GOVERNMENT OPEN CODE COLLABORATIVE Claudia Boldman, MA Kathy Sachs, KS Mark Headd, DE

Agenda Overview, background and current status – Claudia Boldman Shared code in KS Secretary of State office – Kathy Sachs Value proposition – Mark Headd Q & A

Overview Voluntary association of public sector entities and academia Still in the formative stage No affiliation with professional or private sector organizations Entirely self-supporting Purpose: – Code sharing and reuse – Collaboration in software development, best practices and potential solutions to government business problems – Foster innovation – Help lower the cost of IT

Background The Massachusetts experience – One-off negotiations with other government entities Need to better structure code sharing relationships with other government entities – Streamline agreements among entities for code sharing – Formalize best practices/due diligence – Bring together information about what’s available

Background Organizing meeting held in December, 2003 Sponsored by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts together with Harvard University and MIT Developing a Repository based on open source software Working on legal framework and operating agreements

Current Status Ten public sector entities have signed the Joint Statement to date: – CIO, MA – CIO, City of Gloucester, MA – CIO, City of Worcester, MA – Office of the Secretary of State, RI – CIO, PA – CIO, UT – Secretary of State Office, KS – State Treasurer's Office, KS – Secretary of State Office, MO – Auditor's Office, WV

Current Status 46 additional individuals have joined as Observers representing: – Public sector entities – Academia – Public sector associations (i.e.- NAAG) Elected leadership team: – Peter Quinn (MA), Chair – Mike Wells (Gloucester, MA), Local Gov’t lead – Jim Willis (RI), Technical Lead – Kathy Sachs (KS), Policy Lead RI developing Repository to be hosted by URI

Current Status Finalizing Operating Agreement Planning public announcement Identifying code for sharing Expecting approval for GOCC.gov domain List serv administered by NY serves as primary communications mechanism Holding conference calls every other week utilizing KS communications bridge MIT and Harvard continue to provide academic support and guidance

Use of Shared Code Kathy Sachs: How is KS Secretary of State office using shared code?

The Value of Open Code Public sector entities have common business problems. Governments in all states and at all levels tax, license, regulate, etc. For most activities, governments are not in direct competition – one state can’t license another state’s drivers. Shared code = less costly answers to common business problems.

The Value of Open Code Code that is shared can provide the basis for collaborative relationships between governments. Receiving entities benefit from the work done by other governments. Contributing entities benefit from valuable feedback from external consumers of their applications. Shared code = foundation for a better dialogue between governments on best ways to solve problems.

The Value of Open Code Shareable code is more likely to be platform and hardware agnostic. Shareable code more likely to adhere to object- oriented development methodologies. Shareable code is more likely to be completely and more comprehensively documented. Shared code = incentives for good software development.