Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
Governments aiming to digitally transform their services through cloud technology often face a significant hurdle: delivering scalable, accessible, and secure innovations for their citizens amidst limitations in skilled talent, budget, and timeframe. Embracing open source technology – or taking the “open source road” – addresses this challenge by enabling governments to utilize code, architecture, and technical designs that have been tested and validated by other organizations, including fellow governments.
The open source strategy is both secure and pragmatic, significantly reducing project timelines by leveraging openly available code and robust standards, typically at no cost. This allows for customization to meet specific objectives. During my time as the service manager for the UK government’s Digital Marketplace, I witnessed firsthand the advantages of open source in the public sector. Coupled with transparent processes, open source solutions facilitated the efficient execution of digital projects, fostered trust with constituents and the global community, and resulted in substantial time and cost savings. Now, in my role as the senior manager of government services (GovServices) at Amazon Web Services (AWS), and as an instructor for the AWS Institute Executive Education Program, I aim to share best practices for government leaders interested in adopting open source solutions.
Governments Already Implementing Open Source Solutions
Across the globe, governments are adapting open source solutions to expedite their public service transformation initiatives. The European Commission is on its third iteration of its Open Source Software Strategy (2020-23), with a vision centered on harnessing the transformative, innovative, and collaborative potential of open source and its principles.
In Italy, the Ministry of Defence adopted an open source approach to document management in 2015, backed by nonprofit organization The Document Foundation and Italy’s Agency for the Digitalisation of the Public Sector (AGID). Similarly, Germany’s federal government has included open source as a key element of its digital modernization commitments. Meanwhile, Buenos Aires in Argentina has celebrated a decade of utilizing open source methodologies, having published over 300 datasets to support their mission of embodying open government principles. Since 2019, the government has developed its projects in open source, leveraging a platform called BA Obras to share information about 1,000 public works projects with residents. Furthermore, India launched the Digital India initiative in 2012, promoting open source solutions for diverse services, ranging from document verification to urban planning.
Building a Global Community of Innovation with Open Source
My experience managing the Digital Marketplace for the UK government, coupled with my role as head of digital for the Race Disparity Unit in the Cabinet Office, reinforced my belief in the value of transparent methodologies and open source technology. This approach goes beyond sharing updates; it involves utilizing and iterating on open source technology, subsequently sharing your adapted solutions, standards, components, and data to foster collaboration within a global community and accelerate innovation worldwide.
The UK government’s Digital Marketplace was developed using open source software, which supports public sector buyers in finding suitable technology and personnel for digital projects. Prior to the Digital Marketplace’s launch, the government struggled to provide the necessary skills and technology for reform. The UK Government Digital Service (GDS) created this platform to address this need. Post-launch, the value of government contracts for digital projects surged from £180M to over £2.8B. This also stimulated economic growth by allowing contracts to be awarded to thousands of organizations instead of a select few. In March 2020, the UK Crown Commercial Service reported that 73% of the contract value won by small and medium enterprises was through the Digital Marketplace. By enhancing access to digital technology and expertise, the Digital Marketplace expedited overall government transformation. You can learn more about its creation in the AWS Institute short film, Buy Better.
The Digital Marketplace was developed on GOV.UK over several years, evolving through usage. When the Australian government sought assistance in creating its own Digital Marketplace, they accomplished this in just five weeks, thanks to our open source methodology. This efficiency saved them thousands of hours, allowing them to concentrate on citizen needs and deliver essential new services.
Earning Trust Through Open Source Processes
An essential aspect of open source methodology is the transparency in publishing and sharing your work. This allows for public scrutiny of project expenditures and developments, which is crucial since taxpayers fund government operations. It is only fair to share what is built within an open source framework: data, processes, documentation, and schemas. Whether these taxpayer-funded services benefit citizens or businesses, everyone can repurpose the open source code, ultimately leading to innovation in new directions. This collaborative cycle benefits all stakeholders: governments, organizations, businesses, and the public. Indeed, both the Belgian and French governments have enacted laws mandating the sharing of such innovations.
While developing the Digital Marketplace, we maintained a blog to document our progress. This practice encouraged constructive feedback from outside our development team and agency stakeholders, allowing for continuous improvements. Our openness in the process enabled us to build the right product for citizens the first time around, rather than discovering post-launch that it was ineffective. This transparency fostered trust with our leaders and colleagues, as we actively incorporated their feedback.
Open Source Solutions with a Focus on Security
Concerns about the security of open source tools are common among governments and organizations. In January 2022, the US White House convened a meeting to address these issues and explore enhancements to the processes for identifying and rectifying defects. Each organization must implement clear guidelines, governance, processes, and checks to manage security, legal, and operational risks effectively. Open source code invites community scrutiny and benefits from collective testing and inspection. There are also cryptographic tools developed openly, like the Advanced Encryption Standard, which has been approved by the US National Security Agency (NSA). However, it is crucial to have the expertise to determine which code should remain closed and establish a clear rationale for restricting access to sensitive materials, such as unreleased policies. Teams must also ensure that the code remains robust and secure, maintaining a serious tone throughout.
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