As Carla Shcroder mentioned in her blog

Think of Free Software as being a social movement fueled by ethics, while open source is a development methodology

Why is it important to know the difference between Free Software and Open Source Software in government?

Its easy to imagine, having worked in government myself, how anything that is termed ‘Free’ might make some people uneasy. It raises concerns, ethical issues  and for some reason triggers discomfort.

I myself, experienced a backlash for offering a free social media course for public servants. Having been invited to consult and speak at various social media in government events and work on projects for high profile government organizations, I didn’t think that my offer would trigger any uneasiness.  However this was the first time that I had used the term ‘Free’ for a project and little did I know, that would be the downfall of it.

Being a researcher, my gain for offering free advise is so I get to share my previous research findings and improve on it in a constructive manner and have an opportunity to understand the current and future challenges that government faces when dealing with social media. And in return, I would have publicly outlined a social media strategy based on a practical view of the situation in my blog.

However that never happened, because people are afraid that when something is free, its too risky, it cannot be trusted and of less quality.

Is Free = Risky?

Wrong, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Sometimes people give something out for free because they are passionate about it or would like to volunteer and contribute to a cause for the betterment of the society. Same goes with the term free software. The open source software term sometimes gets used interchangeably with free software and at the back of some peoples mind, free often means, less quality and not to be trusted.

So its important for people to understand the difference here.

Open source software is software whose source code is freely available (i.e., without any requirement for payment or any other obstacles) for anyone to inspect and study.

Most open source software is also free software. Free software is software for which everyone has the right not only to inspect and study the source code but also to use it for any desired purpose without monetary or other restrictions.

Free software is always also open source, open source software does not necessarily have to be free software. That is, software can be open source without granting its users the additional freedoms that free software guarantees. Source

What is a Source Code?

I think one of the other thing that we must understand before we go further is, what is a source code?  The source code is the glue that is holds a software together. It is the life of the software, it is required for the software to live and breathe. Without it, the software will be non-existent.

Source code is the version of software (usually an application program or an operating system) as it is originally written (i.e., typed into a computer) by a human in plain text (i.e., human readable alphanumeric characters). Source code can be written in any of the several thousand programming languages in existence, but it is usually written in one of the dozen or so of the most popular (particularly C, C++ and Java). Without source code it is very difficult to study, modify and improve software. Source

What I would like to highlight here is that last statement…

Without source code it is very difficult to study, modify and improve software.

And with proprietary software, that is what you DON’T GET.

The future cannot exist without the past. Re-thinking digital public services.

I think the fundamental key to how government and citizens can benefit from open source softwares is not a hard one to crack.

In history, we often educate and better ourselves based on lessons we’ve learnt from the past. We understand the past, to understand the present. We understand the present, to understand our future. For OSS’s, agility is key and not having the ability to see or understand the past source codes and learn from them, can be detrimental to the delivery of digital public services.

Imagine, if only the manufacturer of a rifle were allowed to clean, fix, modify or upgrade that rifle. The military often finds itself in this position with taxpayer funded, contractor developed software: one  contractor with a monopoly on the knowledge of a military software system and control of the software  source code. This is optimal only for the monopoly contractor, but creates inefficiencies and  ineffectiveness for the government, reduction of opportunities for the industrial base, severely limits  competition for new software upgrades, depletes resources that can be used to better effect and wastes taxpayer-provided funds. Source

Computer security expert Bruce Schneier points out, true security is never achieved by attempting to conceal any security defects that a program may have, but rather by allowing anyone interested to seek out these flaws and eliminate them.

Open source software makes this possible. Many government agencies will not use a piece of software in a security-critical application unless the agency itself can examine the source code for flaws; in the case of proprietary software, this often means difficult and costly negotiations allowing the agency access to the source code. If open source software is available to fill such a need, source code is available at no extra cost to the government, and in many cases the software is already more secure.

The information and cultural revolution

We are on the verge of a information and cultural revolution. We are on the precipice of putting all the pieces together to sew our shared transparent social fabric. The UK Government has been keen to be as transparent as possible in recent years because the belief that transparency not only makes it easier for citizens to communicate with government and receive public services, but also create efficiencies and innovation where once thought not possible.  This has been proven true with the open data movement.

Some people may think that technology advances will and can happen with or without them. But the truth is, for digital public services, the government purchasing authorities can make technology advances in public service by making the right the decisions to lower the cost, increase the reliability, security, and inject the ability to modify software to suit specific needs. The biggest challenge here is getting technology to be more USEFUL to us and the only way that will happen is if we make them better and our source codes can start learning from past errors.

Procurement Challenges in Government

Often enough, the battle of getting OSS into government falls at the first hurdle. As Dr. David Wheeler of the Institute for Defense Analysis said at ‘The Government Open Source Conference’,

Too often, government procurements are worried only about the current budget cycle. In software procurements, this can be deadly. Future costs are almost always higher than the first-year costs. The mismatch between software lifecycles and hardware lifecycles can play havoc with a TCO analysis. Perhaps most important, if you aren’t accounting for switching costs, you’re missing a huge cost driver: how expensive will it be to exit the solution in question? Source

Luckily enough, Wheeler also mentioned of a way of overcoming the procurement dilemma that suggest that RFPs are “wired” for a proprietary solution.Wheeler reminded the audience that in many cases, the RFPs aren’t wired deliberately. It’s far more likely that the procurement officials are simply unaware of the open source alternatives and inadvertently create requirements that preclude their use. He recommended responding to the Requests for Information (RFIs) that preceed most RFPs. This way, the officials can be exposed to the open source alternatives. Source

The relationship between Open Standards, Open Data and Open Source Software and how we can recycle digital waste and save taxpayers money

Talking about the exiting a solution, have a listen of this video why Open Standards is important and why OSS can save taxpayers money.

