What's new with Open Source for America?
Nearly three months after Open Source for America's debut, I was interested to hear about the group's progress, successes, and challenges
186 Recommendations"...develop such an evaluation, or report card, with the knowledge of the White House, and based on a list of questions/metrics shared with the White House. The intent would be to reinforce and publicize efforts for open government, to include policies and practices that treat open source software fairly, allowing its advantages to be leveraged. We will start with a list of questions/metrics to form the report card, then gather & evaluate data, and create the report."
Results of the Open Government Report Card Project will be made available for government agencies to compare and contrast their own use of open source software with that of other agencies. However, it isn't entirely clear how this final step will occur. Will OSFA post results on its Web site and expect the federal government and specific agencies to consume the results at their leisure? Will OSFA be invited by the feds to present results to government stakeholders? Will the OSFA hire lobbyists to ensure that these meeting are scheduled? In fact, these questions are equally applicable to outputs from each of the 11 working groups.
I didn't get a clear answer on how OSFA will shift from creating policies and report cards in working groups to getting its work in front of government decision makers and influencers. I'm certain that OSFA is working on such a plan for 2010, since "build it and they'll come" only works for Kevin Costner.
Overall, it seems there is plenty of work ahead for OSFA, especially in the area of getting decision maker buy-in. Lucky for OSFA that its membership, and its members' willingness to help OSFA reach its goal, continue to grow as well.
Follow me on Twitter: SavioRodrigues.
p.s.: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies, or opinions."
This story, "What's new with Open Source for America?," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in open source at InfoWorld.com.
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