The Dutch government has set a soft deadline of April 2008 for
agencies at the national level to adopt open-source software such as
free word processing programs and Internet browsers, the Economic
Affairs Ministry said Thursday.
Under the policy, approved
Wednesday, government organizations will still be able to use
proprietary software and formats, but will have to justify that
decision under the principle of ”adopt or explain” why not, ministry
spokesman Edwin van Scherrenburg said.
Van Scherrenburg said the plan had been approved unanimously at a meeting of two parliamentary commissions Wednesday.
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Many
governments worldwide have begun testing open-source software to cut
costs and eliminate dependency on individual companies such as
Microsoft Corp. – or at least expressed interest in the idea – but the
Dutch have been among the most aggressive in taking action.
Notably,
the policy directs government organizations at the national level to be
ready to use the Open Document Format, or ODF, to save text files by
April, and at the state and local level by 2009. It also says that
governments should prefer open-source software and files, all things
equal, whenever possible.
Van Scherrenburg said the government
estimates it would save euro6 million (US$8.8 million) annually on city
housing registers alone due to a switch to the ODF standard.
Microsoft
has raced to achieve ”open source” certification for its Open Office
XML standard, but has so far failed to receive endorsement from the
International Standards Organization, the certifying authority
recognized by the Dutch government.
Microsoft Netherlands
spokesman Hans Bos noted that its Word documents were still allowed as
equal alternatives to ODF for the moment, and added he expects the
company will soon receive approval for its Open Office XML to qualify
as ”open source.”
But he said the company was worried about and opposed other aspects of the Dutch policy.
Specifically, he said, the provision that government agencies should prefer open source was overly proscriptive.
”We
think it’s not in the best interest of the wider software market to
single out one model for endorsement like this,” he said.
In
addition, he said the strict technical definition the Dutch government
is using to define ”open source,” if enforced, would prevent
governmental bodies from using many industry standards that are useful.
”For
instance, it would prohibit the use of GSM, Wifi, Mp3, Mpeg2, Mpeg4 and
Bluetooth – all widely accepted standards, but proprietary and
licensed,” he said.
Economic Affairs Minister Frank Heemskerk
also announced plans Wednesday for a Project Bureau – the equivalent of
a tech support desk for agencies adopting new open-source software –
and for a new agency that will check up on whether government bodies
are following the directive.
The City of Amsterdam has been
carrying out a test of a complete switch to open-source software,
including using Linux-based operating systems on all computers, in its
housing department and one of its borough offices, Zeeburg.
Numerous
other European towns and cities, notably Munich, Germany, and Vienna,
Austria, have switched partially or mostly to open-source systems but
they remain a tiny slice of the overall market.
