Authors opensource.com
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Open Visions Issue Three
Open Voices
Applying open source principles to government
A collection of articles from opensource.com
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IN THIS BOOKLET
ARTICLES
3 Open government, what is it really?
Pia Waugh, Adviser to Senator Kate Lundy
9 The U.S. Government promotes open innovation — Is it now mainstream?
Mark Bohannon, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Global Public Policy at Red Hat
13 How Consumer Finance made open source both a policy and a mission
John Scott, Technologist Technologist in the Department of Defense and US Government
15 History of open source in government
Gunnar Hellekson, Chief Technology Strategist for Red Hat's US Public Sector group,
Chief Technology Strategist for Red Hat's US Public Sector group
21 Building a Civic Commons
Abhi Nemani, Director of Strategy and Communications at Code for America
23 Creating legislation the open source way
Marek Mahut, System Engineer for Red Hat Czech
25 How federal agencies can implement and benefit from transparency
Tom Moritz, Project Director at Sonoma Valley Heritage Coalition
27 Five essential elements of an open government unconference
Jason Hibbets, Project Manager in Corporate Marketing at Red Hat
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Introduction 1
Introduction
Governments are increasingly embracing We’ve been able to build a community
openness through policy and practice. In that highlights the best–and sometimes
recent years, that means adopting and worst–of those principles. Inside you’ll find
releasing new technologies–from open data a sampling of stories we collected in the first
bus schedules to websites built using open two years of opensource.com. They illustrate
source tools. Some governments are even the impact of open source on government
building and cultivating open source com- and vice versa.
munities of their own. With unprecedented
There is still a long journey left before we
government interest in open source, we
reach truly open government everywhere
wonder: “Why would open source be of spe-
around the world. We hope you continue on
cial interest to government?”, “What is the
that journey, and that you’ll share your story
role of government in open source communi-
with us.
ties?”, and, perhaps most important, “How is
open source transforming governments and
their interactions with citizens?”
At opensource.com, we look at the intersec-
tion of open source and government, with
a special focus on the ways government
can cultivate open source communities.
We document the way that open source
principles–participation, transparency, col-
laboration, sharing, meritocracy, community,
and rapid prototyping–have enormous value
beyond the technology sector. Citizen move-
ments around open voting, the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request tracking, and
even crowdsourced legislation, represent
a growing trend of open source principles
within government.
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Open Voices
Applying open source principles to government
articles
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Open government, what is it really? 3
Open government,
what is it really?
Pia Waugh, Adviser to Senator Kate Lundy (originally published November 2011)
Below are my notes from the talk I gave at ment, this makes it a tool of the people, an
OSDC (Open Source Developers Conference) entity accountable to its citizens.
2011 on open government, where I tried to
The proliferation of and now mainstream
go into some of the practicalities of open
usage of the Internet, brings citizens closer
government implementation and projects. I
to governments than ever. It also makes
had a great response from the packed room,
governments more accountable and trans-
so thanks everyone for attending (and for
parent (whether intentionally or not). So the
encouraging me to blog)
government is now more a tool of the citizen,
The changing relationship between and as such we need, as citizens, to engage
citizens and government with governments.
Most citizens have a very limited relationship As citizens we are more empowered than
to government. We tend to see government ever. We can research, make public comment,
as an amorphous body that removes our self-organise into clusters of interest and
garbage, provides our hospital and local advocacy, cross check facts, hold people to
school, and makes us pay taxes. Politi- their word, develop new ways to do things
cians tend to get a pretty bad rap, and are and much more. The line has blurred be-
assumed to be simultaneously stupid and tween governments and citizens. Indeed, we
extremely strategic. are starting to even properly accept the idea
that people who work in government are,
But “government” in Australia is a large and
themselves, citizens.
complex entity run by a democratic Parlia-
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4 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
Citizens have much to contribute to govern- accessibility, open data, mobile development,
ment policy, implementation and vision, and public engagement and much more.
governments are just starting to understand
It is a community driven by the ideals of
and engage with that opportunity.
open government, and a really inspiring
Gov 2.0 is about using the new technologies and exciting community to be involved in. I
at our disposal, primarily the Internet, to highly recommend to any of you interested
co-design the next era of democracy in in following or getting involved in Gov 2.0 to
collaboration with citizens. It is about a more check out the following:
transparent, accountable, engaged, partici-
· T he Gov 2.0 Google Group mailing list1
patory and responsive government approach
to serving the needs of citizens. · GovCamp’s–a great opportunity for Gov
2.0 practitioners to get together, share
Open Government and Gov 2.0 are often
knowledge, and find ways to collabo-
used interchangeably, but “open gov-
rate. They are starting to run all around
ernment” has been used for many years,
Australia after I ran the first one in October.
usually to relate to things like Freedom of
The next one is this weekend in Sydney
Information (FoI) laws and transparency in
(BarCampNSW)2
legislative processes, whereas Gov 2.0 is
more specifically looking at how we can use · Follow the #gov2au hashtag on Twitter,
modern technologies and communications and some notable Twitter users in this
to make government more open, engaged space are @CraigThomler, @trib, @chieft-
with, relevant to and ultimately co-created ech, @davidjeade, @gov2qld, @sherro58 &
with citizens. @lisa_cornish from AGIMO, @FCTweedie &
@OAICgov from OAIC, and many more in-
“There’s a clear vision from the top, not only
cluding me @piawaugh. I’ve got a far more
in the US and the UK, but in many other
complete Gov 2.0 list on Twitter that I’m
countries, that now is the time for govern-
continually adding to that may be useful.3
ment to reinvent itself, to take the old idea
of government “for the people, by the people, · T here is a Gov 2.0 Ning group4 and OzLo-
and of the people” to a new level.”–Tim op5 Ning. Craig Thomler also runs a good
O’Reilly blog6 worth subscribing to. Craig and Kate
Carruthers put together a website on Gov
In Australia we have a strong, highly skilled
2.07 and the Centre for Policy Development
and completely awesome Gov 2.0 com-
did a great collection of essays8 by people
munity. These are people who work in, for
in the community on Gov 2.0 in 2009
or with government to implement Gov 2.0.
which is available online.
This community has people who are into
software/web development, user experience,
1 https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&- 5 http://apsozloop.ning.com/
fromgroups#!forum/gov20canberra 6 http://egovau.blogspot.com/
2 http://govcampnsw.net/ 7 http://gov2au.com/
3 https://twitter.com/#%21/list/piawaugh/gov-2-0 8 http://cpd.org.au/2009/08/insight-edition-up-
4 http://gov20australia.ning.com/ grading-democracy/
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Open government, what is it really? 5
What is Gov 2.0 the data set is making followup hard. This
stage is however, extremely important to
Most elements of what we call Gov 2.0 can
encourage as it is where every organi-
be boiled down to three concepts:
sation must begin and build upon. It is
1. Open data also important because to achieve quality
2. Citizen
centric services open data, major changes often need to
be made to systems, workflows, technol-
3. P ublic engagement ogies and organisational culture. Access
Open data to imperfect data in the short term is far
better than waiting for perfection.
