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Think of all the websites, online applications and tools you use every day to communicate with colleagues, track projects and serve the public. None of that would be possible without code. You personally benefit from open source code every day and probably don’t know it. For example, when you download this resource guide from GovLoop.com, you're accessing it from a website built and coded on open source software. If you use the Firefox web browser, you’re benefiting from open source.
The issue in government is that agencies spend billions of dollars on custom-developed software, and more often than not they don’t share it with fellow agencies that could benefit from reusing it — let alone the public.
Per the Federal Source Code Policy issued in August 2016, federal agencies are required to release at least 20 percent of new custom-developed code as open source software for three years. Agencies are still working toward this goal but are now viewing open source as a part of a larger plan to modernize IT systems and migrate to the cloud.
Check out this new guide to learn from common open source misconceptions and how to use open source in the public sector.
