Open Source Software (Hansard, 23 July 2002)

HC Deb 23 July 2002 vol 389 c884W 884W

§ Brian White
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is towards using open source software; and what percentage is used in his Department. [69317]

§ Mr. MacShane
The FCO awards software contracts on a value for money basis and is prepared to consider open source software solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements. We have no figures available on FCO usage of open source software.
The FCO's use of OSS will follow the Government policy once it is published this summer. The draft policy can be viewed at: http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/rfc/rfc_document.asp?docnum=429.