Open data is about taking the vast majority
of government datasets and information 2. H
igh quality data. This is the stage where
which doesn’t have privacy or security issues, issues around quality publishing of data
and putting it all online in the most useful have been teased out, and an organisa-
way possible. In a practical sense, for data to tion can start to publish quality data. It is
be most useful (both to the public but equal- hopefully the point at which the systems,
ly important for other parts of governments culture, workflows and technologies used
to be able to leverage the data), it needs to within the organisation all facilitates open
have permissive copyright (such as Creative data publishing, whilst also facilitating
Commons BY), be machine readable, time appropriate settings for secure data (such
stamped, subscribable, available in an openly as sensitive privacy or security informa-
documented format (open standard), have tion). This stage takes a lot of work to
useful metadata and wherever possible have achieve, but also means a far lower cost
good geospatial information available. of publishing data, which helps amongst
other things, keep the cost of FoI compli-
This last point about geospatial informa-
ance down.
tion is vital for making data interactive and
personalised to a citizen’s needs, as it helps 3. Collaborative data. This final stage of
aggregate and map information relevant to open data is where an organisation can
where a citizen is. figure out ways to integrate and verify
input from the public to data sets to
Achieving open data is a difficult process.
improve them, to capture historical and
There are three key steps to take, each with
cultural context and to keep information
its own challenges:
up to date. This is also a challenging step
1. Just get it online. This stage is where an but where government departments and
organisation just tries to get online what- agencies can engage the public collabo-
ever they can. It often means the licensing ratively, we will see better data sets and
is not entirely clear or permissive, the data greater innovation.
format is whatever the organisation uses
(which may or may not be useful to oth-
ers), the data may be slightly out of date
and it often isn’t clear who the contact for
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6 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
There are examples of each of these stages, personal lives, their hobbies. So expecting
but it is important to remember that they are them to take time to really understand
stages, not static. Some good examples of complex issues is not only unrealistic, it
open data initiatives in Australia include: is unreasonable. Presenting information
visually is a great way to lower the barrier
· data.gov.au9, the Office of Spatial Data
to understanding and then engaging in
Management10, the BoM climate data11, the
an informed public debate. People will
Living Atlas of Australia12, Mapping our
understand in seconds the information
ANZACs13, the Powerhouse museum online
from a well constructed visualisation, but
collection database14 and the GovHack
to glean the same information from papers
initiative15.
and spreadsheets takes a lot longer.
It is also important to consider the broad
· Policy development & load testing–inter-
ramifications of open data. One can think
active data visualisation tools such as Spa-
of many positive case studies for open data.
tialKey16, Tableau17 or one of the many great
Examples of transparency or innovation
FOSS (free and open source software) tools
or a strong public record. But there can be
available create a new way to engage with
unforeseen negative consequences. For ex-
and glean new knowledge from data. By
ample, I heard of a case where the mapping
being able to pull together many different
of the ocean above Australia was made
data sets into a single space, one can then
public, and within a very short period of time
explore, test and experiment with policy
a particular species of fish was driven almost
ideas to determine the effectiveness of a
to extinction by fishers who used the data to
policy to meet its goals.
plan their fishing season.
Citizen centric services
This is not a reason to not pursue open data,
but rather a reminder to always consider Citizen centric services is about putting the
things critically and thoughtfully. user experience first to create a personalised
and unique experience for citizens. It is bet-
Data visualisation
ter for citizens as it makes their experience
Nowadays I can’t overemphasise the impor- better and more seamless, and it is better for
tance of data visualisation. As a technical government who can more effectively serve
person I was quite cynical in the value of the needs of citizens. Citizen centric services
data visualisation. It seemed a waste of time requires good data and metadata, especially
when you can just read the data. But using good geospatial data as location information
data visualisation tools effectively can create is an extremely effective way to personalise
two core benefits: government services, information and proj-
· Informed public narrative–most people ects for citizens.
are really busy. Busy with their jobs, their
9 http://data.gov.au/ 14 http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/
10 http://spatial.gov.au/ database/menu.php
11 http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/ 15 http://www.govhack.org/
12 http://www.ala.org.au/ 16 http://www.spatialkey.com/
13 http://mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au/ 17 http://www.tableausoftware.com/
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Open government, what is it really? 7
Constant feedback loops that engage the deploy resources in disaster management),
input and ideas from citizens are extreme- the Census 2011 social media strategy, the
ly important to establish effective citizen growing number of public consultations on
centric services, and to ensure the iterative government policy and strategy such as from
improvements over time to keep services rel- the Gov 2.0 Taskforce and much more. The
evant and responsive to the changing needs need for public engagement has also been
of the population. pushed in several recent policy agendas. The
GovHack events last year were also great
Some examples of citizen centric services
as they showed how effective engagement
include:
with the general public can result in highly
· A
ustralia.gov.au18, MyRegion19, MyChild20, innovative and rapidly developed new appli-
MySchool21 and there are some good com- cations and knowledge when open data is
munity examples including OpenAustralia22, made available and when usage of that data
GotGasto23, and Know Where You Live24. is encouraged.
Public engagement FOSS and government
Effective, constructive, and collaborative FOSS has provided a natural fit for a lot of
public engagement greatly improves the ca- open government initiatives, due to the
pacity of government to build the knowledge widespread use of open standards, the
and experience of citizens into policy and ability to rapidly deploy, the large developer
projects. Public engagement strategies work and support communities around mature
best when they are underpinned by strong FOSS projects such as Drupal and WordPress,
community development, a clear and collab- the competitive and thus reliably sustainable
oratively developed goal, a genuine interest nature of commercial support around mature
in the inputs of others, and a process that FOSS projects, and, most relevantly, the cross
is as low a barrier to entry to engage in as over of values and practices between open
possible. government and FOSS.
