The standards were developed following a public consultation that ran from February to June this year, where feedback from government bodies and IT suppliers was assessed to establish whether OSPs would reduce costs and level the playing field for SMEs when bidding for government contracts.

A document reflecting on the consultation highlights that nearly 70 percent of respondents believe that the principles would improve innovation, competition and choice in the provision of government services. Over 70 percent also said that it would help improve value for money.

However, some big government suppliers are reluctant to move away from the traditional approach of IT procurement in Whitehall, which has often resulted in departments awarding monolithic contracts to a single vendor for many years.

Government sources say that although some suppliers have expressed reluctance to move towards OSPs, very few were able to articulate why they wouldn't be beneficial.

From today all government bodies must comply with OSPs for software interoperability and data and document formats in government.