The Government's Open Standards Principles are helping to level the playing field for open source and proprietary software, and disaggregating government IT into smaller, more manageable components.

The Government IT Strategy states ‘Where appropriate, government will procure open source solutions. When used in conjunction with compulsory open standards, open source presents significant opportunities for the design and delivery of interoperable solutions.’

To support interoperability in the public sector, we have a preference for royalty-free software generated in an open and transparent manner, which is often open source.

The Department has worked with industry and security experts, including GCHQ, to design a smart metering system that has robust security controls in place. System security is based on international standards. It includes encryption of sensitive data, protection from viruses and malware, access control, two-party authorisation of important messages to the meters and system monitoring.

Further information on smart metering security and GCHQ’s role in it can be found on GCHQ’s website: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/articles/smart-security-behind-gb-smart-metering-system

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 software must be of satisfactory quality, which includes durability for a period a consumer can reasonably expect. If it is not, the consumer may be entitled to a remedy under the Act, for example, a repair or replacement of the software or, if this is not possible, the right to demand some money back. The Government has no plans to require the release of the source code of unsupported software to a third party.