No subject

ed in
the public sector at all levels and for any purpose must comply with ISO Op=
en
Document Standards.

This will force proprietory software manufacturers to develop simple plug-i=
ns to
enable Open Standards documents to be read and created on their application=
s and
prevent the blocking of legacy versions of their own software.The complianc=
e
cost will be trivial, and roll out almost instant.

This would then open the door for local authorities to have genuine choice =
in
the selection of office applications, including Free/Libre and Open Source
options, so saving many millions of pounds of taxpayers money across the UK=
. For
writers of new bespoke applications unique to UK local and national governm=
ent
this would make no meaningful impact, and following the objective of a sing=
le
national resource base for such applications this is a trivial additional
effort.

Where large numbers of citizens need to interact securely with a Government
agency there is much that can be learned from successful online commerce an=
d
social media businesses who use a simple web based interface which is neutr=
al to
the user OS, and deploy robust and secure Open Source solutions at the back=
-end
of their systems. Be aware however of the needs of those beyond the reach o=
f
true broadband services ( such as most of this County) for whom the "Cloud"=
 is a
distant dream.

I suggest to you that rather than implement another civil service ( who got=
 us
where we are today?) study at unknown cost, the implementation of this simp=
le
proposal would bring the industry into line, bring about the majority of th=
e
stated policy objectives and leave a rump of genuine issues to be considere=
d in
suitable depth by actual experts.

Finally may I take this opportunity to invite you to join us for Internatio=
nal
Software Freedom Day in Hereford on September 17th.

Pete Linnell
for HLUG
hlug at hlugorg.uk
ENDS