Federal CIO Tony Scott revealed a new public open source website housing the custom code for a number of digital projects the federal government is currently developing.
The site, Code.gov, aims to capitalize on open source push by the Obama administration to share custom code across federal agencies and the public.
The move comes after the August release of the Federal Source Code Policy, requiring federal agencies to share their custom code for digital projects with each other, as well as 20 percent of it to the public.
The new site, which launched on Nov. 3, provides that public destination for citizens to watch and help influence the development of digital projects meant to improve federal services.
"We're excited about today's launch, and envision Code.gov becoming yet another creative platform that gives citizens the ability to participate in making government services more effective, accessible and transparent," Scott said in a statement.
Code.gov currently houses nearly 50 open source projects being developed by 10 agencies and provides those agencies with best practices and tools to help upload their code online. Scott said that more projects would come online in the next few months as agencies implement the Federal Source Code Policy.
The goal of the administration’s open source policy is twofold: First, by sharing the custom code between agencies, they can breakdown information silos and collaborate, while eliminating potential duplication.
Second, by engaging the public, the administration hopes to promote both innovation and interaction to find better government services solutions.
Scott added, as of the Nov. 3 launch of the site, agencies can begin populating enterprise code inventories on the site and examine methods for successful open source projects.
"We also envision it becoming a useful resource for state and local governments and developers looking to tap into the government’s code to build similar services, foster new connections with their users and help us continue to realize the president’s vision for a 21st century digital government," he said.
