NL: Dutch police will study moving to open source
The Dutch police will start investigating how to increase its use of open standards and open source software. A plan to implement the two types of software should be ready early next year, just in time to meet the government's deadline.
The police's IT analysis is mentioned in a letter from Guusje ter Horst, the Interior Minister, to the Dutch parliament, published on 1 July. "If possible, the Dutch police force will make use of the experiences of other organisations. Procurements will then be carried out according to this implementation plan. I will ensure that the cabinet's policy on open standards is implemented and that a policy on using open source will be developed."
The minister's letter answers questions raised by the parliament over a tender by the police force for 30,000 Windows thin client computers, a contract worth 50 million euro. According to the minister the police should not have asked for Windows Based Terminals in the tender, as it did not intend to discriminate other operating systems embedded on thin clients.
Consultation
"The police will consider thin clients with Linux, Windows or an other operating system", the minister writes. "Those tendering were able to deliver thin clients with either a proprietary or an open source operating system."
After consultation, the police concludes it did not break the procurement rules with its request for Windows based terminals. It decided not to cancel the procurement and has meanwhile awarded the contract. "All known suppliers have asked for the documentation and all suppliers that met the requirements have participated in the tender. Another reason, according to the police, is that none of the rejected suppliers has filed objections."
The ministry did not yet reply whether other than proprietary operating systems have been offered.
More information:
Answer by the Interior Ministry (in Dutch)
Answer by the Interior Ministry (in Dutch, pdf)
NOiV questions regarding the police procurement (in Dutch, pdf)
Automatiseringgids news item (in Dutch)
Document Actions
