European Governments Embracing Open Source

clipped from googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com The Norwegian government also recently declared that they will only use open standards for government information, with the Open Document Format identified as the main alternative. In September the Dutch Secretary of State of Economic Affairs, Frank Heemskerk, and the Dutch Secretary of State of Internal Affairs, Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, published the Action Plan Open Standards and Open Source Software. German Foreign Ministry recently came out in strong support of the Open Document Format. Clearly European governments are engaging more and more in open standards and open source software (perhaps inspired by European Commission research showing that these steps will stimulate the European economy). This trend is picking up momentum at a crucial time, as the European Commission conducts the midterm review of their i2010 programme for ICT policy in the European Union. Here's hoping that openness is front and center in their policy going forward.