We're excited to publish our report “Open source in government: creating the conditions for success”. Thank you to the Omidyar Network for their support in funding this work, and their ongoing support of the digital public goods community.

Read the full report here, or the executive summary here. You can also read and comment on the report on github.

Open source software can be a powerful lever for change, giving teams greater flexibility on how they solve problems and develop services based on users’ needs.

This report, and the Open Source Software Capability Model for Governments that it includes, aims to help decision makers build a common understanding of their governments capability, enabling them to invest in the conditions for success.

To ensure the report reflects the experience of those implementing open source software, we interviewed stakeholders across four continents, from government decision makers, technical experts, funders and people delivering digital services to citizens. A big thank you to all who took the time to speak with us, provide feedback and share their experiences so honestly and openly. Thank you also to all those who attended the open source session discussing the report at this year's Digital Services Convening (an annual event hosted by the The Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Public Digital).

“The Omidyar Network believes that open source software and code is a critical building block of a free and open internet. We see a great opportunity for open source software and infrastructure to be at the heart of government technology strategy: building digital economies, preventing global monopolies and strengthening sovereignty.

We welcome this report in supporting government leaders to make informed decisions, and to strengthen the success of their investments in open source.” Govind Shivkumar, Principal for Responsible Technology, Omidyar Network.

We hope you enjoy the report, and we welcome your feedback. We are also keen to hear about other examples of successful public sector use of open source software.