Dutch Open Source consultation (8)

Cooperation of governmental departments
The island culture which exist in the field of ICT of governmental departments on the governmental, provincial and municipal level are a bottleneck in using open standards and open source software, the majority of the respondents says; this bottleneck should be turned into a saving grace to enforce cooperation.

Governmental departments like to preach that cooperation is good and especially for others, while in their own organizations all kind of opposition exists. Enforcement should be executed only if proven business and social advantages are to be gained, says Hans Sleurink

Many respondents are of the opinion that drastic enforcement of open standards will already have an important effect. When the proper conditions are set, all parties will benefit from the cooperation and cooperation will be established earlier.

By instituting open standard and indicating a preference for open source software, a situation will be created in which it will be easier and more logical to work together. By using open licenses there are less problems connecting the different systems of the various parties, says Bjorn Wijers of the Open Media foundation.

Reaching common conclusions and conditions – or central framework conclusions as Dr Marco de Vos, director R&D ASTRON calls them – which make open standards and open source software into a necessity, is seen as the best means to cooperate.

Enforcement should be a last means. It is better to start with clear official guidelines, which the governmental services should follow in the framework of the IY development. Cooperation and a search for uniformity should be incorporated as an important subject in these guidelines, says Mr. Cees Segers of Avans College, Academy for ICT & Media in Breda

Furthermore it is suggested that common measures should be taken or a common purchase or development company should be set up. In this way the citizen can be helped by every department in the same way and increase the possibilities and interoperability many times more, against lower costs. Certainly in the longer run, this is seen as an important development.

Blog Posting Number: 788

Tags: OSS, government