GitHub has a great write-up of how open source community contributions played a key role in helping NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter achieve lift-off on Mars.
Working in public
Nadia Eghbal’s “Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software” is a deep and intellectual dive into the nuances of open source, yet still an excellent resource for government officials to both understand its role and importance in building civic technology, but is also relatable in many ways to the concepts of public service and public goods.
RAND report offers insights into second generation open source intelligence
The RAND Corporation published Defining Second Generation Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) for the Defense Enterprise, a thoroughly informative report on how the intelligence community can better define and leverage technology to improve its approach to open source intelligence.
Governments now have access to a centralized resource of open source coronavirus projects
New America has launched the Pandemic Response Repository that will serve as a centralized location for open source projects aimed at helping governments respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
GitHub opens up about its relationship with ICE
In a post on the GitHub blog, CEO Nat Friedman publicly addressed the company’s business relationship with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, its opinion on the current administration’s immigration policy and “the principles by which we make decisions in these areas.”
GAO tells Defense Department to ‘fully implement’ open source pilot program
The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report assessing the lackluster status of the Defense Department’s open source pilot program, saying that until the agency effectively implements this, “the department will not be positioned to take advantage of significant cost savings and efficiencies.”
New GovPress update
After a long hiatus, GovPress — the WordPress theme for government — has been updated.
Code.gov gets a U.S. Web Design System refresh
Code.gov — the platform that makes it easier to find open source code developed by the U.S. Government — announced updates that includes aesthetics aligned with the U.S. Web Design System and better adherence to accessibility standards.
Part 2: Re-imagining the California DMV website
It’s been a week since I published my thoughts on re-imagining the California Department of Motor Vehicles website. During that time, the issues I had with not receiving my REAL ID were resolved and the process inspired me to think and prototype a little more on the first iteration.
Liquid democracy: Blockchains and governance in the post nation-state era
Intrigued by what Democracy Earth Foundation is doing to leverage the power of blockchain to empower a different approach to democracy, I asked the team to share more about its work.
Canada adopts open source mandate for government software
The Government of Canada has issued an information technology directive on business, information, application, technology and security architectures that includes a mandate to prioritize open source software.
U.S. Defense Department escalates commitment to open source software
The U.S. Defense Department is escalating its commitment to open source software with a proactive push for agency participation to publicly share custom-developed code.
California issues open source, code reuse policy
The California Department of Technology has set a new standard for state government technology offices, releasing an open source and code reuse policy “to better support cost efficiency, effectiveness, and the public’s experience with government programs.”
Register for DKAN Open Data Summit
For those passionate about cultivating a more sustainable, open source oriented open data community, the first DKAN Open Data Summit is scheduled for August 1, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
Values for government technology
Earlier this year, CityGrows co-founder Catherine Geanuracos proposed values for government technology, and its a great foundation for those serving government or the public to adopt.
Federal agency blockchain group to convene July 18
The General Services Administration will host an in-person U.S. Federal Blockchain Forum meeting on July 18 in Washington, D.C., as part of an effort to facilitate virtual currency adoption within the federal government.
OpenGov expands to open source, open data
Open Gov’s CEO Zac Bookman shares how OpenGov the company’s new open data solution will impact public administration – including how governments engage with citizens such as civic developers.
Why open source matters for government and civic tech (and how to support it)
The Open Knowledge Foundation and University of Cambridge recently published a must-read and circulate widely report on why open source software matters for government and civic tech and how to support it.
White House makes open source official, will launch Code.gov to share U.S. government software
The White House released an official Federal Source Code policy that green lights the use and free distribution of software code developed for and by the U.S. Government.
If Clinton is president, she’ll expand USDS, federal open source and open data efforts
Hillary Clinton released her technology and innovation agenda that promises to expand the U.S. Digital Service and agency-specific digital teams, encourage the continued adoption of open source and open data and bring a more user-friendly approach to federal government operations.
Defining civic tech
Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about Omidyar Network’s recent report, “Engines of Change,” and the need to better label and define the movement happening around civics and government with respect to technology.
Government as ‘The Open Organization’
For those who want to learn how government can become more engaged institutionally, both internally and externally, “The Open Organization” is the blueprint.
Substantive feedback on White House open source policy as comment period extended
The White House extended the Federal Source Code Policy comment period to April 18 and, to date, there there are 147 comments with much of the discussion centered around licensing and security.
U.S. government releases federal open source policy
The White House has published a federal source code policy that requires custom code paid for by the U.S. government be made available to all federal agencies, and a portion be released to the public.
