UK councils use open source to hit e-targets

A growing number of local authorities across the UK are using an open source content management system to help them achieve their e-government targets.

Giles Palmer, the managing director of Runtime Collective, a company that provides services around the open source content management system APLAWS, said on Tuesday that a significant number of the 400 local authorities across the UK are using the application.

"The original APLAWS target was 30 local authorities — we are already there," said Palmer. "I expect there will be at least 45, and there may well be 60 local authorities using it by the end of the year."

He said "almost all" local authorities will need a content management system to put their content online, which is essential for authorities to meet e-government targets.

It is not just local authorities that are interested in APLAWS, according to Palmer. "The United Nations Development Programme will switch in next couple of months," he said.

The government-funded APLAWS application was developed under the open source methodology to ensure that councils were not locked into a particular supplier. The application is based on Red Hat Enterprise CMS.