation
project we would be looking at open source in the back office," he
said.