Basically we are moving towards an era of In January 2011 AGIMO released the Aus-
democratic and governmental co-design. tralian Government Open Source Software
There are some great examples of public Policy which has three principles:
engagement out there, including our Public 1. Principle 1: Australian Government ICT
Sphere consultations25, the Queensland procurement processes must actively
Police use of Facebook 26 throughout the and fairly consider all types of available
natural disasters a year ago (which showed software.
how social media is great for timely updates,
but also for managing misinformation quickly
and crowdsourcing to help most effectively
18 http://australia.gov.au/ 23 http://gotgastro.com/
19 http://myregion.gov.au/ 24 http://www.hackdays.com/knowwhereyoulive/
20 http://mychild.gov.au/ 25 http://www.katelundy.com.au/2010/11/03/
21 http://myschool.edu.au/ speech-at-cebit-gov-2-0-conference/#public-
sphere
22 http://www.openaustralia.org/
26 http://www.facebook.com/QueenslandPolice
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8 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
2. Principle 2: Suppliers must consider all of Open Public Sector Information and other
types of available software when dealing resources30, the Attorney General’s Principles
with Australian Government agencies. of IP31 (which explicitly encourages Creative
Commons), and the various useful web
3. Principle 3: Australian Government
policies provided by AGIMO32 including the
agencies will actively participate in open
Gov 2.0 Primer.
source software communities and con-
tribute back where appropriate. Conclusion
The third principle in particular represents a Open government and Gov 2.0 both repre-
fundamental shift in how government sees sent an ideal.
and engages with FOSS, technology and
They represent a goal for us to be continually
the community. It is very exciting! It clearly
aiming for but they are not achieved with a
demonstrates the value of collaboration so
single switch of policy. Achieving true open
prevalent in the open government agenda.
government is necessarily a constant and
In July 2011, after six months consultation, evolving challenge, and given I am here
AGIMO also released the Australian Gov- speaking at an Open Source Developer’s
ernment Open Source Software Guide V2, a conference, we all understand the difference
really useful document for departments and between an ideal, and striving for the ideal
agencies to help them comply to the policy whilst operating within reality.
directive where they must consider open
Government won’t get it exactly right all the
source in their procurement processes.
time every time, but we are in an extremely
Both the Open Source Policy and the Guide exciting time for open culture, and with a
are available along with other information.27 government position in Australia that firmly
supports openness through policy, in legis-
Open government policies
lation and in implementation of projects, we
The open government or Gov 2.0 agenda need to continue to encourage and support
is nicely encapsulated in the two major progress.
policy documents, Ahead of the Game28 and
Originally posted at what are we doing today,
the Gov 2.0 Taskforce Report 29. These two
brain?33
reports form the blueprint of Gov 2.0 for the
Australian public service.
It is also worth looking at the Office of the
Information Commissioner paper Principles
27 http://www.finance.gov.au/e-government/infra- 31 http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/2010/10/07/gov-
structure/open-source-software.html ernment-2-0-update-%E2%80%93-amended-ip-
28 http://www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/aga_re- principles-released/
form/aga_reform_blueprint/index.cfm 32 http://webguide.gov.au/web-2-0/gov-2-0-
29 http://gov2.net.au/report/ primer/
30 http://www.oaic.gov.au/ 33 http://webguide.gov.au/web-2-0/
gov-2-0-primer/
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The U.S. Government promotes open innovation –Is it now mainstream? 9
The U.S. Government
promotes open
innovation—Is it
now mainstream?
Mark Bohannon, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Global Public Policy at Red Hat
(originally published March 2012)
“We live in an open source world.” in Washington (the Center for American
Progress), gives them a different context.
For many readers of opensource.com, those
words are probably a part of your daily life; The event was a look at “Open Innovation:
in all likelihood, you take them for granted. Tools to Solve Problems and Grow the Econ-
They reflect the commonality of how many of omy.”34 U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh
you work, and engage publicly. Chopra shared (on his last day in government
service) the ‘half’-time’ assessment of the
But I heard those words last month from a
Administration’s work on this important area
former member of Congress. Tom Perriello,
of policy work. Joined by innovative govern-
the moderator of a panel on ‘open innova-
ment leaders–Todd Park, Chief Technology
tion’ held at a mainstream think tank here
Officer, U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services; Peter Levin, Senior Advisor
34 http://www.americanprogress.org/
events/2012/02/08/17201/open-innovation/
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10 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
to the Secretary and Chief Technology Officer, is ‘open innovation’ tangibly different than
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; and the older models of innovation?
Chris Vein, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology
It’s not a simple question to answer, and
Officer for Government Innovation, White
I think our collective understanding is
House Office of Science and Technology
evolving–evolving as quickly as innovation
Policy–Aneesh released an open innovator’s
is manifesting itself in so many sectors and
toolkit 35.
areas (geographic, as well as technology).
As Aneesh explains, rather than pursue
When I was in the US Government working
traditional ’top-down’ models to spur
on technology issues, I recall a conversation
breakthroughs in these areas of national
with a mentor, then Under Secretary Mary L.
importance, the Administration’s ‘open
Good–a former tenured professor of chem-
innovation’ policy has sought to “emphasize
istry, Chair of the National Science Board,
a ’bottom-up’ philosophy that taps into the
holder of patents, and senior executive in
expertise of the American people.” In his
industry who was responsible for product
view, it has already delivered tangible results
development in a global marketplace–about
in areas like health IT, learning technologies,
her experience in innovation. This was more
and smart grid–and “has surfaced new
than 15 years ago, and the specific words
or improved policy tools deployed by our
she used have faded. But the gist of what
government to achieve them.” The memo
she learned is that innovation is, at its core,
catalogs “20 leading practices that an ‘open
a contact sport: it emerges from putting
innovator’ should consider when confronting
dedicated minds together, mashing it up, and
any policy challenge–at any level of govern-
seeing what emerges.
ment.” These are focused on innovators in
government, and can be summarized as: This was the old model of innovation, before
the commercialization of the Internet. Open
· Moving beyond data ’by request’ to ’com-
innovation appears to embody these known
puter-friendly by default’
processes and expands them beyond any-
· Engaging not just as ’regulator’ but as thing that earlier innovators could imagine.
’impatient convener’ It seems that open innovation differs in the
following respects:
· Adding the ability to pay for outcomes
through ’prizes’ not just ’procurements’ · It is inherently tied to our networked,
Internet-powered world. What used to take
· Attracting ’top talent’ including ’entrepre-
place in a physical lab now takes place
neurs-in-residence’
online, in collaborative settings, in what
I won’t delve into the particulars here; you might be called a virtual contact sport. This
can check them out at on the White House has a number of implications, which were
OSTP blog36. important themes at the Chopra event last
Rather, the question that kept coming up for week.
me after listening to these leaders is: How
35 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ 36 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/14/
microsites/ostp/openinnovatortoolkit_nstcmemo. open-innovation-toolbox
pdf
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The U.S. Government promotes open innovation –Is it now mainstream? 11
· New ideas and solutions can come from ment. In the newer model, this may be less
any place in the world and from any level so, and in some environments, there is a
of expertise or discipline. This was often a conscious attempt to avoid locking up the
challenge in the old model where finding results. In my view, open innovation seems
expertise that might be relevant to a par- to be characterized, where intellectual
ticular inquiry was a laborious, time-con- property is concerned, by efforts to more
suming and often expensive proposition. widely distribute the results that allows
further use and innovation, whether incre-
· For some, this dynamic has been encap-
mental or otherwise.
