Open source software for government

By invitation of Dr Andrew Murrison, MP.

Around the world, governments like those of Holland, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, China and Singapore and investing in open source software. The US Federal government has sustained investment over 30 years, and the governments of Massachusetts and Oregon recently intensified this.

The investments have been made for improving healthcare delivery, assuring national security, bolstering the economy and streamlining the costs of government. Furthermore, as a recent Demos report discussed, some methods of open source software can be usefully applied to improve lawmaking.

This talk will provide an introduction to the contribution that open source software can make to the UK, whose government is falling behind its European counterparts and Asian compettitors in creating an environment for open source software. No software expertise is necessary: the talk will focus on political, economic and legal issues rather than technical details.

Full details and handout