Open Standards Consultation – The Government Response

UK Cabinet Office, HM Government

11/21/2012
(Original Publish Date: 11/1/2012)

The Cabinet Office has published its response to the public consultation, Open Standards: Open Opportunities. The consultation set out a series of questions aimed at informing the Government on how to implement its commitment to "creating a common and secure IT infrastructure based on a suite of compulsory open standards, adopting appropriate open standards wherever possible" (Government ICT Strategy, published March 2011). In particular, the questions looked at: The definition of open standard in the context of software interoperability, data and document formats in government IT The meaning of mandation and the effects compulsory open standards might have on government departments, delivery partners and supply chains International alignment and cross-border interoperability. The government response covers the process we followed, a review of the key themes that emerged in the consultation, how they have been taken on board and the next steps for open standards in government IT.