Benefits of an Open Technology Development (OTD)

OTD is an approach to software/system development in which developers in different military, federal, commercial and possibly public organizations can collaboratively develop and maintain software or a  system in a decentralized fashion. OTD depends on open standards and interfaces, open source software  and designs, collaborative and distributed online tools, and technological agility.

I would like to point you to this document and highlight the Open Technology Development (OTD) key benefits written by the US Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks & Information Integration) (NII) / DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L).

Key benefits of OTD are:

• Increased Agility/Flexibility: Because the government has unrestricted access and rights to the  source code developed with taxpayer funds, that source code can be made discoverable and accessible to program managers, civil servants and contractors alike, increasing the potential of  matching a need or requirement to an existing source code base that provides a large proportion of the solution that can be improved or enhanced to meet a new mission. Likewise, pre-existing government-funded components from different programs can be assembled without unnecessary  costs and delays untangling intellectual property rights to determine what is and is not allowed. Instead of having to start from scratch to develop or enhance a capability, the government can reuse what it has already paid for and that works and draw from a broad base of developers and contractors who are familiar with the source code and component and can rapidly assemble,  merge and modify existing systems and components with other existing source code.

• Faster delivery: Because developers only need to focus on changes to, and integration of, existing software capabilities instead of having to redevelop entire systems, they can significantly reduce the time to delivery for new capabilities. Even when a module or component is developed from scratch to replace an outdated one, such re-development benefits from open interfaces and standards that have a proven track record in the systems with which it interacts. Enabling cross-pollination of source code that is owned and paid for by taxpayer funds, development and deployment time can be significantly reduced.

• Increased Innovation: With access to source code for existing capabilities, developers and contractors can focus on innovation and the new requirements that are not yet met by the existing source code capabilities. This agility is particularly important because of a projected shortfall in the number of U.S. citizens with engineering and computer science degrees who will be clearable to work on military projects in the coming decades [National Academies 2008]. As a greater proportion of software engineering degrees are held by foreign nationals, and U.S. programmers are lured by innovative and lucrative work in the private sector, the military will face a long-term shortage of software engineers to work on military-specific systems. The Defense Department must therefore focus on the long-term challenge of generating higher levels of innovation out of a more limited pool of human talent and skill. It will be important to leverage that human capital by having engineers focus on the 10% of source code that actively improves a system without also being required to re-create the 90% of capability that already exists.

• Reduced Risk: creating new capabilities from scratch is riskier than re-using existing capabilities that are already proven and well understood. By re-using existing capabilities in the form of government-owned source code, interfaces and systems, developers can spend more time and resources on the riskiest parts of the implementation.

• Information Assurance & Security: One of the biggest values of open source development is enabling wider community access to software source. In this manner bugs become shallow and thus more easily found. Wider access to software source code also is key for forming and maintaining a software security posture from being able to review software source code to seeing what is actually present within that software.

• Lower cost: The first cost to fall by the wayside with OTD is the monopoly rent the government pays to contractors who have built a wall of exclusivity around capabilities they’ve been paid by the government to develop. They may have internally developed source code (IRAD – internal research and development) that’s valuable, but in an OTD system that code has been modularized so the government can make a rational decision about whether they want to re-license it for a new project or pay to develop a replacement. The entire value of the government’s investment hasn’t been voided by the mingling of IRAD into a government-funded system as a means of ensuring lock-in to a particular vendor. With unlimited rights and access to government-funded source code, the government can draw on a broader pool of competitive proposals for software updates and new capabilities that leverage current systems. The elimination of monopoly rent, combined with greater competition, will drive down costs and improve the quality of resulting deliverables, because any contractor who works on a system knows that they can be replaced by a competitor who has full access to the source code and documentation.

As Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said “The gusher [of money] has been turned off and will stay off for a good period of time.” DoD needs a more efficient software development ecosystem – more innovation at lower cost. OTD squeezes financial waste out of the equation by reducing lock-in and increasing competition.

Discover more at the Open Gov Summit 2012

The Open Gov Summit 2012

Given all the information we have today and the one I have presented here, it is imperative that we take the next step and start discussing how we can really invigorate and create sustainable softwares and transparency in government. You can do this today by registering for the Open Gov Summit that will be happening on the 30th May 2012.

Government and institutional speakers include among others: Mark O’Neill, Proposition Director for Innovation and Delivery at the Government Digital Service, Tariq Rashid, Lead Architect at the UK Home Office, Graham Mallin, Head of Enterprise Architecture at the Met Office, Graham Taylor CEO and Co-Founder of OpenForum Europe and Gerry Gavigan, Chair of the Open Source Consortium.

Hope this was useful.

Liz Azyan

Possibly Related Posts

• The Open Gov Summit
• Democratizing Softwares: Bristol City Council’s Open Source Success Story
• Make Conversations Possible: What Open Standards and Open Source means to government and citizens
• Live Coverage of the ‘Really Useful’ Event – Data Discovery Workshop #RU11
• Grab the last few tickets left for The Really Useful Event – Data Discovery Workshop #RU11

Find out what Open Standards & Open Source mean to government and citizens

The ‘Open Gov Summit 2012‘ will present a blend of new and innovative approaches to open source and procurement in an engaging format. It will give you the opportunity to network, learn and to share ideas in a vibrant and relaxed environment.

Visit Open Gov Summit website for more info.

Event name: Open Gov Summit 2012

Event date: 30th May 2012

Time: 10:00 am – 16:00 pm

Venue: Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate London SW1H 9NH

Register Here

Possibly Related Posts

• How government and citizens can benefit from Open Standards & Open Source Softwares
• Democratizing Softwares: Bristol City Council’s Open Source Success Story
• Make Conversations Possible: What Open Standards and Open Source means to government and citizens
• A new beginning – Joining Zaizi (Open source evangelist & specialist)
• Local Gov 2.0 Strategies: Tackling current issues like the swine flu through collaborative learning

This time I’m going to bring to you one of those rare but truly inspiring case studies for open source in government in this country.

