TheToriesare considering proposals to limit the value of government
IT contracts to £100m and promote the wider use of cheaper open
source software.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne has welcomed recommendations
from Mark Thompson on how to deliver better value for money in IT
procurement and create a level playing-field for open source
software.
In March last year, Osborne invited Thompson, of the Judge
Business School at Cambridge University, to develop independent
recommendations to provide a better deal for taxpayers.
The key suggestions in his report, include:
- The government could save at least £600m per year if it adopted
a more effective open IT procurement process. The open source
savings would come not just from reduced licensing costs, but also
by freeing government bodies from long-term, monopoly supply
situations.
- New government data standards should be introduced across
government, creating a level playing-field for open source
software.
- These new standards would enable large-scale IT projects to be
split into small modular components, meaning that the UK government
should never again need to sign an IT software contract worth more
than £100m - so no more IT "white elephants".
Osborne said, "We have led the debate on using open source
software in government, and I am delighted that Thompson has come
forward with these detailed recommendations.
"These proposals are not just about saving money - they are
about modernising government, making the public sector more
innovative and improving public services."