The Trend Toward “Open” IT in the Public Sector: Motives, Choices, and Outcomes

Over the past decade, governments at all levels have begun to explore “open” information technologies: open-source software, open standards requirements, and open data initiatives. However, the strategic decisions associated with “open” are not as straightforward for the public sector as they are for the private sector, which can effectively evaluate available solutions based on their associated costs and benefits. By contrast, government IT decisions involve additional motivations and tradeoffs, and must take into account less easily quantified benefits such as transparency and improvements to public welfare. In this paper, we examine the motivations and outcomes of governments’ moves toward “open,” comparing initiatives launched in Brazil, France, Germany, Massachusetts, and Vancouver     «

Over the past decade, governments at all levels have begun to explore “open” information technologies: open-source software, open standards requirements, and open data initiatives. However, the strategic decisions associated with “open” are not as straightforward for the public sector as they are for the private sector, which can effectively evaluate available solutions based on their associated costs and benefits. By contrast, government IT decisions involve additional motivations and tradeoffs...     »