open source - Page number 10

This week, in the latest step to connect citizen developers with the tools they need to unlock government data, the White House updated their website to include a developers resources section. More than a mere technical reference post, the White House affirmed that: » Read more

Peak hurricane season is always a reminder that natural disasters are never easy to handle. If there’s anything we can take away from them it’s that planning and preparedness can save the lives of those risk. The World Bank and OpenGeo find themselves at the unique cross section of disaster management and enabling technology. OpenGeo's software is built to share information on on the web, which is a critical component of any disaster management plan. Various implementations of our software have been used to facilitate strategic disaster management planning.
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There's an old saying that everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it. The open source community maintains an active voice of indignation when it comes to the harms flowing from bad software patents. So it's worth noting when a leading patent law scholar proposes a potential solution to the software patent problem, as Mark Lemley recently did in a new paper entitled "Software Patents and the Return of Functional Claiming." » Read more

A recent poll asked about brand practices for cities and city governments. While the results are still coming in, it's clear that citizens want to be included in this process. Having an open, well-documented process is critical to achieving consensus. But what about the power of crowdsourcing?

Should local governments leverage the power of their citizens and tap into public perception of their city? » Read more

In recent weeks we've seen a number of projects in the area of collaborative legislation that operate similarly to open source software. Today, you can find French, German, and Swiss proposals in git repositories. If you're a developer familiar with these tools, it's easy for you to review the patches (bills), submit your own, and collaborate around the code (law). These are exciting projects undertaken by people in many different countries, but very few governing bodies appear to be harnessing their citizens' input. » Read more

Free and open source software (FOSS) plays an indispensable role in developing countries. As it is often a substitute for more expensive proprietary software, it can impact the economy and progress of a country, like India, in a very positive way.

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David Boswell has a couple of interesting posts (here and here) about how he is using metrics to measure how effective Mozilla is at attracting and engaging people who express an interest in helping contribute to the Mozilla mission. » Read more

I am a technology practitioner and promoter of open source software (OSS). It ismy job to speak about the open source model in order to facilitate its adoption, to discuss its relevance and viability with regards to the strategic and economic needs of our time. » Read more