sulated as ‘crowd-sourcing’, but I think this
only begins to describe the changed model. · T he demands of users drive a more rapid
I think a supercharged skunk works37 time frame in which open innovation op-
probably captures it better. erates. VA’s CTO Peter Levin described how
he is often implementing solutions within
· Prospective solutions have many more
30 minutes that previously took days or
eyes that review and critique the on-going
hours to find and develop. Open innovation
work and improve the overall result, a
is a reflection of the fast-paced dynamics
factor that is too often understated in
we face.
describing the bottom-up aspect of open
innovation. Peer review that used to · Management of the research and develop-
take weeks, even months, now happens ment process has been turned on its head.
instantaneously. This is a point that Red Hat CEO Jim White-
hurst has made on several occasions.38 As
There are several other aspects that I believe
Tim O’Reilly has said, “Sustained innovation
are different:
is no longer just about who has the most
· T he older models of innovation were heav- gifted scientists or the best equipped labs.
ily focused on the production of intellectu- It’s about who has the most compelling
al property as a primary output. This was architecture of participation.”
certainly the case when I was in govern-
37 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunkworks_project 38 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU3lrwLr3VA
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 11 2/28/13 4:57 PM
12 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
For some, open innovation may sound vaguely familiar to the concepts laid out by Henry
Chesborough39, author of the book Open Innovation. Chesborough focused on the contrasts
between the open and closed innovation models, described in the chart below:
Source: Table I-1, page xxvi of the Introduction–“Open Innovation: The New Imperative for
creating and Profiting from Technology”40 (Harvard Business School Press, 2003)
I find that collaborative innovation resonates described the work they are engaged in.
as a term for this new model described by It also showed up as a fundamental input
Chopra. But I understand the open theme of in the variety of areas where the forum
the Administration's initiative–open govern- indicated open innovation is taking off. CTO
ment, open innovation, open participation. Levin indicated the goal of open innovation
As was clear from the CAP event, open in his agency was the ability to reuse, to
innovation and collaborative innovation have have modularity and interoperability in his
unique characteristics for different sectors agency's IT infrastructure. Others referred to
and technologies. it as a tool that is regularly used.
What was also clear was the importance of We do, indeed, live in an open source world.
open source software in the open innovation I'd like to hear other readers thoughts on this
model. At one level, it was almost taken topic. Let me know what you think is unique
for granted as the quintessential example about the open collaborative innovation
of open innovation success. Each of the model.
panelists referred to it in some way as they
More on open innovation41
39 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chesbrough 41 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=play-
40 http://www.amazon.com/Open-Innovation-Imper- er_embedded&v=OU3lrwLr3VA
ative-Profiting-Technology/dp/1578518377
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How Consumer Finance made open source both a policy and a mission 13
How Consumer
Finance made open
source both a policy
and a mission
John Scott, Technologist Technologist in the Department of Defense and US Government
(originally published April 2012)
For the first time a U.S. Federal Agency, confusing to consumers and certain regu-
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lations burdensome for businesses. We've
(CFPB), has come out with a policy that also been able to launch the CFPB with a
clearly delineates how taxpayer investments state-of-the-art technical infrastructure
in technology should be handled. Since they that’s more stable and more cost-effective
say it best:42 than an equivalent system was just ten
years ago.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
was fortunate to be born in the digital Good internal technology policies can help,
era. We’ve been able to rethink many of especially the policy that governs our use of
the practices that make financial products software source code.
42 http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/the-cf-
pbs-source-code-policy-open-and-shared/
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14 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
Some software lets users modify its source We use open source software, and we
code, so that they can tweak the code to do so because it helps us fulfill our
achieve their own goals if the software mission.
doesn't specifically do what users want.
Open source software works because it
Source code that can be freely modified
enables people from around the world to
and redistributed is known as "open source
share their contributions with each other.
software," and it has been instrumental
The CFPB has benefited tremendously from
to the CFPB's innovation efforts for a few
other people's efforts, so it’s only right that
reasons:
we give back to the community by sharing
· It is usually very easy to acquire, as there our work with others.
are no ongoing licensing fees. Just pay
This brings us to the second part of our
once, and the product is yours.
policy:
· It keeps our data open. If we decide one
When we build our own software or
day to move our website to another
contract with a third party to build it
platform, we don’t have to worry about
for us, we will share the code with the
whether the current platform is going to
public at no charge.
keep us from exporting all of our data.
(Only some proprietary software keeps its Exceptions will be made when source code
data open, but all open source software exposes sensitive details that would put the
does so.) Bureau at risk for security breaches; but we
believe that, in general, hiding source code
· It lets us use tailor-made tools without
does not make the software safer.
having to build those tools from scratch.
This lets us do things that nobody else Read more about the policy at:
has ever done, and do them quickly. · T he CFPB's source code policy:
Until recently, the federal government was open and shared43
hesitant to adopt open source software · Source Code Policy44
due to a perceived ambiguity around its
legal status as a commercial good. In 2009,
however, the Department of Defense made
it clear that open source software products
are on equal footing with their proprietary
counterparts.
43 http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/the-cf- 44 http://www.consumerfinance.gov/developers/
pbs-source-code-policy-open-and-shared/ sourcecodepolicy/
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History of open source in government 15
History of
open source in
government
Gunnar Hellekson, Chief Technology Strategist for Red Hat's US Public Sector group
(originally published May 2012)
It is difficult to imagine the Federal govern- are only just now bringing open source
ment moving in one well-coordinated direc- software into their operations. With this in
tion on any matter, and so it has been with mind, the history of open source in the US
the adoption of open source software. Some government is best understood as a series
agencies were early adopters, especially the of individual stories that have collectively led
academic and research communities. As it to the pervasive adoption of open source we
did in universities, open source adoption in see today.
the US government originated in research
It was in 1997 that open source as an
settings, where sharing and collaboration
enterprise computing trend emerged, and
were already part of the culture of pedagogy.
the US government was there. While Eric
In this way, the government had been using
Raymond was writing his seminal treatise on
and creating open source software even
open source, "The Cathedral and the Bazaar
before it was called "open source." Other 45
," a Major in the US Air Force named Justin
agencies and departments have been more
Seiferth published "Intranet Hallways Sys-
conservative, for a variety of reasons, and
tems Based on Linux"46 in the Linux Gazette.
45 http://catb.org/~esr/writings/homesteading/ 46 http://linuxgazette.net/issue19/hallways.html
cathedral-bazaar/
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 15 2/28/13 4:57 PM
16 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
This article described a simple web-based network security toolkits. As a more recent
explorer for Windows file servers built on example, within the last year the National
the Linux operating system. This may be Air and Space Agency has debuted several
the first public acknowledgment of the US inexpensive supercomputers. Open licensed
Government’s use of open source software operating systems and applications allowed
as we know it today. the scaling of inexpensive pentium-based
machines into an integrated hardware/
For the next several years, advocates in the
software system. In addition to being
private sector and cautious staff in govern-
inexpensive, these machines are among the
ment began to engage the questions that
most powerful available."
still confront open source today: Is it ready?
