Whitehall will get a look at Office 2003's source code after the UK was one of the first to sign up for Microsoft's government access programme

The UK government is at the forefront of a Microsoft scheme allowing access to the Office 2003 source code. Microsoft is to extend a programme offering governments access to its software code, it announced on Sunday.

The scheme, known as the Government Security Program, allows public sector bodies in over 30 countries to examine the company's jealously guarded software source code.

Under the latest extension of the programme, Microsoft is allowing governments access to the source code of its main desktop product, Office 2003.

Governments will be able to conduct in depth testing and examinations to ensure that document, spreadsheet, presentation and scheduling programmes can work with other IT systems.

One of the first to take advantage of the extension is the UK government. Dr. Steve Marsh, the UK Cabinet Office central sponsor for information assurance said: "Microsoft's collaborative approach and source code access have demonstrated a deeper level of commitment to our ongoing collaboration."

"The release of this source code will help the UK government understand the security implications of the Office productivity suite and aid secure deployment in a wide range of scenarios."

Microsoft first started the programme at the beginning of 2003. At the time, Whitehall's Communications and Electronics Security Group was among the first to gain access to the code.

The move was a response to challenges from open-source software which was seen as more accessible for governments.

Other countries involved in the programme include Australia, China, Norway and Russia.

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