Implementation of a council wide open source strategy

Bristol City Council

Did you know that Bristol City Council has implemented a council wide open source strategy? Its astounding to know that in the midst of all the open standards roundtables and the consultation running, there is one council that has already managed to take on Microsoft and win.

If I wasn’t working at Zaizi (Bristol CC is Zaizi’s customer), I wouldn’t have known about Bristol City Council‘s success in implementing open source and levelling the playing field for SMEs and open source. It is a great example of how we can get other councils and government agencies to get on the open source wagon.

An official statement by Bristol City Council Leader Barbara Janke said:

Bristol is leading the way on promoting open source solutions and supporting our strong creative media and digital sector. We held a very productive meeting with the Cabinet Office yesterday, and they were able to reassure us that there are no security or accreditation issues that should hold us back from pushing ahead with our open source agenda.

This is very good news and was warmly welcomed by the IT companies present. Our aim is to do all we can to see a higher proportion of money from our IT procurement ending up in the local economy and supporting the city’s innovative software companies.

We have now been given the green light by the Cabinet Office to push ahead with this open source agenda and they have promised to work closely with us on this issue over the next few months, and more widely in our efforts to support our thriving creative and digital sector as we develop the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.

Learning by sharing

As I personally have only been working with Zaizi for only a few months now, I’ve been trying to get up to speed with how Bristol City Council has implemented a council wide open source strategy and how other local councils and government agencies can learn from them.

Why is open source important to us as citizens

For those still wondering why open source is important for us as citizens, just think of this scenario Dr. Mark Wright (Cllr in Bristol) has described and think about why open source would matter to you, or more importantly, think about how your tax is being spent!

“Imagine a car manufacturer, who would be trying to sell you a car and when they sell you this car, they tell you, “Oh by the way, we’re not going to tell you what’s in the car. We’re not going to tell you what its made of. Or what components are in it. We’re not going to let you look under the bonet. We’re not really bothered to fix things. If you find that something goes wrong, we might try to fix your car but probably you’ll have to wait until we bring out a new car and then you’ll have to buy that car.

And if you car doesn’t do exactly what you thought, then that’s you’re fault really. Its not our fault. I think if a car manufacturer would do that to you, you would stick to fingers up to them and you’d go elsewhere and you’d either buy a bike or start catching the bus.

The sad truth about this analogy is, in the software world, this is normal. That’s the way it is. That’s the way its been for decades. And there is a real problem of liberty there. The software world is sort of a lockdown world, which is stifling the liberty of users in that area and to me open source is a key way out of that. Open source is a way back into what I would call ‘the real world’.  The way things are done back in the real world. You know if you buy something, you know how it works and to fiddle with it and change it, make it better, make it different.  Its entirely up to you. That’s the way things are in the real world and that’s how the software world should be.”

So if you live and breathe in the real world, surely you would understand why open source makes sense, especially in this economy. See the video below to hear Dr Mark Wright talk about Bristol’s journey.

Bristol CC’s journey – leading the open source path for all of us

To get a feel of what Bristol CC have had to go through to get to this point, check out these articles and the timeline of events. Bare in mind, some of what is being written does not come directly from Bristol CC officially.

September 2010

• Microsoft lock-in stalls Bristol council’s open source strategy

November 2010

• Bristol Council’s open source plans hit by further setback

June 2011

• Bristol City Council open source project in turmoil
• Bristol’s voyage to open source software hits choppy waters

August 2011

• Computacenter gags Bristol City Council over anti-open source ‘bias’

September 2011

• Bristol Council’s open source plan thwarted by security clearance problems

October 2011

• Linux IT brought in to get Bristol City Council’s open source strategy on track
• Cabinet Office tries to reboot Bristol’s stalled Open Source move [Update]
• Green light for open source software at Bristol City CouncilBristol gears up for ‘fantastic’ open source project - Council wants to lead the way in local government end-to-end Linux adoption
• Bristol city council kicks off open source project
• Bristol Council gets open source go-ahead after CESG discussions

What open source Bristol CC were using and planning to use as of 26th July 2011

Thanks to the useful website WhatDoTheyKnow.com, we also now know have a copy of an FOI request that can tell us just how committed Bristol CC was to open source as of 26th July 2011.

The FOI asked the following questions: -

1. What is the current written council policy on the use of open source software?

2. What open source software packages are currently being used by Bristol City Council?

3. What are the council’s future plans for increasing the deployment and use of open source software?

And the answer given is below

Open Source Software “packages” in use by Bristol City Council include:

1. Red Hat Linux
2. CentOS Linux
3. Apache web server
4. Squid proxy
5. MySQL
6. PostgreSQL
7. APLAWS WCM (being replaced by Drupal WCM)
8. NetBeans IDE (likely to be replaced by Eclipse IDE)
9. Nagios
10. Firefox
11. Chrome

OSS experts will understand that many of these products/distributions
contain a very large number of “packages”, as OSS products are usually
built from many other OSS elements.

Our future plans are to implement the OSS procurement policy in all
evaluation and selection processes. In concrete terms this includes:

a) EDRM & Team Collaboration – we are actively considering products from
Alfresco and Nuxeo

b) Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse – we will consider products
from Pentaho, Jaspersoft, and Talend

c) Identity & Access Management – we will consider options including
OpenAM, OpenIDM and OpenDJ

d) Online services – we will consider Liferay portal in conjunction with
Drupal

1. Bristol City Council Business Case 
2. Open Source Procurement Toolkit

Here’s some interesting snippets of the Business Case that you might want to consider in yours.

