Code.Gov is the new home for US government software code

New website launched to improve access to open source projects.

The White House has today launched a website to improve access to government software code, pooling all open source projects across agencies in one place. It will be a “useful resource for state and local governments, and developers looking to tap into the Government’s code to build similar services [and] foster new connections with their users”, wrote Tony Scott, US Chief Information Officer in a blog post. The launch follows the recent Federal Source Code Policy requiring every federal agency to share at least 20% of new custom-built code for a three-year pilot period. Last month, the White House shared its code for President Obama’s Facebook Messenger bot to help other governments build their own alternative. The code for the bot and 50 other projects from 10 agencies are now available on Code.gov. “We expect this number to grow over the coming months as agencies work to implement the Federal Source Code Policy”, he wrote. The government hopes to avoid repeated purchases of the same software by different agencies and cut costs by requiring agencies to share their code. Code.Gov will go beyond software code, and be home to all things open source, the government hopes. It will “provide useful tools and best practices to help agencies implement the new policy”, Scott wrote. For instance, agencies will be able to learn how to build successful open source projects, he added.