Chances offered by open source

Open source software offers great perspectives for earlier mentioned bottlenecks on the way to the innovative information society.

Saving expenses:

In comparison with proprietary software OSS is more inexpensive in aquisition and use (total costs of ownership), also because the direct and indirect maintanance costs are significantly lower. By integrating open standards in designs and other applications and platforms OSS heightens the efficiency of which ICT-applications are developed. The availability of the source code supports a high innovation grade, next to more efficient maintenance of the software which will result in a more effective effort by ICT experts.

In places where ICT investments are limited by narrow margins, like the transport and distribution sector, OSS offers the solution. This is also an argument for the public sector (health and education). Not only are these sectors behind in the automation boom, they also are troubled by sky high automation costs and dissapointing results.

Opportunities for services:

A multitude of dutch ICT companies are more directed at services than at exploitation of intellectual property through self-developed programms. This is mostly seen as a weakness but in case of OSS it is an opportunity. A reasonable amount of, mostly younger, companies offers services based on open source software.

Interoperability:

OSS doesn't exclude the use of proprietary "closed source" software. The owner of a closed system can let his program cooperate with open-source software, after all he has access to the complete source. The opposite - closed source code, not able to cooperate with other programs - is more common than an exception in the world of modern IT. Frequent implementation of OSS within companies improves interoperability of computer systems and with that the strategic strength.

This is relevant to the relatively limited ICT investments that can be blamed on a lack of cooperation between ICT suppliers, because of this there is no development of integral systems, a problem acknowledged in the health sector. OSS offers the solution because it works with open standards which eases the exchange of data between various applications and systems. Generally spoken are open standards - implemented with open source software - a booster for innovation by integration.

More market forces:

The ICT market is controlled by American companies. On some markets there is even a monopoly position, origined from the so called facto standard: because a majority uses product x one has to have that product to take part in the market. Only one company benefits from this situation. OSS can also grow to a facto standard but it is an open standard, not controlled by a company.

High innovation speed:

Because the free availability of the source code, the code can be re-used for developing similar applications. As a result of the possibility of re-using the code it takes less time to develop time-to-market software products. This results in strategic advantages for the business community because they can respond faster to developments in the market.

Possitive effect on trade balance.

At this moment 85% of all software packages is being imported. This means a negative influence on the trade balance. The use of open-source software, mostly being downloaded without costs from the internet, will limit the effect and has thereby a positive effect on the Dutch trade balance.

Reversal of the monopolistic character of the customer-supplier relation.

With traditional software the supplier determines which extensions and bug-fixes will be realized. While open source software gives the user the opportunity to develop far-reaching initiatives in this direction.

Utilizing the possibilities of the network revolution is mostly limited by software. To stimulate the use and development of open source software it helps to relieve these important bottlenecks.