Government IT advisor Socitim in conjunction with the Financial Times has published a survey to measure the current and future use of open source software by local authorities and other local public services. The questionnaire was answered by 99 councils and public sector organisations throughout the country.

Findings show that more than a half of the organisations interviewed are currently using open source software and that 79% out of the 99 councils believed that the use of such devices will increase in the future.

The use of open source software has several benefits such as lower cost and more flexibility. However as the report shows the drawbacks of using this kind of software are lack of technical support and few people with the skills and training to manage them.