Leveling the playing field for open source in education and public sector
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This document discusses leveling the playing field between open source and proprietary software in education and public sector institutions in the UK. It notes that over 90% of higher education institutions and 75% of further education institutions have policies that consider open source software as an option for procurement. However, open source is only equally considered alongside closed source options 25% of the time. The document provides resources for informing, suggesting, challenging, and contributing to the discussion around open source adoption policies.
Leveling the playing field for open source in education and public sector
- 1. Leveling the playing field for open source in education and public sector scott.wilson@it.ox.ac.uk @scottbw
- 2. 90% £
- 3. "We firmly believe that establishing a level playing field for open source and proprietary software changes that dynamic and unlocks efficiencies. It creates a much needed competitive tension in our procurements and opens up innovation.” - Liam Maxwell, UK Cabinet Office
- 4. UK institutions with ICT policies where OSS is considered an option: Policy HE: 74% FE: 61%
- 5. Practice FOSS is considered for procurement in nearly all institutions: 98% (HE) 94% (FE) But is only considered equally alongside closed source options: 25 %of the time
- 10. “This document does not endorse open source over proprietary software or vice versa. Current Government Policy states, however, that where there is no significant overall cost difference between open and non-open source products, open source will be selected on the basis of its inherent flexibility.” - ICT Advice Note, Government Procurement Service
- 12. Resources • Open Source in Education: How far have we come? http://oss.ly/gdn • Open Source Options for Education http://oss.ly/opt (editable version: http://oss.ly/osoed) • OSS Watch National Software Survey 2010 http://oss.ly/nsws2010 • UK Cabinet Office Open Source Procurement Toolkit http://oss.ly/ospt • Using open source software can offer savings for colleges http://oss.ly/fe
Editor's Notes
- #3: FOSS has the potential to reduce the cost of IT and to deliver better solutions for users. Some recent cases in the public sector have demonstrated 90% cost savings while delivering better services
- #5: All the statistics in this talk are taken from our 2010 national survey
- #6: Consideration of FOSS tends to be quite “patchy” and dependent on factors such as the domain and individual perspectives of staff involved. This issue can be addressed both through training and through gaining wider practical experience of procuring FOSS alongside closed source software.
- #8: Tackles the issue of awareness of free and open source software as alternatives to common closed source solutions For all public sector (published by CO) and education (published by OSS Watch)
- #9: Inform the design of new IT solutions Suggest opportunities for IT service or solution refreshes Challenge a proposed solution from a supplier that does not use open source technology Challenge a procurement process that did not consider open alternatives Ensure the options are considered even when evaluating solutions when not going out to tender; for example when considering developing in-house solutions or deploying a previously purchased solution for a new purpose ( the “but we already have SharePoint” scenario) We have a live editable version of the options on Google Docs at http://oss.ly/osoed Add your own alternatives, and provide links to evidence of use in the sector, and we’ll review and add them to the published guidance