The Case for Change

the case for change, considering a range of issues related to three major goals of office software migration:

• Cost reduction
• Simplified and cheaper purchasing, licence and budget management
• • Easier data sharing within the Council and with external organisations
  • Easier support and deployment through managed software installation and upgrades
  • Improved productivity through targeted training and common knowledge
• Improved functionality, such as better integration with business systems
• Open standards, including file formats that enable open access to and re-use of data

Cost for change

• You need to assess the cost for your organisation in the areas of:
  • Decision Making Processes
  • Project Management
  • Communications
  • Training – Technical and User
  • Deployment and System Testing
  • Desktop Computer Hardware Upgrades
  • Document Conversion and System Integration – including databases and macros
  • Implementation Support
  • Productivity Gains or Losses
  • Functionality Gains or LossesMigration costs are broadly similar for proprietary or Open Source office software.

Bristol is also offering Council officers the opportunity to visit Bristol, meet the implementation team, ask questions about the challenges faced and solutions we have developed, and hear from users who have been through the migration to StarOffice.

They are also working in collaboration with other Open Source Academy partners to encourage Local Government software vendors to improve their support for Open Standards and Open Source products, including the practical development of integration with StarOffice/OpenOffice.org

Dispelling the myths

For some of us, open source is something completely new and it can be daunting. Just like social media, we went from not knowing, to fearing it, to being fearless and giving it a go, then embracing it and pushing communication and citizen digital engagement boundaries to achieve wonderful things.

So let’s air out the myths and get down to the facts.

Open Source Myths

• Open Source is less secure.
• It is not possible to cost an Open Source Solution.
• Open Source isn’t licensed
• Open Source is just the latest fad

If you have ever thought of these reasons for not adopting Open Source, then think again. Because all those statements are FALSE!   Take a look here to find out why.

What we need government to say

“We need all public sector document must be exchanged in an open document format (ODF)”

Democratizing software

There’s a lot to be said about democratizing softwares, but I’ll sum it up below!

What does open source mean? What are the benefits?

According to the Deputy CIO of Denver City and County Council in the US, here are the benefits of open source for government.

• The huge user community = Society
• The ability to share code = Voice your opinion
• The ability to contribute = Vote
• The ability to get people excited about being able to learn something new and contribute = Democratic Society

Sounds a lot like democracy doesn’t it? Why? Because its all about democratizing our softwares and getting real value for our money as citizens. Find out more in the video below.

Proud of Bristol City Council

We’re proud that Bristol is leading the way for open source in government. Zaizi is working hard with BCC’s to roll out eletronic document and records management to automate their business process and reduce paper. And most importantly, Zaizi delivers open source solutions to its customers. So its a perfect match!

With that, I would like to call upon everyone again to answer the Open Standards Consultation, as I’ve said before and many others before me, RESPOND TO THE OPEN STANDARDS CONSULTATION BEFORE THE END OF APRIL!

1. Respond to the consultation — made even easier by this response form developed by Ric Harvey
2. Attend the events — these seem pretty full now, but try to get in if you can
3. Spread the message — blog and tweet and write to raise awareness of the importance and impact that this consultation could have
4. Attend the Open Gov Summit 2012 in London

Possibly Related Posts

• The Open Gov Summit
• Make Conversations Possible: What Open Standards and Open Source means to government and citizens
• How government and citizens can benefit from Open Standards & Open Source Softwares
• A new beginning – Joining Zaizi (Open source evangelist & specialist)
• Local Gov 2.0 Strategies: Tackling current issues like the swine flu through collaborative learning

Over the past week, we have been inundated with articles surfacing in response to the UK government’s first open standards roundtable discussion hosted by the Cabinet Office that was held on the 4^th of April. It was described as “a resounding call to scrap the government’s policy on open standards“, as Mark Ballard from Computer Weekly wrote here in an article titled “Proprietary lobby triumphs in first open standards showdown”.

The Cabinet Office also wrote its version of events in this article “Are open standards a closed barrier?”  The article included this statement…

The majority of the attendees considered that open standards, as defined in the policy, would close down the Government’s ability to benefit from an alternative standards development model and limit our choice – not least because they considered that the definition excludes standards that are made available on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms.

This seemed to be a big U-turn and possibly not a big surprise to individuals like @GlynMoody, who wrote earlier this year, UK Government Betrayal of Open Standards Confirmed and also its follow up article published just yesterday How Microsoft Fought True Open Standards I.

Another excellent article written by Simon Wardley also expressed frustration of the first roundtable event in his article titled “The Unpleasant Whiff of Lobbyists”. He too echoed @GlynMoody’s statement in an excerpt from his post below…

OK, so lets be clear. In one year we’ve gone from overwhelming support in a wide survey for both the open standards definition and those open standards be royalty free to attendees of one roundtable arguing that such open standards could be detrimental to competition and innovation precisely because they’re royalty free.

I have a reasonably good sense of smell for the influence of paid lobbyists. This smacks of an OOXML re-run.

If you’re in the UK tech scene then wake up! In my honest opinion, this feels like of our Government being lobbied that royalty free Open Standards will hurt competition & innovation in the software world. Expect lots of mock academic research and claims that adopting open standards will cost tens if not hundred of millions ..

Support for Open Standards by Richard Harvey

Given the outcry from open standards practitioners, evangelists and enthusiasts, Richard Harvey (Linux admin – @ric_harvey) has setup a website to help people to answer the consultation here – Support for Open Standards, which I urge you to join and answer as Dr. Jeni Tennison / @JeniT from the TSO did here and showed on her blog UK Open Standards Consultation blog.

