Abstract

 Implementing Open Standards and Open Source Software    Reinders, Arnold   

Implementing Open Standards and Open Source Software

Abstract

In the  Netherlands  there is an increasing political pressure to implement Open Standards and Open Source Software in the government. In response to that the Home Office and the Trade Department have developed a policy on how to handle Open Standards and Open Source Software. This policy is: - use Open Standards if possible; - create Open Standards when necessary; - consider Open Source Software in tenders; - publicize government software as Open Source Software when possible. A competence centre has been instituted to support government organizations in implementing this policy. Some of the tasks of this competence centre will be: - creating a catalogue with Open Standards; - creating a license model for releasing government software along the lines of GNU-GPL; - creating a software exchange site where government organizations can exchange their own software.