Government initiative harpoons Microsoft

The Norwegian Minister of Modernization, Morten Andreas Meyer, has promised that his government will stop using proprietary software and transfer to open source.

Speaking at the eNorge 2009 conference Meyer outlined an initiative to digitize government relations. This includes a commitment that all public institutions will plan the introduction of open source systems by next year.

He also said that every citizen would be given their own home page on the government's servers to make dealing with the state easier.

"Proprietary formats will no longer be acceptable in communication between citizens and government," explained Meyer.

While he did not mention Microsoft by name, Meyer did make references to " the spreadsheet almost everyone uses" and commented that this would be the last time he made a presentation using the software.

The Norwegian Competition Authority is reportedly considering investigating Microsoft after a recent deal with schools left other competitors' software blocked.

"If one has a monopoly or is a very big player one is interested in maintaining the hegemony. In addition, the public sector has great power in the software market because it is a very big customer and can make demands," said Christine Hafskjold, a spokeswoman for the Norwegian Board of Technology.

The announcement will be seen as a serious blow to the credibility of Microsoft's initiative to sell e-government software. The UK government is actively investigating the greater use of open source in its systems at a county and city council level.