Hi all, I posted before to say that my MP, Margaret Beckett, wasn't able to sign the EDM due to her position as a Cabinet Minister but would pass my letter on to Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Well on Tuesday I got a response from Mr Johnson, via Mrs Beckett, as below.
===== Dear Margaret, Thank you for your letter of 4 December together with enclosed correspondence from your constituent Mr James Tait of *address withheld* about open source software in education. I believe that schools and colleges must be able to make an informed choice about the software they need, be it open source or proprietary, and to be aware of the total cost of ownership of that software, including sustainable support and training. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) work with software providers, both open source and proprietary, to ensure that schools and colleges can make the most effective use of that software to support teaching and learning. Becta's procurement frameworks consist of a specified range of approved suppliers of Educational ICT services and associated technologies. All of these framework suppliers have successfully completed a rigorous evaluation process, conducted under EU regulations (often involving practical testing as well as written-based assessments). It is not simply a list of approved products or an accreditation scheme. Institutions are not mandated to purchase form within these frameworks, but when selecting services outside the framework they are advised to ensure that their chosen provider is able to deliver a service which matches the functional requirements and offers comparable value for money. I would also like to assure Mr Tait that because they are Government-led ICT procurements at a national level (to be delivered locally), Becta's frameworks have to be tendered under EU regulations so there are certain requirements and expectations that have to be met and adhered to. Acceptance onto the framework is by assessment of the capabilities of a supplier to deliver and support a comprehensive suite of technologies and not by providing a single, specific product. That said, there is nothing to stop any supplier offering open source solutions as part of a managed service, or a procuring authority including open source functionalities within its Statement of Requirements (SoR). The whole issue of open source is therefore one of measured inclusion rather than blanket exclusion. Becta supports the principles of open source software and recognises the value-for-money benefits that the larger scale deployment could bring. Based upon a clearly defined SoR, which reflects the institutional vision, open source has the potential to play a vital role in educational transformation. However it must be acknowledged that realisation of the Department's e-strategy is not just software deployment; it is a total, integrated service solution. Yours, Alan Johnson ===== I think I need to read through it a few more times and annotate it to really figure out what's being said. There are also parts in there that I recognise from somewhere (e.g. "measured inclusion rather than blanket exclusion"), so maybe the response is just a re-iteration of official policy. There's an item on the agenda for the next Ubuntu-UK meeting to discuss how we follow up on this. I'm happy to keep the dialogue with Mr Johnson going if the team wants that. Let the discussion commence. JT -- ---------------------------------------+-------------------------------- James Tait, BSc | xmpp:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Programmer and Free Software advocate | Mobile: +44 (0)7779 337596 ---------------------------------------+-------------------------------- -- [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