I would also like to repeat Jeni’s call to answer the consultation with the three steps below

1. Respond to the consultation — made even easier by this response form developed by Ric Harvey
2. Attend the events — these seem pretty full now, but try to get in if you can
3. Spread the message — blog and tweet and write to raise awareness of the importance and impact that this consultation could have

Keep government tech open source

There is a fantastic interview with Richard Harvey in the .net magazine website about his efforts. My favourite bit was where he answers the question fron .net “On open source, the anti-arguments sometimes centre around longevity and quality. How can and should the government protect its investments in terms of deciding what products and technologies to use?”

And Richard answers

We need to look at the bodies that govern the standards and software that is proposed. If you take HTML5 as an open standard, you can see it’s got a good structure around it in the form of W3C. When looking at open source products there are also plenty of fantastic examples of commercially supported projects where you are free to use the software but can buy support as a safety net if needed.

My own response to the consultation includes recommendations about choosing software and standards carefully, and potentially setting up an advisory panel to aid with this. This should be a coalition of industry spokespersons, engineers and developers. You need a range of skills to make sure the right decision is made.

I couldn’t agree more with his answer. We need this advisory panel to steer our way into a more transparent and open government. Our government now, is in a transition to make public services more effective and efficient by becoming more open. Therefore we need to start envisioning what the big picture of an OPEN GOV looks like.

The bigger picture of OPENNESS

We started off with the social media movement, where the government wanted to communicate more openly and effectively with citizens using freely available platforms.  Then we realized we had to be able to use data and make it readable in open formats so anybody can access, use and do innovative stuff with them. And now we are onto the next step of transparency where open standards is now on stage to ensure the momentum for openness and usability is carried throughout government practices.

Next, we will be realizing the possibilities of open source softwares (OSS) being used to utilize for big and complex government projects. Just think about it. We started the chain of events with open communication with the public and opening up our data. We then started to create partnerships and bridges between government agencies, industries and citizens by exchanging data and documents using open standards.

All of this comes down to not only the ability for government to be more effective and efficient in its delivery of service, but to also come at a must smaller cost to the government. If you want to be OPEN and effective in a society that is going through a recession, you’ve got to be affordable and interoperable in the long run!

The lack of open standards impact on citizens when they need it the most

In any case, where we are talking about campaigning or supporting a cause, we often talk ‘up’ our causes. So you’d probably be expecting me to talk about how wonderful open standards and open source are to you, me and the government. But I’d like to take a different approach and take a real life scenario, where actual lives are affected by the lack of open standards in and between government agencies. Because there is no greater time where citizens will need the government’s assistance other than when they are in desperate need of information and help.

Take scenario number 1: Hurricane Katrina

In ther aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the US, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), established an internet site for victims of hurricane to register for aid. Unfortunately not everyone was able to access that over the internet because of incompatibility problems. Those using the Linux operating system, some using a Macintosh, or anyone really using the Firefox browser was unable to register for aid online.

So there was interoperability on the physical layer, there was interoperability at the network layer and the transport layer and the session layer. But there was a incompatibility of applications at the application layer, which prevented exchange of information over the internet for these hurricane victims. Fortunately you could still register through the telephones, so there was the mechanism but there was a denial of access due to applications.

Take scenario number 2: Thailand’s Tsunami

Another surprising example of government impeded in serving its citizens because of  these incompatibilities, specifically between standards, involving the government of Thailand exchanging electronic documents after the Tsunami.

Some information could not be exchanged, because they used throughout different government agencies, different document formats.  So this situation contributed to the government launching an open standards initiative so this will never happen again.

(Source: http://youtu.be/sqMR6pe0N_g)

Why Open Standards are important

Key points from this video:-

1. It is important from a long term perspective of humanity recording its knowledge and sharing it and transfering it to the next generation also.
2. Standards can be done in several ways. And the best way is if there are three main criterias; everybody can read it, everybody can implement it and everybody can use it for free.
3. Your data can be opened in multiple platforms, so its all interoperable. And its about keeping that interoperability available so no matter what vendor you as a consumer choose, your data is not going to be lost when you send it to someone else who’s using a different vendor’s product.
4. Open standard is a standard where the actual standard itself is maintained by a reputable, vendor neutral international body.
5. If something is stored in open standard, there is a very, very high probability that the data can be retrieved 10 years down the line, 20 years down the line, 100 years down the line.
6. As we go into the future where there is an enormous amount of government to government collaboration and government to citizens interactions, that data cannot be in proprietary formats.
7. No one should ever be restricted to their ability to access public information based upon the kind of technology they use to access that information or the manner which it’s saved. So certainly in the context of public documents, it is absolutely essential that those documents be saved and stored in an open manner

In a world where people exchange information in many different languages and dialects, it is important that there are common reference points that make interaction possible. Once the basic rules are followed, everything else becomes possible. Open standards give us the means to talk to one another whatever applications, operating systems or computer language we use. “If I can’t talk the language of your proprietary format, I can’t hear what you say”, and conversation becomes impossible.

Make conversations possible!

So, echoing Richard’s call, let’s make conversations possible not just through social media platforms and mobile applications… With government counterparts now bridging the digital divide in our society, let’s not make their efforts meaningless by lifting the bridge back up with unaccessible documents and information. Support for Open Standards! If anyone wants me to publish their response on this blog, feel free to send if over to me and I will happily publish it!

Some other blog posts worth noting here are: -

• UK Government struggles with a simple word – “open” (finally, a real debate!)
• UK Government open standard consultation (cont’d)
• Microsoft hustled UK retreat on open standards, says leaked report
• Cabinet Office: no lobby influence on open standards

It is clear from these articles that there is a great call for the issues surrounding open standards in government to be discussed in a more transparent and open platform. I, myself have been strucked by recent events and am in the middle of organizing an event (@OpenGovSummit & website) that will endeavor to gather the best individuals who can advise and talk about open standards and the use open source software in government in a more proactive and honest manner. Please get in touch with me, if you wish to get involved.

