Beeck Center Takeover: Open Source Government Services: The Promise and The Realities

Open source software is in our computers and our phones, in our cars and our airplanes — and, of course, in many government systems. But government systems using open source software and being open source software are two different things. Decades into the life of the open source software world, governments large and small still spend enormous sums of money on systems that are closed and proprietary. With all of the potential benefits of open source government services, why is it still this way?

In this session, we'll learn about the promise and potential of using open source to deliver government services, success stories from around the world, the obstacles here that have prevented more of government from moving in this direction, and what's really needed to overcome those obstacles.