The White House Office of the National Cyber Director has issued a request for information on open source software security.
From the White House fact sheet:
ONCD has established an Open-Source Software Security Initiative (OS3I) to champion the adoption of memory safe programming languages and open-source software security. The security and resiliency of open-source software is a national security, economic, and a technology innovation imperative. Because open-source software plays a vital and ubiquitous role across the Federal Government and critical infrastructure, (1) vulnerabilities in open-source software components may cause widespread downstream detrimental effects. The Federal Government recognizes the immense benefits of open-source software, which enables software development at an incredible pace and fosters significant innovation and collaboration. In light of these factors, as well as the status of open-source software as a free public good, it may be appropriate to make open-source software a national public priority to help ensure the security, sustainability, and health of the open-source software ecosystem.
From the RFI:
The RFI aims to further the work of OS3I by identifying areas most appropriate to focus government priorities, and addressing critical questions such as:
- How should the Federal Government contribute to driving down the most important systemic risks in open-source software?
- How can the Federal Government help foster the long-term sustainability of open-source software communities?
- How should open-source software security solutions be implemented from a technical and resourcing perspective?
We hope that potential respondents will view this RFI as a civic opportunity to help shape the government’s thinking about open-source software security.
We built a re-imagined version of USAJOBS using the USAJOBS API. This includes:
Data used for this project:
Big kudos to USAJOBS for:
Federal government jobs listing on USA.GovFresh:
Share your feedback on the USA.GovFresh repo.
]]>We built a hoverable map of weekly notifiable disease cases across the United States using the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System API provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prention.
Data used for this project:
Big kudos to CDC for:
Notifiable diseases page on USA.GovFresh:
Share your feedback on the USA.GovFresh repo.
]]>We built a cybersecurity news page using the RSS feeds from CISA. This includes:
Data used for this project:
Big kudos to CISA for:
Cybersecurity news page:
Share your feedback on the USA.GovFresh repo.
]]>We built a drug look-up tool of Food and Drug Administration approved medicines using the National Drug Code Directory API. This includes:
Each drug listing includes:
Data used for this project:
Big kudos to FDA for:
Drug search:
Example drug listing:
Share your feedback on the USA.GovFresh repo.
]]>We built a ]national parks directory](https://usa.govfresh.com/pars) using the U.S. National Park Service API. This includes:
Each park page includes:
Data used for this project:
Big kudos to NPS for:
National parks listings:
Example national park page (Yosemite):
Share your feedback on the USA.GovFresh repo.
]]>We built a survey mark finder app from data provided by the National Geodetic Survey. This includes:
Data used for this project:
Big kudos to NGS for:
GeoMarks app:
Share your feedback on the USA.GovFresh repo.
]]>2022 was transformative for me.
This year, I’ve re-imagined what GovFresh could be and worked towards building that out (more on this in January).
I also changed the context of my work with ProudCity and eliminated (nearly) all of the noise surrounding the government technology market and just stayed focused on building a great business that helps local governments deliver great digital services.
Even before the change in Twitter ownership and, with the exception of LinkedIn, I’ve been intentional about avoiding distractions – especially social media trappings – and have just focused on doing the work.
The results of this will show up more in 2023, and I’m excited about what’s to come. I’m looking forward to learning and meeting new people doing amazing work that’s changing the way we think about democracy.
Based on many conversations, I wrote about pedigree and public interest technology, something I think will increasingly be a topic of discussion in 2023.
So much of the leadership and noise in public interest technology is based on academic background rather than true meritocracy.
Folks are hesitant to openly discuss this for fear of professional retribution, and it would help if more people with pedigree backgrounds openly acknowledged and worked towards changing the dynamic. I think folks who are tired of being slighted will begin to press for this conversation to happen.
With social media’s reckoning, government must rethink its long-term communications strategy. My piece on RSS and government captures why it’s important for public sector institutions to default to an open standard and more of an interoperable approach to information sharing.
It’s important to leverage social media, including Medium, but we must also begin to think critically about and execute on a foundational strategy that is platform-agnostic and sustainable.
One of the civic projects I’m most proud of is Proudly Serving, a playbook to help local governments build people-centered digital public services.
What I love about this project is both working with my co-maintainers (Rebecca Woodbury, Marlena Medford, Kirsten Wyatt) and building it openly and collaboratively.
We have an amazing list of contributors, and I invite anyone to think about contributing. The central GitHub repository and project board gives insight into how we’re working.
My hope is that similar projects will grow from this when it’s complete, because I think it’s a framework for communities to build a resource openly and collaboratively, and a great way to exercise key muscles of democracy.
One of the greatest joys of 2022 has been civic hacking with my son, Elias.
All of this is on display (in very much alpha) at USA.GovFresh. I’ve written some about it and will update more by year’s end, but it’s been amazing to build with him, watch him learn and, most importantly, learn from him.
I started a new Q&A feature (Direct message) and got the chance to open up conversations to the general public with folks I think are doing amazing work, including Rebecca Woodbury, Victor Sauceda, Andrew Hening, Marlena Medford, Carla Briceno and Angie Quirarte.
Notable books I read in 2022 were Ro Khanna’s Dignity in a Digital Age and Citizens by Jon Alexander and Ariane Conrad. There are many others, especially as I listen to more audiobooks, but those two stand out.
Up next is Lori Garver’s Escaping Gravity, which I will start reading at the beginning of the new year.
The GovFresh Podcast will launch in 2023. This is a continuation and re-branding of The Government We Need, but it’ll be just me hosting.
I’ve started a GovFresh community with a small group of amazing people. Honestly, it’s one of the most fulfilling moments of my days, and I’m grateful for the folks who’ve joined. I’m particularly grateful for Mary, Shira, Marlena, Kirsten, Art, Rebecca and Lenae for being especially engaged.
It’s currently invite only, and if you would like to join, send an email to community@govfresh.com with ‘GovFresh community’ in the subject.
The work we’re doing is important. Sometimes it’s extremely hard and thankless. Remember to take time for yourself, whether it’s an hour walk, a reset day, the week, month, whatever. But also make sure to show gratitude to others for the work they’re doing. We don’t have to be constantly in motion or distressed.
If we’re not grounded and present, then it will show up inherently – and quietly – in the work.
The context for civic technology should be joy – for those doing the work and those receiving the services we build.
Have something we should share or someone we should connect with? Send your tips to signal@govfresh.com.
]]>Every two weeks, we’ll share conversations, observations, and what we’re paying attention to.
]]>We built a space photo of the day page using the astronomy picture of the day API provided by NASA. This includes:
Data used for this project:
Big kudos to NASA for:
Photo of the day:
Share your feedback on the USA.GovFresh repo.
]]>