MATTHEW BURTON » OPEN SOURCE FOR GOVERNMENT

WHAT?

In June 2008, I conceived an organization that would develop and deploy tailor-made open source software for government agencies.

I am pursuing this idea. This is a list of project-related documents:

• The original idea (under "Provide your services...")
• A concept document with a hypothetical workflow
• An extended version of the above. This is a modified version of the proposal I submitted to the Open Society Fellowship.
• An interview with Dave Witzel

And a few articles for background:

• Why US Government IT fails
• Railhead, the terrorist watchlist failure: 1 | 2
• The FBI's Virtual Case File failure
• South African government goes 100% open source: 1 | 2

WHY?

If you're a government employee, because the programs you use from your computer at work should work just as well as the Web sites you use from home. Government employees use shoddy software to provide vital public services. Open source Web developers can do a much better job.

If you're a government leader, because you'll save hundreds of millions of dollars using open source software. And despite the rumors, open source software is not a security risk.

If you're a developer, because it's a unique opportunity to play a part in your own governance: save tax dollars while making the government more efficient AND more transparent.

If you're a citizen, because you have a right to know what your government is up to. Afterall, your tax dollars are paying for it, so shouldn't you have rights to it?

HOW?

Read this.

WANT TO HELP?

I'm looking for: funders and a parent organization; advocates who will help promote this idea; government-side champions; and developers. If you are one of these or can point me to one, write to me.