European Interoperability Framework

The document with the name European Interoperability Framework (the code of instructions on compatibility of systems) which is prepared by European Commission, will be approximately published at the end of 2010. It will contain recommendations about the choice of software for all member countries of the European Union. For them says about relevance of this question at least the fact that in 2010 the European governments in the amount will spend $15.7 billion for software that makes 19% of the total amount of purchases of software in Europe, The New York Times reports. In case of transition to the open source software, this amount it would be succeeded to reduce significantly, experts consider.

The recommendations of European Commission for the authorities of EU Member States are intended for ensuring free interaction of the state, the commercial organizations and society. In the document, mainly, the recommendations of experts for national, regional and local governing bodies of 27 EU countries at the choice of the software which will help to expand and improve the state IT systems will be collected.

This code of recommendations can become the reason of significant changes in the policy of the authorities of many EU countries in this sphere. Today the lion share of this market is occupied with Microsoft company which lobbies the interests, intending to save the current situation. Her competitors on behalf of Google, IBM, Red Hat and Oracle, in turn, support application of open source software in networks of governing bodies of the European Union countries. Except Microsoft the interests also lobby Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent companies which provide the software for the state communications systems now.

According to those who support the open source software, programs open source will allow to improve compatibility of the European software systems which today "remain a scrappy blanket from the private systems competing with each other requiring the organization for the choice of the supplier and work with it". One more of their argument is that use of products of Microsoft and other private vendors is much more expensive, than application of the open source software.

"Europe has an opportunity to become the world leader in this sphere. If they do not use it, then will go on this way not the first in the future", - Tom Rabon, the executive vice president of Red Hat company noted. "The compatibility is an important problem. It is what can potentially change the status quo. It would be fair to note that the majority of the European countries begin to consider an alternative of the open source software in the public sector, looking for methods of economy of means", - Jan Duffy, the director of research of International Data told.

John Vassallo, the vice president of Microsoft for business in the EU, said that the software giant took a number of major steps on integration of the open source software into the line lately. So, he opened thousands of pages of protocols for the server software, created two laboratories on compatibility together with competitors, Sun and Novell. Besides, Microsoft started several projects, such as Simple Cloud API which are an initiative, joint with IBM, of development of the general methods of document storage and files in the cloud systems.