INDUSTRY SUPPORTS GOVERNMENT OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE
Announcement posted by Opengear 04 Apr 2011
OSIA commends AGMIO's decision and sees bright future for open source software
SYDNEY – APRIL 4, 2011
Open Source Industry Association (OSIA) Chairman Stuart Guthrie today affirmed the Australian industry's support for the recent federal government changes in their open source procurement position.
"At the OSIA mid March board meeting in Canberra our directors unanimously accoladed the Australian Government's move to ensure agencies actively seek open source solutions when procuring software", said Mr Guthrie.
"However what particularly excites us in AGIMO's Open Source Software Policy is the commitment that our government will actively participate in and contribute to open source software communities," he said.
The OSIA chairman expressed that many of their members were leaders in global open source software projects, and they looked forward to initiatives that would enable them to engage tangibly with government agencies.
By way of example of international best practice in this area Mr Guthrie pointed theOpen Source Summit that the NASA agencyhosted in Mountain View last week. The object of this summit was to brainstorm with the community how the NASA agency can bolster its participation and make more contributions to the open source sector.
"In USA, the federal government has been embracing open source technology as a cost-effective and flexible way to deploy Web sites and other IT systems for some time," Mr Guthrie said. "But we are now seeing initiatives from agencies there that go beyond simply deploying open source solutions to derive short term economic benefit."
"At OSIA we look forward Australian Government agencies adopting AGIMO new policy, so down the track our members can participate in similar events in Australia." he said.
About OSIA
OSIA (www.osia.net.au) is Australia's national Open Source Industry Association. OSIA mission is to further the cause of both Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in Australia and to help its 200 members to improve their business success in this growing sector of the global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market
Open Source Industry Association (OSIA) Chairman Stuart Guthrie today affirmed the Australian industry's support for the recent federal government changes in their open source procurement position.
"At the OSIA mid March board meeting in Canberra our directors unanimously accoladed the Australian Government's move to ensure agencies actively seek open source solutions when procuring software", said Mr Guthrie.
"However what particularly excites us in AGIMO's Open Source Software Policy is the commitment that our government will actively participate in and contribute to open source software communities," he said.
The OSIA chairman expressed that many of their members were leaders in global open source software projects, and they looked forward to initiatives that would enable them to engage tangibly with government agencies.
By way of example of international best practice in this area Mr Guthrie pointed theOpen Source Summit that the NASA agencyhosted in Mountain View last week. The object of this summit was to brainstorm with the community how the NASA agency can bolster its participation and make more contributions to the open source sector.
"In USA, the federal government has been embracing open source technology as a cost-effective and flexible way to deploy Web sites and other IT systems for some time," Mr Guthrie said. "But we are now seeing initiatives from agencies there that go beyond simply deploying open source solutions to derive short term economic benefit."
"At OSIA we look forward Australian Government agencies adopting AGIMO new policy, so down the track our members can participate in similar events in Australia." he said.
About OSIA
OSIA (www.osia.net.au) is Australia's national Open Source Industry Association. OSIA mission is to further the cause of both Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in Australia and to help its 200 members to improve their business success in this growing sector of the global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market