Leveling the playing field for open source in education and public

sector

scott.wilson@it.ox.ac.uk@scottbw

90%

£

"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

UK institutions with ICT policies where OSS is considered an option:

Policy

HE: 74% FE: 61%

PracticeFOSS 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

AwarenessPolicy & Practice

Open Source Optionshttp://oss.ly/opt

InformSuggestChallenge

Contribute

AgnosticBalancedDefault

Preferred

Policies

“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

Questions

Info@oss-watch.ac.uk

@osswatch

http://oss-watch.ac.uk

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