Open source software and the department of defense center. Before going further, a few definitions and warnings are necessary. Opensource governance also known as open politics is a political philosophy which advocates the application of the philosophies of the opensource and opencontent movements to democratic. Use free and open source software foss, which is software that does not charge users a purchase or licensing fee for modifying or redistributing the source code, in our projects and contribute back to the open source community.
Interview with david wheeler on open source in government. To begin with, the plans call for federal agencies to share code with each other. Back in august, the obama administration announced a new policy that requires 20 percent of the federal governments software projects be. And in august, the us government issued a new federal software policy that aims to improve efficiency, transparency, and innovation across government by promoting the use of open. There are many reasons why the us government chose to embrace the open source development model. Apr 21, 2016 sharing source code between different parts of the government makes a lot of sense. Agencies use github to engage developers and collaborate with the public on open source, open data and open government efforts.
Anyone, especially local, state, and foreign governments are welcome to borrow the code behind data. Github and government github helps government build. This article is intended for nonlawyers, to help them understand the basic rules they must follow. Open source a federal government community interested in source code and open source software oss. Interim open source software oss policy open government. Not even purveyors of foss, as in free and open source software. Serve as the community leader in driving code reuse and open source development to decrease code spend while increasing code quality.
The government will likely see these same benefits. Sharing source code between different parts of the government makes a lot of sense. Open source software is defined by the department of defense as software for which the humanreadable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement, and re. Homeland security, of all organizations, worried that simply pushing government agencies to release 20% of their software as open source. Open source software and the department of defense. Use of open source software by the brazilian government.
Publicly releasing open source software developed for the u. The history of democracy and autocracy offers interesting parallels to how we develop and release software. As early as the late 1990s, david was demonstrating why open source software was integral to the us goverment it architecture, and his personal webpage is a frequently cited source on open standards, open source software, and computer security. Nov 04, 2016 in addition to streamlining software use in the federal government, the white house wants code. When used in conjunction with compulsory open standards, open source presents significant opportunities for the design and delivery of interoperable solutions.
How does it tie into the larger view of open source software in government. Today, the federal government is already building some of our most important projects using open source, and more are launching all the time. The open politics theory, a narrow application of open source governance, combines aspects of the free software and open content movements, promoting decisionmaking methods claimed to be more open, less antagonistic, and more capable of determining what is in the public interest with respect to public policy issues. Government open source software distribution committee on scientific and technical information cosati of the federal council on science and technology hope okeeffe, associate general. Us government now has an official open source software policy. The us governments tenuous relationship with open source. Achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software. Earlier this year, we noted that the federal government was looking to further embrace open source software in its process of contracting out for or creating in house code. Achieving efficiency, transparency, and innovation through reusable and open source software the u. Open source software institute is a membershipbased, nonprofit 501 c6 organization established in 2001 that promotes the development and implementation of open source software solutions within us.
Opengov is the only integrated cloud solution for public sector budgeting, performance, communications, and reporting. The government of assam state made open source a part of its it policy. In true open source fashion, dds is hosting an open call to developers, lawyers, and other members of the open source and free software communities across the government and private industry to. Aug 08, 2016 the open source working group will establish the pipeline process and publish it at s.
As part of the second open government national action plan, the federal government is planning to share the source code behind many of its software projects. Nov 06, 2017 publish your code and use open source to improve transparency, flexibility and accountability. Opening government data increases citizen participation in government, creates. Open source software and the federal government april 2, 2016 by admin the federal government is still lagging behind in technology from the common world but recently it has announced its love for. Open source software and the federal government april 2, 2016 by admin the federal government is still lagging behind in technology from the common world but recently it has announced its love for open source software or what it considers to be open source software. As discussed above, agencies must obtain sufficient rights to customdeveloped code to fulfill the open source release.
In fact, its a policy that should have been passed a long time ago, but its not quite what most of us mean when we say open source software. We are americas primary platform for aggregating open source software from the federal government. The use of free software instead of proprietary software can give institutions better control over. Custom licenses are strongly disfavored and should be used only in extraordinary circumstances.
The new government service design manual, released as a beta version on 14. Lower costs, greater efficiency, improved security and transparency, and more. Numerous states, cities, and counties have launched open data sites. Us government opens access to federal source code with code. How open source fits into government it strategy where appropriate, government will procure open source solutions. The 16 october 2009 memorandum from the dod cio, clarifying guidance regarding open source software oss defines oss as software for which the humanreadable source code is available for use. Less than two years after my presentation titled open source for the government, and almost exactly one year after i became advisor to the deputy prime minister of bulgaria, with the. Adoption of free and opensource software by public institutions. Open source software is defined by the department of defense as software for which the humanreadable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement, and redistribution by the users of that software. Furthermore, open source software can support the digital government strategys shared platform approach, which enables federal employees to work togetherboth within and across. Hahn t his chapter provides a brief overview of policy issues associated with open source software and offers an economic. Open source software oss policy gsa open technology. Cio tony scott said the program will save taxpayer dollars by avoiding duplicative software purchases, and promote innovation and collaboration.
