IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Recent years have seen governments in the Asia-Pacific actively encouraging the adoption of open systems as an alternative or complementary operating system environment for e-government initiatives, said Mr Rick Sewell, business manager (Linux, Enterprise Storage and Servers) at HP Asia-Pacific and Japan, adding that the growth opportunities for Linux in the region are massive.

Japan, South Korea and China have been in talks to promote alternatives to Windows, Linux, in particular. Japan has already put aside US$8.6 billion toward research in this area. And the Korean government is switching many of its computers from Windows to Linux, using Seoul-based Hancom Linux.

Could Asia become a Linux stronghold? It's positioning itself to become one, as governments here try to limit their dependence on the Windows operating system.

Die beiden Linux-Distributoren Red Flag Software aus China und Miracle Linux aus Japan haben die erste Beta einer speziell für den asiatischen Raum konzipierten Linux-Distribution veröffentlicht.

Die asiatischen Länder wollen den Einsatz von Linux koordinieren. Bei einem Treffen von hochrangigen Regierungsvertretern aus Japan, China und Südkorea am kommenden Samstag soll die Verwendung von Linux als Microsoft-Alternative besprochen werden, gab ein Sprecher des japanischen Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry bekannt.

The new system, which is a platform for customised solutions that addresses the needs of medium and large organisations, was developed according to the wishes and requirements of workers and IT specialists of Bregenz city council. The service level of the system will continue to be improved.

"Open source helps to solve IT vendor lock-in situations", Norbert Weidinger, ICT-Strategist for the city, said in a presentation on the city's use of free and open source solutions.

The decision was taken in 2007, said Christian Adorjan from Austria's Federal Computing Centre (BRZ), during a recent presentation at the OSSBIG-conference. At that time, there was an operating system update, since the proprietary software provider of the Ministry was phasing out the support for the previously used operating system. In this framework, the software features were reviewed and it was concluded that the users were not satisfied with the office tools employed at the time. The Lotus Word Pro was used as a word processing tool while in house-developed software was used as text editor.

With this application, almost 600 employees from around 50 organisations for victims' assistance, as well as law firms that cooperate with these organisations throughout Austria insert in the system the services that they provided.

Mr Gray said: "The revised policy further strengthens agency software procurement processes by requiring agencies to consider both open source and proprietary software when undertaking all software procurement."

The government's previous position on open source software, established in 2005, was one of 'informed neutrality'. This ensured an unbiased position that did not favour the selection of either open source or proprietary software. Both the previous and the new policy positions ensure 'value for money' and 'fit for purpose' decisions in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines.

Nachdem sich die Stadt München bereits auf den Einsatz von Linux und Open Source für ihre Desktop-Systeme entschieden hat, prüft nun auch Paris einen Umstieg auf das freie Betriebssystem. Dazu gab die Stadt Paris eine Studie für ihre künftige Client-Strategie in Auftrag.

The Federal Government and healthcare industry bodies should abandon proprietary software and embrace open source software if Australia is to have a successful national e-health platform, argues e-health academic, Professor Jon Patrick.

In a statement, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Helen Coonan, said the government would develop a range of tools to help government agencies "make informed decisions to suit their IT needs and get value for money".

Open source software could provide a model for better e-health collaboration, but should not be seen as a panacea for addressing the interoperability challenges in healthcare, according to a leading healthcare industry CIO.

Malcolm Thatcher, CIO of Queensland-based Mater Hospital, said there are two issues to consider around the need for interoperability amongst Australian healthcare providers.

Das Ziel dieser neuen Initiative, so NSW-Handelsminister John Della Bosca, ist die Förderung von Open Source in den einzelnen Regierungsstellen. Die Arbeit des neu gegründeten Gremiums soll den einzelnen Ämtern übermäßigen Aufwand an Zeit und Kosten bei der Implementierung von Open-Source-Software oder der Entwicklung spezieller Anwendungen ersparen.

Das vom Parlament des australischen Hauptstadt-Distriktes Canberra (ACT) beschlossene Pro-Linux-Gesetz hat nun den Softwareriesen Microsoft auf den Plan gerufen. Der Konzern bezeichnete das von den Abgeordneten beschlossene Gesetz als wettbewerbsfeindlich. Das so genannte "Government Procurement (Principles) Guideline Amendment Bill" könne die australische Software-Industrie schädigen, warnt Microsoft.