Open Source Software - Alternatives to the Challenges of Software Procurement and Development?

As the cost of information technology (IT) hardware falls, and reliability increases, mainly as a result of Moore’s Law, software is becoming the most critical cost element in IT. Battles regarding software are spilling in all directions, whether into the realm of personal privacy, development of new forms of multimedia content, electronic payment etc. Software is an extremely powerful tool with the ability to affect peoples’ lives in fundamental ways. The public policy debate associated with what can or cannot be done with software is only just beginning. Part of this debate revolves around the appropriateness of open standards and open systems. One element in this debate is whether public policy should encourage the development of proprietary, or ‘open source’ software solutions. Indeed, many governments including China, Taiwan, Peru Tunisia, the UK and Germany to name a few, are now adopting policies encouraging the use of OSS solutions, especially as regards public procurement and in emerging e-government areas. In FY92, 69% of Bank and IDA projects had informatics components. By region, the percentage ranged from 43% in ECA to 82% in MNA. The sector with the highest percentage of projects was Health (92%), followed by Education (85%) and Urban Development (82%).