The Federal Government gets serious about open source. What this means for Queensland.

Presented by:

Damian HickeyZacWare CEO

16th March 2011

at the open source networking event sponsored by Internet Information Bureau

Department of Employment, Economic Development and InnovationOf the Qld Gov.

Fairly considering all types of software including open source

Reasons for Policy change

open source software has matured

Many governments around the world using open source

open source can provide best practice and value for money

Previous policy from 2005 ‘informed neutrality’

Unbiased position not favouring open source or proprietary software

Promoting best ’value for money’ and ‘fit for purpose’

New considerations

Open source technologies in all software procurementProcurement based on value for money

Whole of life costs, capability, security, scalability, transferability, support and manageability

Contracts over $80K open source to be considered equal to proprietary software

Community involvement

Australian Government agencies will actively participate in open source software communities

and contribute back where appropriate.

Queensland implications

Following the feds is an inevitability

Delaying change will cost Queensland jobs

Why? It’s in the numbers:

2009-2010 Qld Gov ICT Software Application spend:

$423 million maintaining software

$1.4 billion full replacement cost

Breakdown of annual Qld Gov software spend

SAP 28%iSoft 17%

24% Other (150 companies with a median of $500,000 but very likely 3% or less developed in Qld)

Internal custom 24% (mostly implementation of SAP/Oracle etc.)Mincom 2% (local)

Niche 2% (Canadian)

Benefits of an elegant policy transition

Part of that 24% purchases going local open source

Foster local innovation

Adopting best of breed practices

Qld Gov slogan rings true:

Strong, green, smart, healthy and fair

Community involvement benefit

Actively participating in open source software communities and contribute back creates jobs in companies that sell globally.

Problems with recalcitrant approach

Loss of opportunities

A quantifiable loss of Qld jobs

A continuation of anti-competitive tenders requesting Microsoft Sharepoint resellers

A not smart state