Presentation by Johan Janssens at Open Belgium 2017.

1. Open Data is only the Beginning
An Open City Government talk beyond Open Data on
Open Development & Open Source.
Open Belgium
6 March 2017, Brussels

2. Johan Janssens
Make.Good.Code
http://timble.net - @johanjanssens
I'm a Belgian web developer,
free software advocate,
chief breaker of things @Timble.

3. 3% of the internet
build solely by volunteers

4. An open source web publishing platform used by 65 local police forces & federal police.
Open Police

5. Making a city open beyond data ...
https://flic.kr/p/nDzaE3

6. http://opendefinition.org/
The Open Definition initially derived from
the Open Source Definition.
“Open data and content can be freely
used, modified, and shared by
anyone for any purpose”

7. Open City Government
https://flic.kr/p/9KR59t

8. [City] is committed to:
● Transparency
● Meaningful public participation
● Collaborating with public and across government
● Sharing best practices, software and resources
http://opengovernmentinitiative.org/declaration-of-local-open-government-principles/

9. A open city must create a legal
framework that will institutionalize the
principles of transparency,
participation, and collaboration into
it’s culture and work.
http://opengovernmentinitiative.org/declaration-of-local-open-government-principles/
Open City Directive

10. Why?
https://flic.kr/p/eQtasQ

11. Builds trust
Being open about code, and the processes which lead
to coding decisions, are vital parts of building trust in
government.

12. Increases transparency
Coding in the open allows the public to see how public
money is being spent.

13. Potential for reuse
Work together and reuse solutions from other government
services rather than re-writing the wheel.

14. Makes it better
The more eyes there are on a service the better it gets.
Howlers are spotted, better alternatives are pointed out,
the bar is raised.

15. Helps to find great people
Developers can see the quality and style of code
produced, the types of technologies, and the kinds of
services delivered.

16. How?
https://flic.kr/p/qhd2dh

17. www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard & www.dta.gov.au/standard/
Create a 'Digital Service Standard'
Set of criteria to create and run digital services.

18. Digital Service Standard of GOV.UK:
1. Understand user needs
4. Use agile methods
5. Iterate and improve frequently
8. Make all new source code open
9. Use open standards and common platforms
www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard

19. www.cgi-group.co.uk/cgi-successfully-awarded-a-place-on-the-governments-digital-services-framework
Outsourcing suppliers must comply
with the Digital Service Standard
It took us 6 months to negotiate a contract to deliver
open source software to the Belgian Police.

20. https://github.com
Use GitHub
The largest open source community in the world.

21. government.github.com/community/
Who’s using GitHub?
Add your organisation ...

22. https://pages.18f.gov/open-source-guide/making-readmes-readable/
Start with a README
The first thing a user will see when encountering your code.

23. https://github.com/tinkkit/tink-core/blob/master/README.md

24. https://pages.18f.gov/open-source-guide/writing-clear-and-concise-issues/
Create issues
Tasks that need to be completed or discussed are
added to repositories as issues.

25. https://github.com/Fedict/eid-viewer/issues

26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coding_conventions
Use coding standards
Reduce the cost of maintenance and
improve code readability.

27. https://github.com/timble/openpolice-platform/blob/master/application/site/component/districts/view/relations/html.php

28. The Gitflow workflow defines a strict branching model
designed around the project release.
Use a branching model
nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/

29. https://github.com/timble/openpolice-platform

30. https://www.vagrantup.com/ & https://www.docker.com/
Have a virtual development
environment
Lower development environment setup time, increase
development/production parity, and make the "works on my
machine" excuse a relic of the past.

31. https://github.com/timble/openpolice-platform/blob/master/README.md

32. Examples
https://flic.kr/p/bwHCXU

33. https://www.boston.gov

34. https://github.com/CityOfBoston/boston.gov

35. https://github.com/CityOfBoston/boston.gov/issues

36. https://analytics.usa.gov/

37. https://github.com/18F/analytics.usa.gov

38. https://www.govcms.gov.au

39. https://github.com/govCMS/govCMS

40. https://www.kanooh.be/nl/raamcontract/abonnementen-websites

41. https://tweakers.net/nieuws/85895/vlaamse-overheid-kiest-voor-drupal-as-a-service-aanbieder-kanooh.html
Built with Drupal
but source code is not open
Funded by us, the taxpayer, for 9 million

42. We’re lagging behind
https://flic.kr/p/o3ZQHn

43. http://www.feweb.be/sites/default/files/FEDERAALREGEERAKKOORD_09102014.PDF
No mention of open source in the
federal coalition agreement

44. 75 countries endorsed the Open Government Declaration since 2011. Belgium hasn’t.

45. https://governmenttechnology.blog.gov.uk/2016/12/14/our-commitment-to-better-open-source-practices/
Others already have a commitment to
make source code open by default.

47. I have a “simple” dream ...

48. I dream of living in a truly open city
where I can access, use, modify the
code of city’s website.
You?

49. We build things for the web
www.timble.net
Thank you
tom.janssens.me - @JanssensTom