Every day, Europe proves to be extremely fertile ground for open source technologies.

In 2002, Portugal adopted a directive aimed at developing open source technologies; Croatia did the same in 2006. In 2007, the European Commission published a study on the economic impact of open source, highlighting the contributions of these technologies, particularly in terms of competition. Later that year, the Netherlands announced its intention of following the same path.

In France last year, the Attali Commission, tasked to study all possible means of boosting economic growth, delivered its proposals and, in particular, called for a competition between proprietary and open source software; the latter being presented as a “possible way of creating value for the French and European economy.” The Commission’s objective is that “20% of applications newly developed or installed in the public sector be open source.”

We will not go into detail here on all the initiatives launched in the past two or three years. You’ll find this information in the excellent Open Source Observatory and Repository for European public administrations (OSOR).

However, two announcements this week reinforce the steps that European governments are taking toward the adoption of open source: UK Government to encourage open source & open standards for public sector use and Finland, will do the same.

In the UK, Tom Watson, Minister for Digital Engagement said: “Open source software will be adopted when it delivers best value for money,” adding “Where there is no significant overall cost difference between open and non-open source products, open source will be selected on the basis of its additional inherent flexibility.” According to the BBC the shift from proprietary standards could save the government £600m ($860 million) a year.

On his blog Matthew Aslett, from the 451 Group compares this announcement with previous versions of the government policy: “At first glance the new policy appears to be a progressive step that will actually provide positive action on leveling the playing field for the assessment of open source software, rather than paying lip service to it.” And Steve Shine, European vice president of Ingres, was cited by the BBC as saying that “the government’s action plan had ‘more teeth’ than policies being adopted in other countries because the plan was tied into policies regarding how IT managers procure new software.”

In Finland, the government said that “Open standards should meet the conditions set by the European Interoperability Framework” and it lists benefits such as accelerated software development, increasing competition and giving local entrepreneurs and smaller software companies access to government procurement procedures: “Using open source can result in cost savings. The biggest part of this is caused by the increase in competition.”

How can we read these words without rejoicing? Not only is open source becoming a central strategic element for reducing costs and improving efficiency in the public sector, but it is now considered a viable technology that can compete with proprietary solutions in terms of performance, but also offers particularly interesting advantages for businesses—flexibility, openness, and collaboration. This further ratifies our recent White Paper based on a survey of over 1000 users world wide: Open Source Data Integration is Indeed Enterprise Ready.

We’re now waiting impatiently to hear more from the new President of the United States whose campaign hinged heavily on technology. PC World recently published an article referencing a study by MeriTalk claiming that the U.S. could conceivably save more than $3.7 billion by using open source software. The article also notes that using virtualization technologies could generate additional savings of $13.3 billion, and that SaaS and cloud computing could help save $6.6 billion.

A final word—the way that arguments in favor of open source have evolved is very interesting. Before, the only highlighted benefit was the potential cost savings. That wasn’t wrong, just rather limited. Today you can also argue flexibility, openness, scalability, performance—qualities that put open source right up there at the same level claimed by proprietary solutions. The first battle is won!

Bertrand