The San Francisco Committee on Information Technology has published a new software evaluation policy that requires departments of the city government to consider open source software solutions alongside proprietary commercial offerings.

In a post on Mashable that was published this morning, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom says that the city's ongoing experiments with open source software have been successful at reducing costs. As one example, he cites the RecoverySF blog, which is built on the open source WordPress platform. He believes that San Francisco could significantly reduce its IT costs by adopting open source solutions more pervasively.

"Moving forward, there is an opportunity to save millions of dollars in software costs by using open source software. We are only scratching the surface. We can and must do more in the face of historic budget deficits. Our new open source policy requires the City to choose new technology wisely," he wrote.

Newsom also acknowledges the value of opening city data to the public through APIs. The city's DataSF website, which was created last year, has made it possible for independent software developers to produce applications that are useful to residents. The website has an application showcase with some intriguing examples, including iPhone applications that provide access to details about the city's mass transit system and a Web application that lets users see a map of recent crimes.

Earlier this week, we reported on an IT policy letter issued by the state of California which affirms that open source software is acceptable for use by government agencies. It's likely that San Francisco's decision to update its own IT procurement policy was influenced by the state's letter. Neither policy mandates a preference for open source software. San Francisco's policy appears to be a stronger endorsement, however, because it requires consideration of open source solutions, whereas the state policy merely reminds IT purchasers that open source solutions are acceptable for consideration.