Use of open source in government increases slightly

Whereas in 2003, 50 percent of all government organizations indicated that they were using something from open source, this figure rose to 54 percent in 2004. Government organizations are also increasingly convinced of its usefulness. This has emerged from a survey conducted by the Merit research bureau on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

"There are still significant barriers that cause the great potential of open standards and open source software to be exploited only to a limited extent," the researchers state. They note that the measured increase in the use of open source lags behind the growing interest in the subject.

Organizations that are not yet using open source are overwhelmingly indicating that they want to do so. An important reason for this is the license fees (28 percent of the total ICT budget), which more than two-thirds of those surveyed find too high.

However, this great interest in open source translates into concrete steps for only a small proportion of organizations. Many respondents say they would rather follow than be the first. In addition, a large proportion of those surveyed fear increased training costs and a lack of support from the market.

Another barrier that emerges from the survey is that respondents are not always sure whether a particular standard is truly open. More information about the study can be found on the OSOSS website.