The establishment of an Open Technology Foundation (OTF) is finally in the works with the governments in both Australia and New Zealand throwing support behind the project following years of negotiations.
The OTF initiative, to launch next month, aims to assist governments in making cost effective and innovative use of open technologies, which are interoperable technologies based on open standards.
OTF general manager, Stephen Schmid, said governments at each level across both Australia and New Zealand had voiced their support for the project.
“Those in academia and the IT industry are also behind the OTF’s vision of openness in technology to help government agencies achieve interoperability, independence and flexibility in their ICT operations,” Schmid said in a statement.
According to Schmid, the establishment of an OTF will provide a cross-jurisdictional view of challenges such as difficult economic conditions and highly publicised expectations around efficiency and success. It will also aim to reduce costs around proprietary software and increase interoperability.
South Australian CIO, Andrew Mills, has also thrown his weight behind the OTF.
“Governments’ inability to effectively share information due to lack of infrastructure has been an ongoing issue. This is a big step in the right direction,” Mills said.
The OTF will be housed at the Carnegie Mellon University’s Adelaide campus, Schmid said, due to its Software Engineering Institute.
“[Carnegie Mellon University] is best placed to get the OTF up and running so it can start delivering results quickly,” Schmid said.
“The OTF will also create opportunities for PhD and Masters Students to undertake groundbreaking research projects in a real-world environment.”
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