Open Source Could Have Saved Ontario Hundreds of Millions

Platinum Dragon writes "Ontario's auditor-general released a blistering report this week detailing how successive governments threw away a billion dollars developing an integrated electronic medical record system. This CBC article highlights an open source system developed at McMaster University that is already used by hundreds of doctors in Ontario. As one of the developers points out, 'we don't have very high-priced executives and consultants,' some of whom cost Ontario taxpayers $2,700 per day." The McMaster University researchers claim their system could be rolled out for two percent of the billion-dollars-plus already spent on the project. The report itself (PDF) also makes note of the excessive consultation spending: "By 2008, the Ministry’s eHealth Program Branch had fewer than 30 full-time employees but was engaging more than 300 consultants, a number of whom held senior management positions."

Comments

The issues are not simple

[XB-70]

I have had meetings with senior bureaucrats and politicians in Ontario about FOSS. Moving free software into the government sphere is really difficult. Firstly, the biggest fear is change. If you implement a change which impacts 60,000 employees, if there is a problem, the person who made the decision to change software will be 'implicated' and blamed etc. etc. No one wants to stick their necks out.

The only way to counteract the problem is if you get backing at a very high level (from the Premier and his Cabinet). During the late '90s all the ministries had to convert and conform to one accounting standard. The push-back from all levels was incredible. It was only because people were threatened with being fired that the project got enough traction to be implemented.

This is what Open Source software is up against. It's truly brutal. That said, never give up fighting, but it has to be done at the highest levels.