OREANDA-NEWS. December 5, 2007. OAO ARMADA-led (MICEX, RTS: ARMD) consortium of Russia's top software developers has won the first open tender for the provision of Linux-based freeware package to Russia's schools, Armada's press service reported. This achievement allows ARMADA claiming leadership in the new IT services sector dealing with the deployment of freeware at government agencies and budget-funded organizations.

Russia's Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly stated that the development of a Russian freeware package was one of the pivotal challenges, which should be met in order to guarantee the nation’s information security. According to Medvedev, by 2010, Russia should have an own open source operating system as well as a comprehensive set of applications, which will enable the effective operation of Russia's government agencies and state-financed organizations.

It has been resolved that the development and distribution of a freeware package for schools will be the first step along this path. The Russian government is planning to allocate up to RUR720m (approx. $29.44m) for this purpose before the end of 2009. OAO ARMADA has won the first tender for the development and supply of a freeware package. According to the company’s General Director Alexei Kuzovkin, "installation of freeware at Russian schools will have a cost-saving effect for the budget, releasing the money spent on license fees. In addition, the earlier students get in touch with alternative software products, the better they will be prepared to work for both the government and the private sector which are increasingly opting for open source software."

ARMADA is planning to engage Russia's best software developers in the project. The temporary consortium will consist of distribution package developers Alt Linux, Linux-online and Linux-Ink, the developer of the MCBC operating system VNIINS (Russia's research institute working at projects automation), and systems integrators RAMEC and Intertech Internet Technology Research Center.

ПAccording to Alexei Novodvorsky, Alt Linux Deputy General Director, Russian schools will be granted a real alternative: "Whereas earlier they had to choose between expensive licensed software and cheap pirated copies of the same software, we will now offer a third option for them - freeware. I believe that lifting restrictions on software copying and distribution will have a positive impact on opening up the creative potential of our students. This could be our contribution to the formation of a genuinely innovative economy."

Under a contract worth RUR59.5m (approx. $2.43m), ARMADA is signed up to create and test a model freeware package. This pilot freeware package will be given a year-long run at over 1,200 schools in the Republic of Tatarstan, and the Perm and Tomsk regions. After the necessary modifications are made, such software products are expected to be installed at all schools across the country, numbering over 61,000.

"The government’s investment in the creation of Russian software will give this IT sector a powerful development impetus," Alexei Kuzovkin stated. Finam Investment Company estimated Russia's freeware market at around $50m in 2006, but realization of such programs could quadruple the figure by 2010.