Written question asked by Julian Lewis (Conservative) on Thursday, 5 December 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 January 2003. It was answered by Lord Moonie (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 January 2003 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the potential financial savings for the Royal Navy of the adoption of Open Source Software for the operating systems of its future software packages.

Answer: Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the potential financial savings for the Royal Navy of the adoption of Open Source Software for the operating systems of its future software packages. [86481] Dr. Moonie: Software used in the Ministry of Defence is selected on its ability to meet business and operational needs, taking full account of value for money, long-term viability, security and interoperability. The Ministry of Defence currently has no explicit policy on the use of Open Source Software, but does follow the Government Open Source Software policy published and announced in Parliament on 22 July 2002. This policy is available on the e-Envoy website (www.e-envoy.gov.uk) or the Office of Government Commerce website (www.ogc.gov.uk).

Secondary information