Open Source for America Delivers Federal Report Card

by Sam Dean - Jan. 14, 2011Comments (0)

Ever since its inception, Open Source for America (OSFA) has had lofty goals and has been backed by some very heavy hitting people. Red Hat, Jaspersoft, Canonical's Mark Shuttleworth, The Linux Foundation's Jim Zemlin and many other companies and people back the organization, which is primarily aimed at encouraging the use of open source software at the U.S. Federal level. Now, the folks behind Open Source for America have published a Federal Open Technology Report Card that "evaluates key indicators of open government and open technologies developed through online crowd sourcing and refined metrics outlined by the OSFA leadership committee." The report card includes questions and responses regarding public budgets, use of social media, and open source technology practices.

According to OSFA leaders, in a statement:

"2010 marked the first year federal government agencies were operating under the Directive and Open Government Plans, and the results are promising. Many of the agencies scored well, while others have room for improvement."

The agencies that ranked highest based on the open source technology and open government criteria that the OSFA looks for include:

Department of Defense (82 percent)
Department of Energy (72 percent)
Department of Health and Human Services (55 percent)
Department of Homeland Security (55 percent)
Department of Transportation (53 percent)

“Government accountability requires open information processes best facilitated online,” said John Scott, co-chair of OSFA's steering committee, in the statement. “Open Source for America feels the results demonstrate a positive beginning. We hope government agencies will use the Federal Open Technology Report Card and its results to continue working toward the exchange of open information and the use of open source technologies and open formats within their departments.”

When the Open Source for America initiative was first announced, it was clear that accountability for adoption of open technology and open standards at the federal level was a primary goal. The arrival of the report card shows that OSFA is following up, and that's a good thing. If you're interested in downloading and sifting the raw data that OSFA has collected, it's available at the bottom of this page.