Is it secure? How do we use it? In 1999, Mitch Seiferth, like Stoltz, makes a number of
Stoltz of NetAction wrote the first persuasive familiar arguments for open source, but his
essay on the topic, "The Case for Govern- greatest insight is that open source is ”Com-
ment Promotion of Open Source Software." mercial Off-the-Shelf” (COTS) software. This
47
Stoltz invokes many arguments that are is significant, because it means that open
still being used today: lower cost, increased source would be able to use the existing
flexibility, and better security. That same policy and regulations that had already been
year, the President’s National Coordinator created for software more generally, rather
for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and than being treated as a special case and
Counter-Terrorism convened a multi-agency thus hampering its adoption. This will later
working group to produce "Open Source become the explicit policy of the Office of
Code and the Security of Federal Systems." Management and Budget, as well as the
That report is the first official study of open Department of Defense.
source by the federal government.
The very next year brings an explosion of
While at the Air Command and Staff College, open source activity in government. In the
Major Seiferth returns to our history again, private sector, IBM announced that they are
this time publishing a research report on the investing one billion dollars49 in the Linux
potential benefits of open source specifically project. The Open Source Software Insti-
in the DOD. Seiferth notes ironically that the tute50 was founded to aid the adoption of
US Government is at once reluctant to use open source in the Federal government.
open source, and a great creator of open
Meanwhile, government adoption continues
source projects:48
apace. We begin to see the procurement
"Within the Department of Defense, apparatus wrestle with open source licensing
the National Laboratories and Defense in procurements. The US Air Force Scientific
Advanced Research Agency have been Advisory Board’s “Ensuring Successful Imple-
the most visible users and producers of mentation of Commercial Items in Air Force
open licensed systems. They’ve released Systems”51 is the first procurement guidance
such advances as the original firewall and to explicitly mention open source.
47 http://www.netaction.org/opensrc/oss-report. 49 http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-249750.html
html 50 http://www.oss-institute.org/
48 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Loca- 51 http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Loca-
tion=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA398898 tion=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA411926
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 16 2/28/13 4:57 PM
History of open source in government 17
Some agencies aren’t waiting, though. The The next major milestone is in 2003, with the
National Security Agency–to the aston- release of the "Stenbit Memo."56 On May 28,
ishment of its peers and the open source the DOD CIO John Stenbit released the first
community–releases SELinux52, which DOD-wide guidance on open source soft-
provided a set of strong security controls to ware, which implicitly permits its acquisition,
the Linux operating system. In doing so, the development, and use. Meanwhile, the Army
NSA was taking technology that had been begins to deploy the "Blue Force Tracker,"
useful to a very small set of customers, and running on open source software, to over
was therefore very expensive, and made 80,000 tactical vehicles. Famously, General
it freely available to the general public. Nicholas Justice proclaims, “When we rolled
Innovation quickened, the software improved, into Baghdad, we did it using open source.”
and SELinux is still used in Linux today. Most Nine months later, in July of 2004, the OMB
recently, SELinux was ported to the Android issues a memo similar to the Stenbit Memo
system53, where it provides mobile phone that covers the government as a whole. At
users protections against hostile applications. approximately the same time, NASA releases
This wasn’t the first time the US government the very popular World Wind57 geospatial
has released software, but it made headlines visualization project under the newly-mint-
because it was an implicit endorsement of ed "NASA Open Source Agreement."58 Six
the open source process by arguably the months later, Red Hat, the world’s largest
most security-conscious intelligence agency. open source company at the time, creates a
US Government division61 and the first Gov-
This flurry of activity continues into 2001,
ernment Open Source Conference61 (GOSCON)
with MITRE releasing "Making the Business
is held in Portland, Oregon.
Case for Open Source Software."54 This docu-
ment, the most comprehensive treatment of In 2006, Sue Peyton, the Air Force Assis-
open source to that point, was published as tant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition,
part of the larger “Open Source Software in commissioned the "Open Technology De-
Military Systems” study which the US Army velopment Roadmap,"59 which goes beyond
had commissioned from MITRE. The report the simple benefits of open source, and
concludes: “Open source will benefit the describes how it can be put to productive
government by improving interoperability, use in the context of the DOD’s Net-Centric
long term access to data, and the ability to doctrine, which was in fashion at the time.
incorporate new technology.” Here, we see This is the first effort to align the princi-
the US Army, who is later to become one of ples of open source with an overall agency
the largest open source users in the world, strategy, demonstrating how savvy open
taking its first exploratory steps. source advocates inside the government
have become.
52 http://selinuxproject.org/page/Main_Page 56 http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/java/
53 http://selinuxproject.org/page/SEAndroid 57 http://opensource.gsfc.nasa.gov/nosa.php
54 http://www.mitre.org/work/tech_papers/tech_ 58 http://goscon.org/
papers_01/kenwood_software/kenwood_soft- 59 http://www.acq.osd.mil/jctd/articles/OTDRoad-
ware.pdf mapFinal.pdf
55 http://www.terrybollinger.com/stenbitmemo/
stenbitmemo_png/index.html
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 17 2/28/13 4:57 PM
18 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
In 2007, the US Navy commissioned Ray- at the federal, state and local level. NASA,
theon, IBM, and Red Hat to add “real-time” in particular, made open source software
features to the Linux kernel60, which it and the open source development process a
required for the new destroyer it was build- cornerstone of their open government plan65.
ing. Significantly, the Navy ensured that the In the private sector, Open Source for Amer-
software is released into the open source ica66 was founded. This coalition of industry,
community. Shortly thereafter, the US Navy advocates, and individuals is meant to be
CIO Robert Carey releases the Navy Open a central resource for advocates of open
Source Memo61, which explicitly classifies source software in government. That August,
open source as COTS software. This is a Macon Phillips, the White House New Media
significant change in tone from the Stenbit Director who would later release portions
memo and OMB memos of 2004, which only of the software for whitehouse.gov, called
implicitly provide this same guidance. open source “…the most concrete form of
civic participation67.” Clearly, open source
Open source use subsequently explodes. By
and open government became inextricably
September of 2008, the Microsoft-funded
related.
