A couple months ago I advocated the use of Open Source solutions for our local government link.
Our pals in the UK are pushing the envelope a little harder nowadays.

Open Source has been one of the most significant cultural developments in IT and beyond over the last two decades: it has shown that individuals, working together over the Internet, can create products that rival and sometimes beat those of giant corporations; it has shown how giant corporations themselves, and Governments, can become more innovative, more agile and more cost-effective by building on the fruits of community work; and from its IT base the Open Source movement has given leadership to new thinking about intellectual property rights and the availability of information for re–use by others.

For the full story see the CIOC site
For a summary see Kable.