National Government
From OpenEGov
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News
for more general news, see the Current_events page
Projects
Other nations
Vote counting software, used in Holland for the recent EU elections - a large Java package, documented in Dutch, but at last a proof by example of the much discussed voting software problem: this replaces an earlier closed-source system which generated much debate.
The ODPM hosts a British report on this topic, suggesting that open and closed source vote counting software should be used in parallel.
Background Information
UK Government
There are many different components within the UK government. There is now a central consultations index (note: does not include parliament).
Dept of Trade and Industry
The DTi works with businesses, employees and consumers. It offers some research grants which have influenced free software development. It runs consultations on its policies.
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
ODPM was created as a central department in its own right in May 2002. It is responsible for policy on housing, planning, devolution, regional and local government and the fire service. It also takes responsibility for the Social Exclusion Unit, the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit and the Government Offices for the Regions. The ODPM has run an innovations scheme which has funded a number of e-government projects, some of which are based on open-source software.
Office of Science and Technology
This is part of the DTi which advises about science and technology. It ran a consultation about EU funding programmes. It also publishes some DTi news and consultations.
Patent Office
UKPO is a trading fund that reports to a minister in the DTi (source: Patent Office Trading Fund Order 1991). They run consultations and have been active about [software patents]. Some feel that UKPO reliance on income causes its work to be biased and trading funds should not be involved in policy-making that affects their income, even running consultations.
e-Government Unit
This is part of the Cabinet Office, with a wide range of tasks about IT and government that can affect free software. The e-Government unit's GovTalk site publishes standards (including ones covering "open source software") and consultations.
Office of Government Commerce
An independent office of the Treasury which tries to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of central civil government procurement, and assists in setting up centres of excellence in departments. Their news page should carry further information when it appears.
They also host the Central Sponsor for Information Assurance.
Being in charge of procurement makes the OGC absolutely central when it comes to government free software adoption. The current deal with Microsoft is confidential, which is fairly typical of a certain ... ahem ... lack of transparency in this process.
Parliament
While not part of the government, most people associate the UK Parliament closely with it, because the government is usually formed by the party with most MPs in the parliament's House of Commons. We elect MPs to House of Commons in general elections, one member for each election area. Its processes mostly examine new laws, government actions and current events. Laws need not be drafted by government, but usually are. Sites such as http://www.TheyWorkForYou.com/ and http://www.FaxYourMP.com/ make it easier to observe and contact MPs. Parliament regularly debates IT issues, particularly relating to use of IT by government departments.
There is a Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology which provides analysis of public policy to parliament. This is a different office to the DTi's OST mentioned above. Every year the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group runs a number of Parliamentary receptions and dinners bringing together industry representatives with key decision makers within Parliament to discuss issues of the day.
APIG
APIG, the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group runs a number of Parliamentary receptions and dinners bringing together industry representatives with key decision makers within Parliament to discuss issues of the day. They propose legal amendments as a result. (Who is an 'industry representative' anyway?)
APIG recently invited written submissions on DRM. Responses included:
Parliamentarians
Andrew Hardie, former member of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee has made a series of conference presentations on How to run a parliament on Open Source
Richard Allan (former Liberal Democrat MP and spokesman on IT) has an excellent blog, often concentrating on free software.
Standards
UK policies and standards (search for 'oss' to bring up open source software policies and egif standards)
egif
The EGovernment Interoperability Framework