Open Source Census62 was reporting that
open source use in government was higher In October of 2009, the “DOD Open Source
than any other industry. The Federal Open Memo68” is released by David Wennergren,
Source Alliance’s Federal Open Source Refer- the DOD CIO. This memo got headlines
endum63 study reported that, 71% of agency around the world, and remains the single
executives believed they could benefit from most influential government policy document
open source and 58% said they were likely on open source today. The memo itself is
to consider open source. simple, and following the Navy’s declaration
two years earlier, reminds procurement offi-
The Obama Administration’s first act on tak-
cials that open source software is COTS. The
ing office was to issue the Open Government
appendices to the memo, however, go into
Memo64, which articulated a general policy of
much more detail about the potential ad-
"transparency, collaboration, and participa-
vantages and risks of open source software.
tion." Subsequent agency initiatives prom-
The memo specifically encourages the DOD
inently featured open source software as a
to take advantage of its ability to modify
means to achieve those goals. Open source
software to suit a mission’s need.
policies began to pour out of governments
60 http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressre- 64 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/
lease/21033.wss TransparencyandOpenGovernment
61 http://www.doncio.navy.mil/ContentView.aspx- 65 http://www.nasa.gov/open/plan/
?ID=789 66 http://opensourceforamerica.org/
62 http://lmaugustin.typepad.com/lma/2008/09/ 67 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgh1i3_
open-source-census-more-numbers-on-open- obama-s-new-media-director-backs-open-
source-adoption.html source-government_news
63 http://blogs.the451group.com/open- 68 http://www.scribd.com/doc/21706673/Depart-
source/2008/10/22/goscon-gives-government- ment-of-Defense
good-open-source-ideas/
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 18 2/28/13 4:57 PM
History of open source in government 19
Later in 2009, CENDI, an organization of of that very popular open source license
government managers, issues a FAQ69 on in the context of government procurement
copyright and open source to help agency regulations. Clearly, the government’s
lawyers understand open source licensing understanding of open source had grown
and the sometimes confusing intellectual more sophisticated since its first tentative
property questions that they pose. A few forays a decade before. A survey conducted
months later, for the first time since 2004, by Lockheed Martin73 at this time found that
OMB refreshes its open source guidance with 69% of government contractors and 40%
the “Technology Neutrality” memo, remind- of federal agency respondents were already
ing agencies that competition in software is using open source. The survey also found
important, and that they are forbidden from that 66% of all respondents said that they
discriminating against software based on would be using more open source in the next
its development method. Once this memo 12-18 months.
was published, most of the barriers to open
With this increased comfort, 2011 also saw
source adoption had been diminished or
the release of more open source software
eliminated in the US government.
from the government than ever before. The
Unburdened, open source continued its White House released portions of the code
growth in 2011. Sue Peyton’s Open Tech- for whitehouse.gov, the code for the Federal
nology Development Roadmap from 2006 CIO’s IT Dashboard, and the data.gov plat-
receives a “Lessons Learned70” sequel, which form. At the end of 2011, the Federal CIO an-
makes recommendations to DOD programs nounced a draft “Shared First” policy, which
interested in releasing their own software. mandates re-use and sharing of IT resources
Eben Moglen, one of the most prominent amongst civilian agencies, and specifically
open source lawyers in the country, and mentions that agencies should collaborate
head of the Software Freedom Law Center71, on software development. Also, NASA
releases “Government Computer Software releases code.nasa.gov, a landmark project
Acquisition and the GNU General Public to centralize all the source code released by
License72,” which explains the provisions NASA in one citizen-friendly web site74.
69 http://www.cendi.gov/publications/09-1FAQ_ 72 https://acc.dau.mil/adl/en-US/475584/
OpenSourceSoftware_FINAL_110109.pdf file/60698/OSS%20White%20Paper%2010-11.pdf
70 http://hrbaportal.org/wp-content/files/RBA-in- 73 http://www.marketconnectionsinc.com/Reports/
AP-region3.pdf intersection-of-open-source-and-the-cloud.html
71 http://softwarefreedom.org/ 74 http://code.nasa.gov/project/
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 19 2/28/13 4:57 PM
20 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
So we see the adoption of open source in get, and other agencies are not just using
the Federal government as an evolution: the open source, but creating and releasing open
first furtive steps in the late 1990s and early source software of their own.
2000s, manifested in persuasive essays and
Did I miss a major event? A major code
studies. From there, certain organizations
release? Let me know in the comments.
like NASA and the Army take leadership
roles in open source adoptions. From 2003 [This is a writeup I did as a companion to the
to 2009, a series of policies institutionalize History of Open Source in Government Time-
its use throughout the government. By the line75. Karl Fogel76 and I will be presenting
close of the first decade, the White House, more findings77 from the timeline at OSCON78
NASA, the Office of Management and Bud- this year.]
75 http://atechnologyjobisnoexcuse.com/2011/12/ 77 http://atechnologyjobisnoexcuse.com/event/os-
building-a-timeline-of-open-source-in-the-us- con-2012/
government/ 78 http://www.oscon.com/oscon2012
76 http://www.red-bean.com/kfogel/
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 20 2/28/13 4:57 PM
Building a Civic
Article
Commons
Title 21
Building a Civic
Commons
Abhi Nemani, Director of Strategy and Communications at Code for America
(originally published August 2011)
Amid the last two decades' astounding cies and innovative services in our lives
advances in consumer and enterprise tech- as citizens and consumers. In a digitally
nologies, governments at the city and county interconnected world, governments don’t
level–ones that are responsible for delivering have to operate in isolation. They can pool
public services every day–have largely been their resources, their talents, and their
standing on the sidelines. Civic Commons79 is ever-shrinking budgets to build shared tech-
a new non-profit initiative that’s dedicated nologies, save money, and innovate.
to helping government embrace the trans-
Some80 of81 this82 is already happening, but
formative potential of shared technologies
there are still technical, political, and cultural
and collaborative development techniques
barriers in place that are inhibiting wide-
that have been pioneered and proven in the
spread collaboration. And it’s those barriers
private sector.
that Civic Commons is hoping to bring down.
We believe that governments can now take
advantage of the same technologies that
have generated such enormous efficien-
79 http://commons.codeforamerica.org/ 81 http://blog.civiccommons.org/2011/01/sf-eas-
80 http://opensource.com/government/11/3/federal- open-sourced/
it-dashboard-goes-open-source 82 http://opensource.com/government/11/4/tru-
ly-open-vista
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 21 2/28/13 4:57 PM
22 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
Here’s how: roadmap to share what they have. We aim to
change that.
