An example: Open Standards of the Dutch Government

[Robin Chase]

I was in Amsterdam last week talking with a colleague (Marleen Stricker) about the US's quest. Here is what she sent me, about what is happening in Holland on this topic:

The policy on Open Standards of the Dutch Government (Comply or Explain) is waiting for approval by the EU Commission. here a short description of the policy:
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*Main Content*
These instructions state that, throughout the Netherlands, when the government purchases ICT services or products, it should in general purchase a service or product that uses open standards included on the list published on the website www.forumstandaardisatie.nl, in so far as it relates at least to an ICT service or product that uses an open standard listed for the area of application in question. If there are good reasons for not doing so, the government department should set out those reasons in the records.

*Brief Statement of Grounds*
If the government makes use of open standards in ICT products and services, this will facilitate the transfer of data between government information systems, and between government and citizens (interoperability), enable data to be stored for longer, and reduce dependence on ICT suppliers. This will ultimately improve the quality of government service provision and the efficiency of ICT system management, which will reduce costs.

*Reference Documents - Basic Texts*
- Letter from the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs of 17 September 2007 (ref. ET/IT 7102246) to the Speaker of the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament;
- The Dutch Open Connections action plan (annex to the aforementioned letter);
- Basic list of open standards as referred to in Article 3(1), as was available at www.forumstandaardisatie.nl on 4 April 2008.

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You can find the original documents (some in English some in Dutch) on the below links:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/tris/pisa/app/search/index.cfm?fuseaction=pisa_notif_overview&iYear=2008&inum=140&lang=EN&sNLang=EN

http://www.ez.nl/Onderwerpen/Betrouwbare_telecom/Open_Standaarden_en_Open_Source_Software/Ontwerptekst_instructie_Comply_or_explain_commit

Robin [Chase]