Some titles convey roles and responsibilities, others signify intent. When a new title stands out as unique, it catches our attention. Recently, Digital Services Coalition (DSC) Board President Mike Gifford was appointed Open Standards & Practices Lead at CivicActions, a role newly created by the company intended to lead the charge in advancing open source. It is no surprise that Mike was chosen to guide this effort. OS AI sat down with Mike to better understand what this signifies for CivicActions; the opportunity for government; and how industry can and should get involved.
A Long-Held Commitment
“Part of the reason for the title change is to reaffirm CivicActions’ long held commitment to open source and open data and open government. It is also to indicate our focus on a renewed effort around open practises, expanding it from just software to a broader view of documentation and design.”
One key example of this is the company’s emerging Open Practice library.
Noting that open source is an opportunity to build and scale more quickly and effectively, and the huge opportunity this represents for federal clients, Mike’s new role confirms a focus on engaging more actively with agencies and some of the initiatives they hope to drive. “The DSC has hosted a number of events on open source and brought in people from DHS to speak but in general, it not a topic discussed much yet in government circles.”
With agencies such as DHS CISA making advances, and CMS making a splash last year with its OSPO, other agencies including GSA, VA and the United States Web Design System are also making headway. Others though have yet to look to implement or contribute to open source in any consistent way. “So much of open source depends on people contributing back and depends on that community of people who are intentional about what they are doing.”
Collaboration on a Different Scale
Across the globe, countries including Germany, France, the UK, there is a commitment to open source. “We have to stop thinking we are competing with each other. Open source improves governance around the world, improves economies because they run on open source.”
“There is definitely more interest now, more people looking to find ways to support that open collaboration, revisiting the question of how we build more independence and innovation. When people can pick up on the work of others and build on that there is a much more rapid scaling of ideas and progress.”
All of this is amplified with AI and its large language models drawing on libraries around the world, taking guidance from millions of people who have contributed information on a countless number of topics.
Leadership
Citing 18F as leadership that has been supporting and guiding open source development, the next step is to make it the norm, rather than the exception. “We need to scale to a level that makes it clear that this is something every agency should embrace. Not only does it avoid the issue of vendor lock-in, but it allows for scaling, it allows for agencies to work with smaller vendors, to potentially bring some of these skills inside of government.”
“GSA and VA are working on a really interesting project around something called Notify.gov which was originally developed by the UK government and has since been adopted by the Canadian and Australian governments. Developed internally by government for government, they then have real choices in terms of how they want tot set it up, how to run their digital infrastructure related to this messaging platform.”
Noting that much of our modern lives comes down to maintenance, to updates, yet we fail to really think about the critical digital infrastructure that is required. “There is not an innovation or emerging tech space that is not using open source on some level. But you also need to have people maintaining that infrastructure. You need to have people who are looking to see that the upgrades are being done, that everything is secure, people who are assessing to ensure the software looks ahead to usability five and ten years down the road but really, no one can predict what will be needed then, what new innovation has made a significant change.”
Managing through Procurement
The challenge for procurement offices as they are developing new requirements and assessing responses, is understanding that forward looking lens. “What is the technology that the government needs over the long haul? How do you try to make sure you’re buying software or buying services that are going to be there for the future, that are not just flashy now?
“It can’t be about following the latest fad. We need to train procurement officers to understand the issues, to bring in subject matter experts who can develop PWS, look at the responses that look past the flash to the substance of what is needed. So much of emerging tech is not what people really need.”
Disagree? Think crypto. There were use cases for some but for others it became the buzzword they thought was needed. “AI is more powerful than blockchain but still, maybe it isn’t always the right tool. We have to understand when it is and when other options, even human decision-making, will better serve the need.”
“Many are using open source now. What I’m hoping will change is that procurement officers and government contractors will realize they have a role to play to support and to contribute to the software that they’re using. We all have to contribute to make sure what we’re using is as good tomorrow at meeting changing needs as it is today. If we don’t invest in it and nurture it and bring it along together, that will be a challenge.”
That shift in thinking, in viewing our digital infrastructure as we do our roads and bridges and buildings will be critical in ensuring that what we rely on today, will be there for us tomorrow. “We need to ensure we are sharing best practices for ATOs, for secure infrastructure. CivicActions is doing this in a number of ways and the call to industry is to join in, to do their part. Part of this new position for me is to be able to help foster more excitement and energy around collaboration, within industry, with government agencies looking to collaborate and improve on what they are doing.”
Want to connect with Mike to learn more? You can find him on LinkedIn.
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