Open Malaysia

A good way to start the morning is by reading that yet another government has decided to move to free software, Croatia in this case. In the article by Nick Farrell with the  tagline "Apply Open Sauce on the Balkans",  the following was noted:

• Proprietary software leads to too much dependence on suppliers
• Open source programmes make the governments business more transparent and allows for free access to information
• Open source saves tax payer money
• Open source strengthens the domestic information science industry

It's good to read this. The Croation government must be hungering for success  and hoping that "open sauce" would be their recipe to do so.

This measure, strong as it is, must be augmented with a focus on open standards as a measure to ensure interoperatibility and allowing for free access to information for all citizens. Free software and open standards work hand in hand in building resilient IT governance policies. A preference policy for free software is ineffective if procurement and policies are based on proprietary and defacto standards. Free software may not be able to fulfill requirements of such policies due to issues that arise from licensing and effective implementation concerns. In this vein, it is good to hear that, as a start, the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit, MAMPU, is giving support to ODF in the Malaysian public sector.