The Conservatives will place more reliance on open source software in government IT if they win the next General Election.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne believes open source technology could save £600m a year, and has accused government ministers of failing to implement a cultural shift at Westminster that would increase its use.

But he says adopting open source does not mean stopping all Microsoft use.

‘This is not about being anti-Microsoft. Microsoft is an important and valued employer in the UK,’ he said. ‘It is about is better and more effective government.’

Osborne launched his first major foray into IT policy in a speech to the Royal Society of Arts last week, in which he announced the appointment of Mark Thompson of the Judge Business School at Cambridge University to advise the Conservatives ‘on how to make Britain the open source leader in Europe’.

He said 20 per cent of online Europeans now use Internet Explorer alternatives and described Linux as the fastest-growing operating system in the world.

Osborne said there has been wide-scale adoption of open source software among national, regional and local authorities in Japan, Spain and Holland, and complained of the lack of a level playing field for open source software in the UK.

‘Too many companies are frozen out of government IT contracts, stifling competition and driving up costs,’ he said.

‘Not a single open source company is included in Catalyst, the Government’s list of approved IT suppliers.’

Osborne said the experience of both private and public sector organisations shows it is possible to save at least five per cent of the annual IT bill if more open source software is used as part of an effective procurement strategy.

He believes savings will accrue not just by reducing licensing costs but from freeing government bodies from long-term monopoly supply situations.