· Helping governments open their code. 83
We work directly with government entities Enter the Commons Project: this project
to turn the applications they’re developing will foster the creation and growth of a
into shareable public goods. community of civic technologists sharing not
only information about the applications they
· Documenting technologies, practices, and
use and their experiences with them, but
policies.84 Our wiki is one of the most com-
also the very application code. Think of it like
prehensive sources on open data, open
a community-driven civic app store. By con-
source software, and open government.
necting the nation’s best civic innovators, we
· Building community.85 We are working to will stimulate better IT decision making and
strengthen and connect the worldwide the reuse of civic code across the country.
network of government and civic technol-
We’re just getting started on the project, and
ogists.
you can help us make it successful. We need
Finally, we’re also building the technology to inventory the civic technology currently
infrastructure needed to help governments being deployed by governments across the
share technology: the "commons." Civic tech- country to seed the commons. That’s where
nology experts have recognized the benefits you come in. As active members of the open
of sharing technology among governments source community, you have the insight into
and institutions. However, instances of suc- what technology is being used where. Please
cessful collaboration and sharing are still few share your knowledge here, and you can help
and far between, in part because there is us build the Civic Commons.86
no easy, structured way to share knowledge
about this software, let alone the software
itself. There is no one place to go to look
for civic software that cities need, and no
83 http://blog.civiccommons.org/about/technical-as- 85 http://commons.codeforamerica.org/community
sistance/ 86 https://spreadsheets0.google.com/spreadsheet/
84 http://wiki.civiccommons.org/ viewform?formkey=dE8xdktjQVQ5bXVZMEk5OGh-
wWkFIQUE6MQ
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 22 2/28/13 4:57 PM
Creating legislation the open Article
source Title
way 23
Creating legislation
the open source way
Marek Mahut, System Engineer for Red Hat Czech (originally published September 2012)
In recent weeks we've seen a number islative staff with the help of a few lobbyists
of projects in the area of collaborative and subject matter experts. With advances in
legislation that operate similarly to open technology, bills introduced into a legisla-
source software. Today, you can find French87, tive body are now often posted online, but
German88, and Swiss89 proposals in git changes are submitted by other legislators,
repositories. If you're a developer familiar or can be suggested via email, letters, or
with these tools, it's easy for you to review phone calls from citizens. It isn't the most
the patches (bills), submit your own, and efficient or transparent process.
collaborate around the code (law). These
Governments, with help from legal academia
are exciting projects undertaken by people
and ordinary citizens, could be pushing
in many different countries, but very few
forward systems that could make the
governing bodies appear to be harnessing
democratic process easier, more effective,
their citizens' input.
and cheaper–as we know, democracy is not
Under a traditional 'democratic' system, bills cheap! So, why not utilize technology to help
are often drafted behind closed doors by leg- us with it?
87 http://gitorious.org/law-is-code 89 https://github.com/swisslaw/
88 https://github.com/bundestag/
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 23 2/28/13 4:57 PM
24 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
There are now a few government-sponsored software may come from LEOS91, Legisla-
projects aiming at this problem, such as the tion Editing Open Software, an open source
legislation portal90 of the Slovak Republic's project funded by the ISA92 for the European
Ministry of Justice, where you can comment Union expected to be completed in 2015.
on laws in the making. Sadly, because this
I think this is the question for discussion: Is
portal is closed source, it cannot expand
legislative collaboration one of the essential
due to vendor lock-in and the lack of public
parts of eGovernment?
access to the source code. More interesting
90 https://lt.justice.gov.sk/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDe- 92 http://ec.europa.eu/isa/
tectCookieSupport=1
91 http://ec.europa.eu/isa/actions/01-trusted-infor-
mation-exchange/1-13action_en.htm
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 24 2/28/13 4:57 PM
How federal agencies can implement and benefit from transparency
Article Title 25
How federal agen-
cies can implement
and benefit from
transparency
Tom Moritz, Project Director at Sonoma Valley Heritage Coalition
(originally published October 2011)
The publication, Guide to Owning Transpar- an essential democratic value irrespective
ency: How Federal Agencies Can Implement of whether data originates in the private or
and Benefit from Transparency 93, was public sectors. It includes both primary sci-
released earlier this month and is the result entific data, as well as data and information
of an extended collaboration. The guide was about organizational practice.
sponsored by the US Office of Personnel
Open source, specifically, has an important
Management (formerly the US Civil Service
part to play in the open government move-
Commission)–which is the "human resourc-
ment. Open source software is, by definition,
es" agency for the US Government.
transparent. It is developed by a democratic
Transparency–as in the free and open community of users and shared in an egali-
sharing of scientific information and data–is tarian way.
93 http://openforumfoundation.org/wp-content/up-
loads/2011/10/A-Guide-to-Owning-Transparency.
pdf
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 25 2/28/13 4:57 PM
26 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
Moreover, when budgetary constraints are sector, open government seeks to improve
imposing severe limits on government's the transparency of government operations
ability to adapt to a dynamically changing so that both the government and the public
technical environment, open source software can make well-informed judgments about
minimizes the transaction costs associated the relative efficiency and effectiveness of
with adaptation and use. government, about the success of govern-
ment programs in meeting their intended
Some of key legal, technical, and budget-
missions. Thomas Jefferson argued that
ary challenges are outlined in Chapter 4,
such transparency would enable "every
"Constraints on Transparency." In the interest
member of Congress, and every man of any
of transparency (and disclosure), I authored
mind in the Union... to comprehend..., to
Chapter 4 as a volunteer.
investigate abuses, and consequently to
In the private sector, transparency focuses control them..." (Jefferson, 1802, as quoted
on disclosures of information and data in Rawson and Miner, 2006).
essential to the informed evaluation of the
What are your thoughts on these issues and
performance of for-profit corporations and
on transparency in government?
not-for-profit organizations. In the public
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 26 2/28/13 4:57 PM
Five essential elements of an open government unconference
Article Title 27
Five essential
elements of an
open government
unconference
Jason Hibbets, Project Manager in Corporate Marketing at Red Hat
(originally published January 2012)
Joining the open source (and CityCamp) I interned at Red Hat in 2000, which
movement has been one of the best expe- introduced me to the open source way 94. I
riences of my life. I've been involved with joined the company full-time in 2003. I've
open source for over a decade, but I never come across a lot of open source projects,
got involved in a community project in any but nothing grabbed my attention quite like
significant way–until I found CityCamp. I ha- CityCamp. I got involved with the movement
ven't submitted a single line of code, but I'm earlier this year and it has allowed me to
able to bring my project management and blend my open source experience and com-
community-building skills to the table. That's munity management skills with my passion
important because it highlights the fact that for participatory government.
there is more to open source contributions
than writing code.
