Government to default new digital services to open source

A revised technology code of practice published this week elevates open source and open standards from 'preferred' to 'presumed' across all new central government digital services.

Departments will need to publish a written justification before procuring any closed-source component for new builds — a procedural friction designed less to ban proprietary software than to make its selection a conscious choice rather than a default.

The revision draws on a decade of experience inside the Government Digital Service, which has long maintained that the real cost of closed systems shows up not at procurement but at the next refresh cycle.

Industry response has been mixed. Established suppliers warn of complexity and security risks; smaller integrators welcome a procurement landscape they have, until now, struggled to penetrate.

The new code applies only to new services, meaning the bulk of the government's existing technology estate is untouched. Even so, officials describe the shift as the most consequential change to public-sector software policy since the original Service Standard.