Open source makes ’substantial advance’ in UK education, says report

September 10th, 2006

Open source makes ’substantial advance’ in UK education, says report:

Three quarters of all colleges and universities consider open source for IT procurements

More than three quarters of all UK colleges and universities consider open source options when engaging in IT procurement exercises, says a report published today.

The report, undertaken by the JISC-funded OSS Watch service, also found that use of Moodle, the open source course management system or virtual learning environment (VLE), has grown to 56% in less than three years. With the Open University’s decision to adopt Moodle as its future VLE, open source penetration in this high-profile deployment area marks a substantial advance.

While 77% of colleges and universities report that they regularly explore open source options in procurement exercises, only 25% of institutions, however, report mention of “open source” in their institutional policies, suggesting an important discrepancy between policy and practice in this area.

Institutional engagement with open source software development remains a challenge too, the report suggests. Of those institutions deploying open source software only 14% report knowing whether or not they submit patches (i.e. make contributions) to the ongoing development of that software.

Other findings of the report include:

* 100% of institutions provide Internet Explorer on their Windows desktop PCs, yet 68% now also provide Mozilla Firefox

* there is no clear leader amongst Content Management Systems (CMS) with more than 29 different solutions being used by respondents

* cost continues to be the principal driver in reasons for considering OSS

The report was undertaken as a way of establishing the levels of use of open source software in further and higher education and its place in policy and decision-making processes. With the Government placing the issue of open source software at the heart of public sector IT provision, OSS Watch is building on this profile to advise FE and HE institutions on the importance of incorporating considerations of open source software into their IT strategies. This report therefore provides vital information to the post-16 sector as a whole on its deployment and use.

Randy Metcalfe, Manager of OSS Watch, said, “This survey shows that although open source use is on the rise, institutional engagement with the open source development community remains patchy. OSS Watch will redouble its efforts over the next two years in order to help colleges and universities work through the challenges of engagement, from contribution of code to open source business models.”

For a copy of the report and executive summary, please go to: OSS Watch report

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