USPTO’s tech strategy is a blueprint for all government IT
I just discovered the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office strategic IT plan, which should serve as a blueprint for all government agency technology efforts.
5 principles of government software development
The inexorable march of technology and the rise of computers, software, and free and open source software in particular, requires that we articulate principles by which a government of the people, by the people, and for the people develops software.
USPTO preps for new website launch
The U.S. Patent and Trade Office plans to move its beta website, located at beta.uspto.gov, to the official agency domain, USPTO.gov, on February 5.
DHS report outlines challenges, opportunities of open source in government
The report emphasizes the importance of case studies to highlight open source execution within government, bringing more awareness to support and warranty options, simplify code release process and increase education around license guidance and procurement.
GovFresh guide to openFDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s openFDA initiative aims to “make it easier for web developers, researchers, and the public to access large, important public health datasets.”
Got natural disasters? There’s an open source emergency preparedness toolkit for that
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and woke up at to a 6.1 earthquake at 3:30 a.m. this morning, now would be a good time for citizens and local governments everywhere to take a look at City72 Toolkit.
An open data blueprint for the U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker recently announced the Department of Commerce will hire its first-ever chief data officer. I wanted to make sure that when this new and extremely important individual assumes their role, they have my latest thoughts on how to make the Department of Commerce developer portal the best it possibly can be, because this will be the driving force behind the rapidly expanding API driven economy.
Introducing GovPress
After several years of talking about and conceptualizing, and months of development, I’m proud to formally (and finally) release GovPress, a simple, elegant WordPress theme for government.
GitChat with Gavin Newsom
California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom is our next GitChat guest.
NASA re-launches open innovation efforts
NASA Deputy CIO and CTO for Information Technology Deborah Diaz introduced a new open innovation team via a rebooted open.nasa.gov.
NIST releases open source mobile app test tool
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released an open source tool, AppVet, that makes it easier for agencies to test mobile applications security and reliability.
GitHub and the C-suite social
Much like we pooh-poohed Twitter in those early days, GitHub, in its early crawl, is today dismissed simply as a tool for the diehard developer. However, as with any tool with great potential, innovators find new ways to leverage emerging technology to communicate, and government chief information and technology officers can effectively do this with GitHub.
New Zealand forks the United Kingdom
Perhaps the biggest civic open source story of 2013 was the government of New Zealand’s copying of the United Kingdom’s gov.uk code to begin building a new version of its own website.
Inside the new BART.gov
Bay Area Rapid Transit Web Services Manager Timothy Moore discusses the recent upgrade of its flagship website, BART.gov, including a Drupal migration, embracing agile development, encouraging third-party developers to build off its open data and APIs, and plans for the future.
GovFresh WP: building a government WordPress theme
Despite the fact that millions of websites around the world today are powered by low- and no-cost open source content management systems, nearly all small city governments remain trapped in the 90s. To date, however, this need hasn’t adequately been served, and we need to change this. We can change this.
Open source all the cities
Finally finished reading Jason Hibbets’ “The Foundation for an Open Source City,” a must-read for anyone interested in building a strong civic community, whether you’re an elected official, public servant or citizen.
White House opens huge opportunity for designers, developers to increase We the People engagement
The White House will soon open a limited beta test to developers on a new We the People Write API that allows third-party applications to submit information to official petitions.
Breaking the wall in Chicago
Over the past few years, the civic innovation movement has grown tremendously. It’s exploded really. Ten years ago, who would have imagined that Chicago would be a national leader in open government data?
We the People petitioners want access to healthcare.gov source code
A new We the People petition opened Sunday calling for the federal government to make the healthcare.gov source code publicly available “so we may help fix any found issues.”
FreshWrap: CfA Summit, procurement, healthcare.gov and more
A wrap-up of this week’s civic technology and open government news.
America needs a .gov backup plan
Regardless of what’s happening between the opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, why is America in this situation, and what can we do to ensure it never happens again?
SF mayor helps cut tape on new GitHub HQ, posts muni code repo
Lee announced the city posted municipal code on GitHub “to make it more accessible to our public.”
Help crowdfund this open source city book
Jason Hibbetts is a great guy and a true leader in the open government community, and he is asking for your support in helping fund the first 500 copies of his upcoming book, “The Foundation for an Open Source City.”
FreshWrap: Advice to civic hackers, open data field guide, paint your city
Weekly wrap-up of civic news.
Is Piwik government’s ‘open’ alternative to Google Analytics?
Piwik creator Matthieu Aubry shares how the open source real time web analytics tool may be a viable option for government.
Open source democracy
Great Clay Shirky TED Talk on how distributed version control and “having access to all the source code all of the time” will one day change the way government works.