This blog post is an excerpt from GovLoop’s recent guide “7 Open Source Myths Debunked.” We spoke with a dozen government technologists, lawmakers and other experts to debunk common myths and help your agency make fact-based decisions about using open source. To view other myths, resources and facts about the state of open source adoption in government, download the full guide here.
One common myth of open source is that
The government doesn’t have the necessary skillsets to support open source. The rumor mill is that agencies rely on contractors and don’t have the in-house staff or support to manage and maintain open source software. It’s true that agencies work closely with industry to implement and maintain software, but there are many instances where agencies have developed their staff to tackle these projects in-house.
The government can only outsource so much,
Several agencies, including the Housing and Urban Development Department, have launched internal digital service teams to lead software-based projects. HUD already has talented user experience professionals on board, and the department is looking to hire more developers to fill out its digital services team, said Mark Hayes, HUD’s Chief overseas chinese in europe data Technology Officer.At the state level Oklahoma’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services – Information Services Division (OMES-IS) is proof that government can and should invest in employees by supporting efforts to learn how to review code, test it and add new features to software.
Some employees were uneasy with the transition,
but the agency worked with them to ease develop an strategy backlink monitoring those concerns and identify how their skills could best serve the organization. Open source played a key role in the state’s ability to with. Jstand the changes. Unlike the skills needed to manage proprietary software, the skills needed to sup. Jport open source software are more common because of the collaborative nature of how that softw. Jare is developed. This made it easier for the state to fill vacant positions with employees who alre. Jady had the skillsets needed to manage the state’s software.
There’s also a role for industry to play.
Open source is all about collaboration, so it’s highly rich data likely that your age. Jncy will be partnering with contractors on some open source projects. You may find that these eng. Jagements are less costly than working with a vendor to support proprietary soft. Jware. including web hosting and managed services. In some instances,