Eleven government agencies have officially launched the
Government Open Code Collaborative, a voluntary effort between the
public sector and nonprofit academic institutions to encourage the
sharing of computer code developed for and by government
entities.
The organisation wants to break down barriers to sharing
computer code among various government entities, said Peter Quinn,
CIO of the commonwealth of Massachusetts and chairman of the new
GOCC.
"We in the commonwealth have tried to share the fruits of our IT
development with other states in the past, and when we've done
that, we've had to negotiate agreements with the lawyers of other
states' agencies, and it becomes very laborious, time-consuming and
expensive," Quinn said.
Quinn said the group wants to set up a legal and operational
framework to allow various US government entities to be able to
transfer code they develop to other government operations, free of
charge.
"In thinking about open-source development, we would develop
something, give it to somebody else, and they would enhance it, and
we would [all] benefit from the enhancement," he said.
The effort began last December, Quinn said, when several US
government agencies from around the country joined together to
create the GOCC. The group is not affiliated with any professional
organisation or company, nor will it accept money or in-kind
services from any supplier - a move aimed at keeping it
independent, he said.
The signers of the agreement can "deposit" code as well as
withdraw it. While any legal government agency or quasi
public/private organisation can withdraw code, none is allowed to
deposit code unless it has signed the GOCC agreement.
"To make this as communal as possible and to reach the widest
possible audience, we decided any agency within a city or town and
any legal entity within a state could participate," Quinn said.
"For example, the legislatures can sign up themselves, or the
secretaries of state can sign up, or different constitutional
officers can sign up, as well as the quasi public/private
organisations. Creating these communities of interest is the best
way to generate an opportunity for everybody."
Linda Rosencrance writes for Computerworld