The UK government will announce plans today to abandon what it calls an "oligopoly" on software supply in the public sector.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude will today speak at a cross-government event showcasing new online services to push for more efficient procurement and use of a wider range of providers, PA reports.



"The software we use in government is still supplied by just a few large companies. A tiny oligopoly dominates the marketplace," Maude will say.

"I want to see a greater range of software used, so civil servants have access to the information they need and can get their work done without having to buy a particular brand of software."

He will add: "Technical standards for document formats may not sound like the first shot in a revolution.

"But be in no doubt: the adoption of compulsory standards in government threatens to break open Whitehall's lock-in to proprietary formats. In turn we will open the door for a host of other software providers."

Apache OpenOffice



Hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent on Microsoft's Office Suite alone in recent years, despite the emergence of alternatives including OpenOffice and Google Docs.

OpenOffice.org was an open-sourced version of Sun Microsystem's StarOffice, and following its axe in 2011 it has been succeeded by projects including Apache OpenOffice.

Google launched Google Docs in 2007, taking it out of beta in 2009. The project grew from earlier web-based word processing acquisition Writely and the company's own Google Spreadsheets development.

The company's acquisition of DocVerse in 2010 led to the introduction of multiple user-online collaborations on various document types.

OpenOffice software and Google Docs support various file formats, including those compatible with Microsoft's Word, Excel and Powerpoint, Adobe's PDF, Illustrator and Photoshop files, Apple Pages and others.

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