Kingsley Idehen's Blog Data Space

The move has particular significance since the council last year completed a successful e-government 'pathfinder' project involving a group of neighbouring councils: Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Redbridge, Thanet, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

"If this is seen to work in Newham, it has the potential to be a significant project, changing the perceptions of other councils," said Tim Dawes, director of local government technology consultants Nineveh.

Nottingham is set to decide on new software for its 6,500 desktop PCs by the end of 2003 and confirmed to E-Government Bulletin this week that open source solutions are being considered. The news follows the council's successful migration to a Linux-based email system last year, after suffering numerous problems with its proprietary system.

According to technology manager Richard Heggs, shifting to open source messaging has cut costs by at least a third, a saving that would be repeated for desktops.

Looks like the municipalities figured out the cost-benefits of Linux vs. Windows much quicker than the corporates.