The objective of the OFE petition to the European Parliament (EP) on the implications of ICT lock-in was to work with MEP's with the will to publicly endorse such a petition, and also pledged to promote the processing of the petition internally in the EP.

The launch of a petition to the EP is a relatively common tool used by individual and groups seeking to publicly highlight an issue and to move it up the legislative agenda. As such it could bring a number of potential benefits for OFE and its members:

• It would put focus on the issue of ICT lock-in, not just in the EP but also in other public bodies. It would raise the profile of OFE as an organization, and the Certified Open accreditation scheme that it is supporting.

• It would provide a platform for building relationships with individual politicians and officials.

• It could eventually lead to policy change and increased procurement opportunities for European IT community.

2. Summary of Outcome

• The level of debate and interest within the EU parliament community has risen significantly as a result of the publicity received from the awareness activities undertaken, with the Green Party taking a particular interest and giving us invaluable support. We have successfully developed awareness in the European Parliament and a wider community across Europe on the implications of ICT lock-in.
• The Petition website created a lot of debate resulting in many hundreds of emails offering advice, translation support and promotion, Some of these contacts have established new networks European open standards supporters.
• As a result of the support generated by this project we are planning to continue and have now received a date from the commission for the petition hearing in November, to compliment this hearing we are planning events to develop cross party support on the key issues and use the opportunity to keep raising awareness of the lock in issues ahead of the hearing.