To make sure you don’t miss out on any other bits of information concerning open standards and open source in the UK government, please make sure to follow the Cabinet Offices dashboard on NetVibes.

Hope this was useful!

@Liz_Azyan
@OpenGovSummit

Possibly Related Posts

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• A new beginning – Joining Zaizi (Open source evangelist & specialist)
• Local Gov 2.0 Strategies: Tackling current issues like the swine flu through collaborative learning

The story

A couple of years ago, I reached out to my readers and twitter followers to help me on my quest to get a job whilst writing my PhD. And I wasn’t let down, to say the least…

Many of you reached out in ways that I could not have imagined. And I have received many invitations to join various excellent companies over the years. But unfortunately, it was not a permanent solution to my quest. It was more like a band aid until I could find a proper solution. But still somewhat a miracle to me.

The difficult bit

What some didn’t know was, I had to decline most of them because I didn’t just need any regular job offer. I needed a work permit and a job that would pay enough so that I could pay back my student loan that is as big as some of your house mortgages.

The dilemma I faced was this. Go home, where I already had good job with a good salary, be close to family and friends and not have to pay any debt or…

Stay here, do exciting goodwill projects and be involved in a movement, a cause that I believe in, in a supportive community and a career that excites me everyday and pay back my hefty student loan.

So it was not an easy decision to make and not an easy dream to accomplish, to say the least. There were times where I almost gave up and  wanted to just go home, where things could be easy for me. But I had this fire inside me that kept telling me that I had to stay.

The Bad Date

However, even with all the fire in my belly, its never an easy thing to ask from a future employer. “Can you give me a work permit?“

Talk about a turn off, it was the equivalent of first date gone bad. Although I did progress quite far with some of the companies, going beyond 1 date/meeting, it was just not the right time and nothing came of it and I slowly went into my shell. Feeling frustrated and slightly uncertain of my future (hence the lack of blogging).

To cut the story short. I did not give up. 

About 2 years went by. The search for a job led me to many opportunities that has shaped my career. Within those two years, many companies have taken me on temporary basis and given me the experience and skills to get to where I am today. And it also gave me the opportunity to reassess my choices and realize where my strengths were and to use it to its full potential.

Government career was not possible

Many would think that I would continue working in government, as its an area that I hold dear to my heart. I have grown and embraced all the wonderful people in government. So its disheartens me to say that, a career in government was never going to happen. I wasn’t going to be in the middle of all the change and revolution that I had envisioned to be.

It was hard enough trying to get a work permit in the private sector, where the first question they ask on their application forms is “Do you have the legal right to work full time in the UK?”  So with recent job cuts in government, it was never going to be fair nor possible for any government agency to consider offering me a full time position due to the work permit requirements.

And to be honest, I completely understood that and accepted that’s how things were.  Weirdly enough, I did at one point secure a job offer but since a work permit was not going to be offered,the job was given to somebody else.

But many life experiences have taught me that, what we hope for is not exactly what we will get and there is a reason for everything that happens. The key is to have faith and keep chasing your dream…

New job

Fast forward a couple of years,  I have now secured a work permit. But wanted to wait for the right time to blog about it. So, here I am. Yay! #finally

I am now working for Zaizi, an open source specialist that offers content management solutions. I am responsible for all the marketing & social media strategy for the company, giving me full capacity to exercise every little bit of creativity I have in me. Something that possibly is not possible to do in a bigger organization. Its still early days, but I am enjoying my job more than I could ever imagine.

I am learning new things and experiencing challenges that are new to me. The experiences I picked while trying to secure a work permit had given me the opportunity to realize that communications and marketing or what I might call it – “an opportunity to inspire others…” is where I feel most at home.

Also, any concept that relies on social capital for it to succeed like social media strategies, open data and open source, is where my heart beats the fastest. Having people working together for the greater good has always made me think of accomplishing the impossible. Breaking down the barriers and leaving some sort of imprint on the world and community.

Saying that, let me introduce you to Zaizi

Zaizi is such a great company that is young and very vibrant. It was recently mentioned in ‘Wired‘ magazine as one of UK’s great young technology companies by the CEO & President of Alfresco. John Powell. It has grown from 3 people to 30 people in the space of less than 12 months. In this economy and recession period, that is not mean feat. I’m surrounded by young talent with incredible work ethic. I call them the “Zaizi rockstars” because that’s exactly what they are.  They work hard but play hard too. We have company events, have lunch together and go on company outings that certainly helps us to get to know each other better.

Here is a video of us at our “Alfresco & Ephesoft Platinum Partner Party” held here at our offices. You guys know how much I like to do videos

Zaizi’s Alfresco & Ephesoft Platinum Partner Party Video World Premiere! from Zaizi Ltd on Vimeo.

Aingaran Pillai

Aingaran Pillai, the CEO & founder of Zaizi has had a humble beginning. He too once worked for government at Camden Council. And started working at Camden in the webteam, where (funnily enough) where I started too!

His passion and enthusiasm for open source led him to leave government and setup Zaizi (which BTW means ‘Genius’ in mandarin). He has been invited to talk at Oxford University, the London Council Web Managers Forum and most recently, the Cabinet Office to talk about his knowledge in open source and how it could be used in government and large global enterprises. He is also highly respected by his colleagues and peers within the open source community. I am learning much from him and the rest of the team here at Zaizi and feel very blessed to be given an opportunity to work here.

Open source & social media

So some of you might ask me, have I abandoned my passion for social media for government now that I’ve joined an open source company? My answer is no. I will always be passionate about everything that makes people move and take action. My experience to date has shown me that digital engagement encompasses many facets, from technology to people, and we need to start looking at the bigger picture to understand how to utilize our resources more efficiently. And that’s exactly what I’ll be doing!

