This policy becomes active on 1 November 2012. From this date government bodies1
must adhere to the Open Standards Principles - for software interoperability, data
and document formats in government IT specifications.
The Government ICT Strategy (March 2011)2
committed the Government to creating
a common and secure IT infrastructure based on a suite of agreed, open standards.
An updated IT Strategy is currently being developed by Cabinet Office. A cross
government digital strategy is also being prepared, which will focus primarily on the
opportunity to harness technology to redesign and improve public service information
and transactions.