[PublicPolicy] Open Sourcing Government Code

[Jim Hall]

My quick introduction as suggested by Patrick:
I'm Jim Hall, and I have been involved in open source since 1993. I've
worked in/on tons of open source projects since then, but I'm probably most
closely connected with FreeDOS <https://www.freedos.org/> and GNOME
<https://www.gnome.org/>.

I served as CIO in local government for 3+ years (and CIO in higher ed for
an additional 5 1/2 years before then) and continue to work with state and
local governments as part of my consulting practice.

In 2018, I wrote an article for Gov CIO Outlook about The Next Step is Open
Source
<https://homeland-security.govciooutlook.com/cioviewpoint/the-next-step-is-open-source-nid-269.html>
where
I argued that governments have already embraced open data, and the next
step should be open source of tools and other software developed in-house.
Gov CIO Outlook is print-first, so they didn't include my links when they
ran the article. **I tried to attach the PDF to my email but it was too
big. I've temporarily shared it
here: The-next-step-is-open-source-article.pdf
<http://The-next-step-is-open-source-article.pdf>*

I had a productive discussion with the Minnesota State CIO (Commissioner
Tarek Tomes) earlier this year, discussing how to get Minnesota to open
source its own tools - our meeting was literally *right after* Minnesota
announced our first confirmed case of COVID19. I haven't been able to meet
with Comm. Tomes since then.

Jim

On Wed, May 27, 2020 at 11:01 AM Shimon Shore <ShimonS at most.gov.il> wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> I would like to start a discussion about publishing government code. I
> have some of my own ideas but I would like to hear what others have to say.
>
>
>
> Why should a government open source their code?
>
>
>
> What is the best way to get government offices to Open Source code?
>
>
>
> How successful have internal government programs been in getting code
> released as Open Source? Examples would be appreciated.
>
>
>
> Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Shimon
>
>
>
> *Shimon Shore*
>
> Chief Architect, Open Source Program
> *Israel Ministry of Science and Technology <http://www.most.gov.il/>*
>
> *Israel Ministry of Culture and Sport*
>
> [image: cid:image002.jpg at 01D25074.DFC14760]
>
> *שמעון שור*
>
> ארכיטקט ראשי, מיזם קוד פתוח
>
> *משרד המדע והטכנולוגיה <http://www.most.gov.il/>*
>
> *משרד התרבות והספורט*
>
> 074-7009550
>
> 054-9042380
>
> shimons at most.gov.il
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Publicpolicy mailing list
> Publicpolicy at lists.opensource.org
>
> http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/publicpolicy_lists.opensource.org
>
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