Open-Source Benefits To Govt Outweigh Misconceptions, Report Says

Security challenges, lack of education, interoperability concerns and licensing and legal concerns are some of the top obstacles government officials see for adopting open-source software in agencies, according to a survey in a recent report from GovLoop.

In the survey of 233 government professionals, 73 percent mentioned security issues, 60 percent lack of education, 58 percent interoperability concerns and 50 percent licensing and legal concerns. The survey focused on U.S. respondents but also included some respondents from outside the U.S.

Of the respondents, 38 percent are using open-source at a basic level, 30 percent are not using such tools but would like to learn more, 20 percent are using open-source tools to meet agency goals and 12 percent are exploring ways of implementing open-source tools.

Respondents named improved efficiency and productivity, being able to gain software improvements from the open-source community, easy information exchange and replication options as benefits. They highlighted the ways that open-source software allows agencies to avoid dealing with proprietary vendors, outdated applications and updates from software vendors.