94 http://opensource.com/open-source-way
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 27 2/28/13 4:57 PM
28 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
I jumped right into the thick of things and 1. Generate ideas before the camp. Partici-
helped organize CityCamp Raleigh95. I was pating in an unconference like CityCamp is
able to attend CityCamp Colorado96 and City- new to many people. Especially when you
Camp Honolulu97. I was bummed to miss out include many varied participants: citizens,
on CityCamp Minnesota98. I learned a great municipal workers, developers, designers,
deal by participating in other camps and elected officials, and anyone else inter-
from following the ones I couldn't attend. ested in participating. You can overcome
these barriers by gathering problems citi-
I really liked how the CityCamp movement
zens face and generating ideas for solving
took an open source approach, especially
them before your conference starts.
for the brand99. Any city or community,
This helps people make the connection
worldwide, that has people who want to
between open government and how they
organize and advance their local open
can participate. It also gives people a
government movement is free to adapt the
reason to attend and allows the organiz-
CityCamp framework and brand for their
ers to invite key stakeholders from their
mission–as long as it's in-line with the goals
local government. Most groups are doing
of CityCamp100.
this online using technology such as User
I've met a lot of great people along the way Voice, which includes a voting feature. The
and seen some amazing things happen in key here is to make sure there are ideas
the course of a weekend. In the spirit of populated on the forum when people
giving back, I gathered some of the docu- visit. Have your planning group generate
mentation101 used for CityCamp Raleigh and at least 3-5 ideas before you announce it.
shared it with other planning groups. Now I Also, make sure users who visit can build
want to share some of the observations and on those ideas.
lessons learned from all my 2011 CityCamp
2. P
air municipal staff with ideas. Now that
experiences.
you've got some ideas before your camp,
Five organizing tips for a successful invite key stakeholders to participate. If
CityCamp you have an idea with community interest
If you're thinking about planning a CityCamp, and a high number of votes, show this
you've probably already discovered the 'start momentum to a department or agency
a camp'102 page. Based on my experience that can foster the idea and make real
attending several events, planning one event, progress. It is important to have access
and mentoring other planners, there are to data or internal knowledge that can
a few best practices that can improve the help municipal staff identify barriers that
outcome of a CityCamp significantly. will need to be worked out, or other plans
95 http://opensource.com/government/11/6/ 99 h ttp://opensource.com/government/11/5/how-
citycamp-raleigh-creating-citizen-move- citycamp-became-open-source-brand
ment-open-government 100 http://citycamp.govfresh.com/about/
96 http://opensource.com/government/11/11/pow- 101 h ttp://citycamp.govfresh.com/jump-
er-shift-effect-open-government start-your-citycamp-planning/
97 h ttp://opensource.com/government/11/12/restor- 102 h ttp://citycamp.govfresh.com/start-a-camp/
ing-trust-government
98 h ttp://opensource.com/government/11/11/maxi-
mizing-possibilities-citycampmn
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Five essential elements of an open government unconference 29
that need to be considered. The staff 4. Bring in an outside perspective. At each
often wants to help out, and is happy to camp that I've attended, there have been
engage with CityCampers because you attendees from out-of-town. This was
are working together towards a common extremely valuable for CityCamp Raleigh
goal. As a team working towards the (my hometown), because it helped gen-
same goals, any 'us versus them' men- erate different ideas and build on what's
tality goes away. It also helps to create happening at other camps in other cities.
accountability on the government side, as This cross-pollination of ideas is powerful
well as a level of excitement–new people and, as more camps start up, this will be
working on something new to them, with more important. At CityCamp Honolulu, I
(hopefully) new and creative approaches. was one of a handful of people providing
I have found that if you don't have access that outside perspective. I found myself
to municipal staff, your ideas can poten- helping the organizers, brainstorming
tially stall and progress will take longer. with attendees, moderating sessions, and
sitting for a panel. If you're attending
3. Document. Document. Document. It may
a CityCamp–whether near or far–be
sound like an easy thing to do, but pulling
prepared to play multiple roles.
it off with all the other things happening
may be more difficult than you'd expect. 5. H
ave an action plan after the camp.
My number one piece of advice: Don't let You'll have a great time at your CityCamp
documentation become an afterthought. event. It will be even better if attendees
At CityCamp Honolulu, they hooked up have something to look forward to at the
with University of Hawaii journalism end. Whatever you decide to do, I think
students who helped to document each it's important to establish a cadence–a
breakout session. These summaries are regular repeated event or engagement–
now posted on their wiki103. This has two that keeps the community coming back
major benefits. First, ideas and sessions together. There are a variety of ways to
are documented for people that cannot do this.
attend camp in person. This lets them
· Before the end of your camp, host a
participate later and serves as a reference
session to organize the next steps. Get
for those who were there. Second, the in-
folks who want to help advance your local
volvement of students helps boost energy
movement generate ideas to keep things
and increases the familiarity with a lot of
moving. This will help you get new folks on
the technologies, tools, and processes.
your planning committee and, in the long-
In most major universities, students are
term, prevent burnout.
coming in contact with some form of
open source. Students are more likely to · CityCamp San Francisco participates in
be users of social media and web-based Third Thursdays, a monthly meet-up. They
collaboration tools. They are tomorrow's recently held a hackathon104 that brought
leaders–and it's important to invite and together developers and other creative
include them in your camp. professionals. The goals were to build
103 http://citycamphnl.wikispaces.com/ 104 h ttp://opensource.com/government/11/12/grani-
cus-hosts-citycampsf-hackathon-promote-civ-
ic-innovation-and-open-government
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 29 2/28/13 4:57 PM
30 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
applications that deliver valuable resources Burt Lum have also committed to monthly
to the community. meet-ups. Having a road map is important
to show campers the journey you plan on
· CityCamp Colorado helped create a local
taking.
Open Government Directive105 at their first
camp. At this years camp, they explored Those are some key lesson learned from my
ways to help further the adoption of the 2011 CityCamp experiences. Did you attend
directive. In other words, have your camp a CityCamp and learn something new? I
work on a project that extends beyond welcome those ideas and other thoughts in
your unconference to keep campers moti- the comments.
vated and engaged.
· CityCamp Raleigh has been hosting
quarterly meet-ups and is looking at
having a forum/hackathon in early 2012.
CityCampers have also started a local wiki
project106 that allows both developers and
citizens to contribute to a common knowl-
edge platform. A wiki project is a great way
to get non-developers involved.
· CityCamp Honolulu laid out a timeline
at the start of their camp. They have a
hackathon planned for January 2012 and
a Code for America project coming in Feb-
ruary 2012. Organizers Forest Frizzell and
105 http://opencolorado.org/blog/model-open-gov- 106 http://www.midtownraleighnews.
ernment-directive/ com/2011/11/15/10051/something-wiki-this-
way-comes.html
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 30 2/28/13 4:57 PM
Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government 31
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 31 2/28/13 4:57 PM
32 Open Voices: Applying open source principles to government
image credits
All imagery in this booklet is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported license (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Cover image
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/5124114354
Open government, what is it really?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4459199503
The U.S. Government promotes open innovation–
Is it now mainstream?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4968547566
How Consumer Finance made
open source both a policy and a mission
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/5538036046
History of open source in government
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4581225603
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 32 2/28/13 4:57 PM
Image Credits 33
Building a Civic Commons
http://commons.codeforamerica.org/about
Creating legislation the open source way
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/6005726327
How federal agencies can implement
and benefit from transparency
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/7496800772
Five essential elements of an open government unconference
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4437604591
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 33 2/28/13 4:57 PM
Written content is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Download an electronic copy of this book at http://opensource.com/opengov
OSDC_GOV_10052887_1212_ma_REV.indd 34 2/28/13 4:57 PM