Source Code Policy: Introduction for Public Comment

... today the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is releasing a draft policy to improve the way custom-developed Government code is acquired and distributed moving forward. This policy is consistent with the Federal Government’s long-standing policy of ensuring that “Federal investments in IT (information technology) are merit-based, improve the performance of our Government, and create value for the American people.”2

This policy requires that, among other things: (1) new custom code whose development is paid for by the Federal Government be made available for reuse across Federal agencies; and (2) a portion of that new custom code be released to the public as Open Source Software (OSS).

We welcome your input on this innovative draft policy ...

Disclaimer: Involved in the planning stages for a custom development project under contract for the Army Corps of Engineers. My personal opinion is that it qualifies for this policy and that it is a good policy moving forward. So far I have absolutely no idea of the opinions of my employer, much less the staff we are working with at the Army Corps of Engineers.