Government could halve its costs for large technology projects by using open-source software, according to the organisers of an upcoming seminar.

Open-source software, available at no or very little cost, is created by thousands of developers working as a community. The best-known example is the operating system Linux, with several major software and hardware manufacturers - including IBM, Oracle and Hewlett-Packard - offering Linux-based computing services and products.

"Public administration in Ireland has yet to leverage the significant potential of open-source and free software," according to Mr Mel McIntyre, who is managing director of Dublin-based open-source services company OpenApp.

"Other European agencies, including the European Union, France, Germany and Britain, are establishing open-source policies and implementing open-source solutions including intranets, portals, content management frameworks, desktop productivity suites and operating systems."

Open-source software can complement and replace more expensive commercial proprietary software such as Windows or Unix, he said.

"Established open-source projects, such as Web-server software Apache and the operating system Linux, have proven to be more resistant to crashes, viruses, bugs and other threats to security and stability than proprietary software."

OpenApp will offer a one-day seminar on March 11th at the Alexander Hotel in Dublin aimed at information technology specialists working in the public sector.

Speakers will include Mr Rishab Aiyer Ghosh of the International Institute of Infonomics at Maastricht University, who completed last year's study of open-source software for the European Commission.

Also speaking will be Mr Olivier Berger, vice-president of the European Free Software Foundation; Mr David Owens of Linux distributor Red Hat Ireland; Mr Ciaran McCabe of OpenApp; and Mr Tony Kenny, head of information technology at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Further information on the seminar is available at www.openapp.biz.