Hungary introduces mandatory open standards for public institutions

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Deutsch: [Ungarn führt verbindliche Open Standards für öffentliche Institutionen ein | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1652]

The Hungarian Parliament decided at the end of 2009 to make open standards
mandatory for communications between public institutions, utility companies
and citizens through the central governmental system.

The Parliament amended Act LX of 2009 on electronic public services. The
amendment was initiated by Hungarian NGO The Open Standards Alliance with
the purpose to promote monopoly-free markets and the development of
interchangeable and interoperable products generated by open standards.

The standards used need to be publicly accessible, free of charge, royalty
free without restrictions, and neutral from the competition point of view
thus allowing for real interoperability.

The Open Standards Alliance intends to further cooperate with the government
and, in this sense, it will initiate the collaboration between governmental
representatives, public utility companies and consumer protection
organisations.

The alliance also intends to promote interoperability based on publicly
defined open standards to become a EU norm during the Hungarian EU
presidency in 2011 and, to this purpose, it will initiate public
collaboration between all civil and public interested parties within the EU.

Mandatory Use of Open Standards In Hungary (18.12.2009)
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/18/2123215/Mandatory-Use-of-Open-Standards-In-Hungary

10 points on the mandatory use of open standards in Hungary (17.12.2009)
http://nyissz.hu/blog/10-points-on-the-mandatory-use-of-open-standards-in-hungary/