So I hope you will bear with me if you find the content of this blog delivering a variety of topics, that you might or might not be interested in. For me, this blog will always be my journal for learning, that helps me to better understand things that I observe or come across. But as my job revolves around open source, I will probably write about it more than others.

I do hope you will continue to follow this blog, as it will continue to document my journey and quest for knowledge.

Great to be back… Thanks to all who have helped me along the way. You know who you are!

See you soon.

Liz xxx

Possibly Related Posts

• The Open Gov Summit
• Democratizing Softwares: Bristol City Council’s Open Source Success Story
• Make Conversations Possible: What Open Standards and Open Source means to government and citizens
• Local Gov 2.0 Strategies: Tackling current issues like the swine flu through collaborative learning

The dumbest mistake is viewing design as something you do at the end of the process to ‘tidy up’ the mess, as opposed to understanding it’s a ‘day one’ issue and part of everything.”
- Tom Peters (issue Journal of Business and Design, Vol 6, No. 1)

Ever since we started documenting our journey here at Camden webteam, we have been inundated with emails asking about our web strategy and experience redesigning our site. One of the topics that always seem to come up is how we’ve conducted our user-led approach in designing the site. We were prompted to write this special piece together when @danslee from Walsall Council asked us why we think user research and user testing was important to us while redesigning our site. Given the extraordinary insightful journey we went through, we wanted to pull our thoughts together and recapture the essence of our website redesign project.

Customer insight and user testing

When we were going through our website redesign, we found the user research and testing to be one of the most useful and powerful tool for redesign. We got to know our users and learn what matters to them when using our site. It forced us to look beyond our own experiences, skills and knowledge and put users at the heart of our design.

We did several types of user research and user testing, allowing us to get a complete customer insight into what makes a good council website for residents of Camden. They included usability testing, focus groups, usability lab studies, A/B testings, contextual enquiries, personas and eyetracking.

Really getting to know our users

We also visited users in their homes to understand what sort of equipment they used to access the web and get a better picture of what their day-to-day life might look like. The user research and user testing were crucial in shaping a council website that suited our users’ needs instead of just complying with corporate demands. We made it our objective that this website was ‘to serve and not to be served to’ the public.

Result of user research and user testing

The result from our user research and user testing demonstrates how the user research and usability testing has helped us when we were in the process of redesigning our website.  It also resulted in a positive response from the local government community.

Here are some of the reasons why you should seriously consider doing user testing before launching your new council website

Alasdair Mangham – Head of Information Systems at London Borough of Camden

Can you afford not to user test is the question that should be asked. Is there really any justification for spending thousands of pounds of public money on a website and then to be left wondering why nobody is using it?

Channel shift and web usability

Council’s need to achieve channel shift to online to meet savings targets and users want a service that they can use easily.

“Usability is the key to ensuring that you are providing people with a channel that they will choose to use and that is the key to achieving channel shift.”

 

Is analytics enough?

It is true that you can design a new website from a good understanding of analytics but that presupposes users can do what they need on your existing site. Analytics is like a crying baby. It tells you that something’s wrong but it can’t tell you what. And this is where usability testing comes in.

The significant problems we have cannot be solved with the thinking used to create them.
- Albert Einstein

Here are some valuable points from Alasdair on what you can do to avoid a website relaunch disaster: -

1. Start early – It is important to start the user testing process as early as possible in the redesign. This can be done by using paper prototypes or wireframes, so with only minimal technology. It also does not need to be expensive.  Most large councils have a workforce of several thousand and small council’s workforce will still have several hundred employees.
2. Make use of the resources that are easily available – In most cases the council workforce will also be council residents and they are an ideal group to get half a dozen users for your user testing. So for very little investment it is possible to prevent mistakes that cost thousands of pounds to fix and there is no better return on Investment than that.

John Weller -  Camden webteam

“It’s easy to presume what you’re building is useful, but user testing often proves otherwise.”

Michael Fredman –  Camden webteam

“User testing and user research can provide a first hand understanding of how people a) use and b) view the site you are working on, and this is invaluable because it grounds what is being done in the real world.”

The value of running and moderating user testing sessions

1. When running or moderating user testing sessions I am always struck by how much insight is provided. People come to the site with fewer preconceptions than those deeply involved in the site’s development and can point out in their approach things you wouldn’t have noticed or would have taken for granted.
2. Another value of user research is that it gives you concrete examples of how people are affected by the design of a site which remain with you, because they are human examples – not textbook or guideline based.

A world of difference…

There is a world of difference between wanting to meet accessibility and usability guidelines because you know that abstractly it is a good thing, and wanting to implement them because you have gone out and met a diverse range of users and seen the problems they have with web interfaces, and the frustration and difficulty that can be caused from poor or thoughtless design.

Personally, I recall going out to meet with a group of older people from the local community and discussing their opinions and experiences of the web. I also remember the first time I witnessed a visually impaired person use a browser to navigate a website; these experiences were affecting and gave me a clear understanding of potential problems. Having those experiences has encouraged me to always try to bear them in mind when I am approaching a project.

- Michael F.

Martin Black – London Borough of Camden Web Manager

User testing on the cheap!

Usability testing needn’t be expensive and you don’t always need an external company to do it for you.  Easy to use, cheap tools include:

• Google Analytics (free!) or similar – identify what people are doing on your website (essential resource: Avinash Kaushik’s books and blog: www.kaushik.net/avinash/ )

• Google Website Optimizer – A/B testing (free!) find out if users prefer using version A or version B (www.google.com/websiteoptimizer)

• Online surveys / face to face interviews (free!) – identify why people are doing things on your website and what problems they might be having (resource: Gerry McGovern’s book on Top Task Management: www.gerrymcgovern.com/)
• User testing (free!) – identify what problems users are having with your website (essential resource: Steve Krug’s ‘Rocket Surgery Made Easy‘: www.sensible.com/rocketsurgery/index.html

• Stats from your customer services (free!) – what are users asking for? What can’t they find?

