The government is very frustrating sometimes because it is hard to see change taking place from where we (well, most of us) sit. What makes it even more difficult is how helpless we feel to change it. The computer science field may have a solution. Open Source has been around since 1987 and maybe it's the answer we've been looking for.
You can think of source code like this: if a computer program were a building the computer source code would be the blueprints. It is how the software is constructed. It is also important to note if one has the blueprints it is easy to produce the building but if one has the building it is extremely difficult to produce the blueprints.
The conventional method for developing software and marketing it is closed. The development of this kind of software is kept in house and only employees of that company work on it. The output from this is the "building" in the above example. The source code is not available to outsiders and the company maintains ownership of it.
On the contrary, with the open model, the source code is freely distributed with the software. So instead of just the building you get the blueprints as well.
What if there was a way to apply this development model to our government? More to follow ...
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