Improving IT procurement and encouraging open source

George Osborne has welcomed recommendations from Dr Mark Thompson on how to deliver better value for money in IT procurement and create a level playing-field for open source software.

In March last year, the Shadow Chancellor invited Dr. Thompson, of the Judge Business School at Cambridge University, to develop independent recommendations to provide a better deal for taxpayers.

The key suggestions in his report, released today, include:

• The Government could save at least £600 million per year if it adopted a more effective open IT procurement process. The open source savings would come not just from reduced licensing costs, but importantly by freeing government bodies from long-term, monopoly supply situations.
• New government data standards should be introduced across government, creating a level playing-field for open source software.
• These new standards would enable large-scale IT projects to be split into small modular components, meaning that the UK government should never again need to sign an IT software contract worth over £100 million – so no more IT ‘white elephants’.  

George Osborne stressed the Conservatives are “looking to the future” with this report:

“We have led the debate on using open source software in government, and I’m delighted that Dr Mark Thompson has come forward with these detailed recommendations. These proposals aren’t just about saving money – they’re about modernising government, making the public sector more innovative and improving public services.”