OStatic

We've written on numerous occasions about open source adoption in government and education. The ways that open source solutions make sense in (and even philosophically complement) these areas are many, and often make any obstacles involved seem less critical. But for reasons that are frequently unrelated to the utility or appropriateness of open source software, adoption in the public sector has been slow.

It is on the increase, however. The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, New York, recently ran a piece detailing the reasons why the public sector has been hesitant about -- but not entirely resistant to -- adopting open source software.

Though the use of open source software in federal health care programs is being considered far more seriously than it has been in the past, ZDNet's Dana Blankenhorn reminds us that landing a government contract requires more than the sympathetic ears of legislators and administrators.

So far, Blankenhorn explains, Obama has committed to creating interoperability between health records kept by the military and Veterans Administration, but not to a completely open (in terms of code, or standards) health information technology platform. The Obama Administration seems willing to investigate open source solutions, but government contracting procedures could be a major roadblock to adopting an open platform. The open alternatives could be out-lawyered, out-lobbied, and minimized by an army of salesmen.

Early Saturday morning, U.S. President Barack Obama named Aneesh Chopra, Virginia's Secretary of Technology, the country's new Chief Technology Officer. While some in the tech industry were more than a little disappointed that the appointee wasn't one of their own, others are optimistic about what Chopra can do for technology in government (especially where health care is concerned). Tim O'Reilly goes into particularly fine detail about what this appointment means for open source.