Github even renders common formats like text, csv, pdf, geospatial. Where appropriate, government will procure open source solutions. Department of defense dod faces unique challenges in open sourcing its code. Frequently asked questions regarding open source software oss and the department of defense dod this page is an educational resource for government employees and government contractors to understand the policies and legal issues relating to the use of open source software oss in the department of defense dod. Lower costs, greater efficiency, improved security and transparency, and more access to developer talent are just some of the reasons companies choose open source software. Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy, build, and deliver information technology it and software solutions to better support cost efficiency, mission effectiveness, and the consumer experience with government programs.
Serve as the community leader in driving code reuse and open source development. The us government and opensource software linux journal. In addition to streamlining software use in the federal government, the white house wants code. Open source software thrives in government and is in some ways a technical expression of democracy. Nov 11, 2016 there are many reasons why the us government chose to embrace the open source development model. They began releasing software in the 1990s long before the federal source code. If you agree with one or more of these statements, please like this idea and leave a comment to let us know which ones you support. Us government now has an official open source software. Opensource software fits this practice well because it reduces a governments reliance on a single vendor.
Adheres to releasing open source code through a publicfacing software version control platform, including code developed by gsa personnel and contractors. The proposal also has a portion that relates to open source software in the traditional sense of the term. Bulgaria got a law requiring open source the policy. Mar 09, 2016 the white house will release a draft policy thursday for sharing source code among federal agencies, including a pilot program that will make a portion of federal code open source. Open source software open government, government of canada. Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy. Interim open source software oss policy pdf 10 pp, 214 k, 20180111, cio 2125. Jul 04, 2016 the amendments require all software written for the government to be open source and to be developed as such in a public repository.
Open source software institute is a membershipbased, nonprofit 501 c6 organization established in 2001 that promotes the development and implementation of open source software solutions within us federal, state and local government agencies. Aug 16, 2016 furthermore, open source software can support the digital government strategys shared platform approach, which enables federal employees to work togetherboth within and across agencies to reduce costs, streamline development, apply uniform standards, and ensure consistency in creating and delivering information. Us government pushed tech firms to hand over source code. Guidance on releasing open source code can be found at s. And in august, the us government issued a new federal software policy that aims to improve efficiency, transparency, and innovation across government by promoting the use of open source. Free, libre, open source software creation of oss by. They began releasing software in the 1990s long before the federal source code policy required government institutions to make their code available to each other and to release at least 20 percent to the public. Us government opens access to federal source code with. The text of the electronic governance act can be found here. Open source technologies, communities, and methodologies are playing an increasingly important role in international governments and policymaking. Whatever happens, even if the initial solution provider fails to complete an implementation or no longer supports its product, governments retain the right to use and modify the opensource software. In fact, its a policy that should have been passed a long time ago, but its not quite what most of us mean. Vision serve as the community leader in driving code reuse and open source development to decrease code spend while increasing code quality.
Leveraging american ingenuity through reusable and open. Forecast outcomes and track performanceall through a simple and intuitive user interface. Each agency shall release as oss at least 20 percent of its new customdeveloped code 29 each year for the term of the pilot program. Whatever happens, even if the initial solution provider fails to complete an implementation or. Publicly releasing open source software developed for the. The white house will release a draft policy thursday for sharing source code among federal agencies, including a pilot program that will make a portion of federal code open source. In this interview, we explore the current state of use of open source software by the us government. Obtaining a companys source code makes it radically easier to find security flaws and vulnerabilities for surveillance and. Government is committed to improving the way federal agencies buy, build, and deliver information technology it and software solutions to better support cost efficiency, mission effectiveness, and the consumer. As early as the late 1990s, david was demonstrating why open source software was integral to the us goverment it architecture, and his personal webpage is a frequently cited source on open standards. Ossis efforts have focused on promoting adoption of open source software programs and policies.
New omb policy aims to make federal agency code open source. Recognizing the potential benefits of open source, a number of private sector companies have also shifted some of their software development projects to an open source model. The government has, for the first time, mandated a preference for using open source software for future developments. The ceara government migration project to open source software was already presented in other states and is serving as a model for other governments. The open source working group will establish the pipeline process and publish it at e.
Software is everywhere at lawrence livermore national laboratory. See your budget, receive commentary from your team, and get your proposals approved. Government open source software distribution committee on scientific and technical information cosati of the federal council on science and technology hope okeeffe, associate general counsel, library of congress accessed sept. This refresh empowers the dod to accelerate open source participation across government and improve open source. Encourage software developers in the government of canada to use existing open source software as much as possible to reduce costs and development time. Adheres to releasing open source code through a publicfacing software. In this paper, we present the results of empirical study of the effects of open source software oss components reuse on software development economics. Publish your code and use open source to improve transparency, flexibility and accountability. Nov 17, 2016 and in august, the us government issued a new federal software policy that aims to improve efficiency, transparency, and innovation across government by promoting the use of open source.
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