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The Push is On for U.S. and U.K. Governments to Go Open Source

The call for government adoption of open source technology is picking up steam in the United States as well as in Britain. According to a study from MeriTalk, which focuses on technology and public policy, Red Hat, and Red Hat VAR DLT Solutions, the U.S. government could save billions of dollars by adopting open source, virtualization and cloud computing in tandem. Meanwhile, the U.K. government has announced plans to accelerate deployment of open source software.

The study from Meritalk, Red Hat and DLT Solutions finds that the government could save $3.7 billion by using open source software, $13.3 billion by using virtualization, and $6.6 billion from using software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. The study arrives on the heels of President Obama's request to Scott McNealy to produce a paper on the potential benefits of government adoption of open source software.

The new study makes some assumptions that could be challenged. For example, it is based on the IT infrastructure budgets for 30 federal agencies, and assumes that the agencies are starting from scratch. Much of the cost savings cited comes from steps such as deploying virtualization instead of buying new servers, but little attention is paid to new cost centers such as support for open source deployments. Still, the overall conclusion of the study is hard to disagree with: In these economic times, it makes a lot of sense government to pursue free, open source software, and it makes sense for the government to be free of vendor lock-in.

Meanwhile, BBC News is reporting that Tom Watson MP, Britain's minister for digital engagement, is pushing British agencies to adopt open source software, with some sources saying that the cost savings could be over 600 pounds, or more than a billion dollars. Watson is also calling for freeing government from vendor lock-in. The BBC News report includes input from Sun Microsystems' chief open source officer Simon Phipps. Phipps says:

"We waste a fortune on proprietary computer software because of paying for licenses and promises up front and not demanding value."

Both of these new reports rely heavily on input from the open source community itself for justifying open source adoption. Other sources should be sought out. Still, though, it looks increasingly like the writing is on the wall for the United States and British governments. If they both adopt open source on a widespread basis, that's likely to increase the quality of the platforms and applications they use, save money, avoid vendor lock-in, and infuse funds into the open source arena. It would also send a powerful message to the rest of the world.
 

• government
• Red Hat
• Scott McNealy

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