[A2k] Gov.uk backs open source drive

[Michelle Childs]

Article from the Register  below  on open source project for local govt in
UK
(.http://go.theregister.com/news/2005/04/04/uk_government_backs_open_source=
_drive/)
Michelle

Gov.uk backs open source drive
By eGov Monitor
Published Monday 4th April 2005 11:51 GMT

The Government has funded a ground-breaking new venture to accelerate the
use of open source software (OSS) throughout local government.
Known as the Open Source Academy, the project represents one of the most
significant developments yet in moves to drive up OSS adoption in
government.


The Academy brings together a consortium of 10 founding partners who, with
support from industry, will launch a wide-ranging programme aimed at
tackling each of the major obstacles to OSS use.
It aims to provide a vehicle that will actively join up public sector work
on OSS with European-wide initiatives during the year of the UK's EU
Presidency.

As part of this, the project will develop new OS business applications
designed for local government, targeting areas where alternatives to
proprietary software are lacking. Among its other plans are to carry out
large-scale case studies of OS use, including a study of the relative
security of an OS solution compared with a Microsoft desktop
infrastructure.

The initiative is one of 12 new projects funded through the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister's e-Innovations investment programme, taking the
best aspects of four OSS-related project bids.
The five main workstreams of the project cover:
=B7=09OS Academy Portal - providing OSS guidance and advice through best
practice and implementation guides, case studies, training materials,
product listings and links to the OpenForum Europe portal and European
networks
=B7=09OS Desktop - providing two large-scale case studies and design,
implementation and integration support. It is intended that these will
validate OS claims and demonstrate that it is possible to implement OS
alongside existing architecture.
=B7=09OS Business Applications - providing a national open development
environment (NODE) and several local authority packages
=B7=09Enabling Services - providing supplier and user accreditation schemes=
,
masterclasses, an 'OS Sandpit', legal advice and a supplier database
=B7=09Programme Management - providing programme management, marketing and
dissemination.

The partners include three major local authorities - Bristol, Cheshire and
Birmingham as lead authority. A smaller district council, Shepway, will
act as project co-ordinator. Other members include Socitm, the National
Computing Centre, the University of Kent, the Institute of IT Training,
OpenForum Europe and the Open Source Consortium.

The project has been developed with a long-term business model. Some of
its future funding is likely to come from sponsorship fees, masterclasses,
top-slicing of software-related sales and membership charges for some
service areas.
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--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
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