(Sample Material) Study Kit on Current Affairs for UPSC Mains Examination
Science and Technology: Open Source
- With the Central Government’s plan to switchover to Open Source Software (OSS) across all its departments as per a policy .decision taken last year, let us look into various aspects of OSS.
Open Sources
- The Central Government’s decision to go for’ open source alternative entails substantial savings in software purchases.
- The Government’s. cumulative IT spending is estimated at $66.98 billion (around Rs 4.17 lakh crore) in 2015, according to the Ministry of Communications and IT, which has based this estimate on various global IT research and advisory forecasts.
- As per NASSCOM’s Data Security Council ‘of India, average spend on cyber security is about 2 to 3 per cent of the total IT spending at about $1.5 to 2 billion.
- With about 15-20 per cent, of the government’s IT spending comprising of closed software, shifting to open software would help the government save a lot of money.