[open-government] UK Open Standards: Proprietary Software Strikes Back (and this time is nasty)

[Javier Ruiz]

PLEASE HELP DISTRIBUTE


Dear all


The UK is in the middle of a public consultation on the adoption of Open Standards for public ICT, including those involving Open Data. This policy is also part of the Open Government Partnership commitments in the UK National Action Plan.


There are grave concerns that government commitments to open standards are in danger after extreme lobbying by proprietary software firms. Insiders are telling us that this is an unprecedented dirty tricks campaign to destroy the challenge to existing ICT lock-in frameworks. They are sending around scaremongering stories about inflated costs and the danger that government ICT will grind to a halt.   


This lobbying has already led to the freezing of the initial policy and forced a full consultation, which has seen a major mobilisation by large commercial interests to pack the meetings and drive responses. A reversal of this policy would be a serious blow to the credibility of the current government openness policy.


Jeni Tennison has written an excellent summary, showing why his is much more than a battle for the desktop office as in DOC vs ODT.





http://www.jenitennison.com/blog/node/169




This organised campaigning of vested interests needs to be urgently countered by the active




participation of the wider open community.  

The deadline for submissions and participation is May 3rd, so there is not much time.


The Open Standards consultation web site is at
http://consultation.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/openstandards/.


Details of how to respond can be as simple as an email – see
http://consultation.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/openstandards/how-to-respond/,




--  
Javier Ruiz
javier at openrightsgroup.org
+44(0)7877 911 412
@javierruiz

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