Coming Events

18 - 19 April 2005 - Open Computing in Government 2005 - Future-proofing Government Computing: Open Data, Formats and Standards - Canberra

Manning Clark Centre at The Australian National University, Canberra

The Second Australian Open Computing in Government Conference. Titled "Future-proofing Government Computing: Open Data, Formats and Standards". Participants will come from Government and the public sector, the academic sector, and local, national and international organizations. the OCG2005 page.

12-14 October 2005 - AUUG 2005: The Conference for Unix, Linux and Open Source Professionals - Sydney

Venue TBA (Sydney)

Australia's premier event on UNIX^TM and related systems, including Linux and BSD. Including an "Open Computing in Government" stream. For more information visit the AUUG2005 page.

Past Events

1-3 September 2004 - AUUG 2004 Conference: Who Are You? - Melbourne

Duxton Hotel, Flinders St, Melbourne

Australia's premier event on UNIX^TM and related systems, including Linux and BSD. Including an "Open Computing for Government" stream. For more information visit the AUUG2004 page.

12 - 13 January 2004 - Linux and Open Source in Government 2004 - The Challenges - Adelaide

The University Of Adelaide

The first annual Australian conference on Linux and Open Source in Government. Titled "The Challenges", the conference focused on best practices, raised awareness and shared experiences amongst Policy Makers and IT officials. For more information visit the OCG2004 page.

3-5 September 2003 - AUUG 2003 Conference: Open Standards, Open Source, Open Computing - Sydney

Duxton Hotel, Milsons Point (Sydney)

Australia's premier event on UNIX^TM and related systems, including Linux and BSD. Launching an "Open Computing for Government" stream at AUUG2003. For more information visit the AUUG2003 page.

25 June 2003 - Open Source: Where Should Labor Stand? - Sydney

NSW Parliament House Theatrette, Macquarie Street, Sydney.

A public forum presented by the ALP IT and Communications Committee and hosted by the NSW Minister for IT, Hon. John Della Bosca. AUUG was one of seven bodies invited to present a viewpoint.

The slides from AUUG's presentation are here as a Star Office presentation or a PDF document.

1 March 2003 - Unix and Open Source in Government Technical Symposium - Canberra

CSIT Building, ANU, Canberra.

A technical symposium addressing past, current and future trends in the use of Unix and Open Source software in Government organised by CAUUG (Canberra AUUG Chapter). For more information visit the Symposium page.

The slides from AUUG's presentation are here as a Star Office presentation or a PDF document.

18 February 2003 - Open Source Software and the Role of Linux in the Public Sector - Canberra

The National Press Club, Canberra.

The National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE) (http://www.noie.gov.au/) is Australia's peak Federal Government agency for information economy issues. NOIE has recognized that Open Source Software, including Linux, Apache and many of the technologies and platforms that members of AUUG concern themselves with on a daily basis, are an area of growing interest within Government agencies. Thus NOIE has invited AUUG to present at the forthcoming seminar on Open Source Software and the Role of Linux in the Public Sector for departmental Chief Information Officer's (CIO's), Chief Technology Officer's (CTO's) and invited guests. Read more about the seminar and AUUG's involvement.

Read the AUUG presentation in PDF or Microsoft PowerPoint formats. We were required to submit our presentation in PowerPoint although it was created and presented using OpenOffice.org. This document is also available on the NOIE web site, and the other presentations are available here

Reference Web Sites

Government

Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)
The AGIMO (previously NOIE) site is designed around the concept of providing and sharing information about OSS.
http://www.agimo.gov.au/infrastructure/oss

New South Wales Office of Information Technology (OIT)
As part of the connect.nsw program, OIT has initiated a project to investigate issues around government use of Open Source software/Free Software.
http://www.oit.nsw.gov.au/pages/1.7.news.htm#ope

The Office of the e-Envoy: Open Source Software use in UK government
... OSS is indeed the start of a fundamental change in the software infrastructure marketplace, but it is not a hype bubble that will burst and UK government must take cognisance of that fact ...
http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/sections/frameworks-oss-policy/$file/oss-policy.htm

Statskontoret - The Swedish Agency for Public Management
The feasibility study by Statskontoret shows that open software is a good alternative for public administrations
Free and open source software (PDF)
Appendix 1: Extensive survey (PDF)

Non Government Organisations

Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to managing and promoting the Open Source Definition for the good of the community, specifically through the OSI Certified Open Source Software certification mark and program.
http://www.opensource.org/

Free Software Foundation (FSF) & GNU Project
The GNU Project was launched in 1984 to develop a complete Unix-like operating system which is free software: the GNU system. (GNU is a recursive acronym for ``GNU's Not Unix''; it is pronounced "guh-NEW".) Variant of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as ``Linux'', they are more accurately called GNU/Linux systems.
http://www.fsf.org/

The Center of Open Source & Government
http://www.egovos.org/

Articles

Swedish study says TCO for open source software is lower - The Age - 11/3/03
A Swedish study has concluded that open standards and formats, along with free and open source software, are important factors in arriving at increased competitiveness, improved interoperability and reduced costs for administration in the public sector.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/11/1047144950542.html

States' open source punt - AustralianIT - 11/3/03
OPEN source software has taken a big step closer to the mainstream, as Australia's two largest state governments have created policy units to investigate wider use of open platforms in the public sector.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,6106798%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

Open Source gets a hearing in Canberra - The Age - 19/2/03
The benefits and challenges of using Open Source software in Australian government agencies were explored in depth at a seminar organised by the National Office for the Information Economy in Canberra yesterday.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/19/1045330650080.html

Open IT: Govt to rewrite source code in Linux - The Economic Times - 24/10/02
The Indian government seems to be taking a leaf out of China's operating system, and is planning a countrywide drive to promote the open source operating system, Linux, as the 'platform of choice' instead of 'proprietary' solutions.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=24598339

Case Studies

We are preparing case studies highlighting the Australian experience in Open Computing in Government. Please forward additional suggestions for case studies to the AUUG-OCG Chairman.