• Internal site search stats – what are the top keywords? What are people after?

Recommendation

We strongly recommend that any council redesigning their website takes time to thoroughly understand their customers by using research and testing. It’s a great way to gain support from the public,  insight and to save money in the long run, as you can deliver services based on what users needs and their top tasks.

User testing allows you to see whether or not a feature of the website is actually useable or facilitates the completion of tasks.  And that’s what a council website needs to deliver – the ability for a customer to complete a task that they came to the website to do. Be it paying council tax, ordering a new recycling bin or simply searching for wedding venues within the borough.

- Liz Azyan (Camden webteam)

And remember….

“For each dollar a company invests in developing the usability of a product, the company receives $10-$100 in benefits and wins customer satisfaction and continued business. Furthermore, industry data shows that for each dollar spent to fix a problem during product design, $10 are spent to fix the same problem in product development, and $100 or more are spent to fix the same problem after product release.”
- Claire Marie Karat, “A business case approach to usability cost justification.” In, R. Bias and D. Mayhew, Eds. Cost-Justifying Usability, Academic Press, NY, 1994.

Hope this was useful!

Camden webteam

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Sheenagh Reynolds from Local Directgov welcomes #RU11 attendees to the ‘Really Useful’ event – 1st July 2011 from Liz Azyan on Vimeo.

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• UK Local Council Twitter Followers

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Download the ‘Data Discovery Workshop’ Agenda

A. Its one of a kind

The LDG Community in conjunction with the Transparency team at DCLG and the LG group are planning a series of events and activities over a 6-month period to encourage use of open data sets and developments of some really useful apps.

We are holding a preparatory day themed the ‘Data Discovery’ workshop on 1^st July in London. At this event we are hoping to: -

1. Identify some really useful apps,
2. Learn about different types of data available
3. Learn and work together to source the data
4. Identify how we can publish data in different ways (not just PDFs and excel or csv formats)
5. Discover how we can use the data effectively and efficiently

THERE ARE KNOWLEDGE GAPS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ABOUT OPEN DATA!!!

B. It doesn’t end at the workshop

After discovering the potential, barriers and challenges of data, the will event continue offline to develop complete business cases, and high level specifications that can be subsequently developed at the main hack day in September. This will take place on the Open Data Cook Book wiki website to encourage local government participation and making the process as transparent as possible. In addition, we will be featuring ways to engage and get real feedback from citizens on the ground from experienced citizen engagement experts to pave the way forward for sustainable use of data.

Register to ‘The Really Useful – Data Discovery Workshop’ NOW and vote for the open data challenges

Download the ‘Data Discovery Workshop’ Agenda
C. Experts and experienced individuals in open data and citizen engagement will support you all the way
We will also be supporting attendees (online and offline) of the ‘Really Useful’ post-event to continue their apps development. This will be achieved via our online forum (Local Directgov CoP) and other online facilities via the hashtag #RU11.

We will also be inviting experts to answer open data related questions to break through any barriers and challenges that may arise in the business case and high specification development stage.

D. It is not a flash in the pan, we have done our research

Recently me and Ingrid, who will be facilitating this event had a session at the recent #localgovcamp to ask what makes a good hacks and collaborative development days really useful. We learnt a lot of good lessons from that session and continued to talk to experts in open data to inform the ‘Data Discovery’ workshop. So this is an event that already knows the problems with open data and the challenges that comes with it but will allow you to discover them within context of your own organization, while having fun!

E. It is a platform where you can develop your ‘Open Data Strategy’

We believe this ‘Data Discovery’ workshop and the continuation of conversations, discussions and development of apps post-event is a revolutionary approach that will inspire local government to think beyond hack days and really realize the potential of sustainable use of data.  We believe it can also help you to develop your open data strategy too.

We are very keen to get local government partners involved in this first event. You don’t have to be a developer to make a real impact but you do need to be able to think innovatively and assess the potential and sustainability of ideas that are put forward.

Register to ‘The Really Useful – Data Discovery Workshop’ NOW and vote for the open data challenges

Download the ‘Data Discovery Workshop’ Agenda

We would like to encourage Head of Services to attend this event, so please forward this to your Head of Services. If you wish for us to invite them, kindly email Sheenagh.Reynolds@communities.gsi.gov.uk and she can invite them on your behalf.

Looking forward to seeing you there or online (using the hashtag #RU11).

Liz Azyan

Really Useful Enthusiast

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively

If you don’t have a Facebook Page Vanity URL, then your ID is the 12 digit number at the end of the URL.

But if you do have a vanity URL like I do (http://www.facebook.com/LGEOResearch) then you will have to look for the ID by following these 2 easy steps.

STEP 1

Click on ‘Edit page’ on the top right corner of your page.

STEP 2

Check out the URL after the jump and take note of the 12 digit number at the end of the URL. That is your Facebook Page ID! Easy peasy right?

Hope this was useful!

Liz xxx

Listening to All for you – Sister Hazel

Like this article? Why not be a fan on facebook? http://www.facebook.com/LGEOResearch

Other posts

• Now with pictures & other Twitterati lists!: @Liz_Azyan’s Twitterati Dedication List – People you should follow on Twitter
• List and status of UK Local Council Twitters
• List of UK Local Councils on YouTube as of 22nd July 2009
• Updated list of UK Local Councils Twitter Accounts – 22nd July 2009
• Government-to-Citizen Communications: Utilising multiple digital channels effectively