Will host all future government IT development projects

The government of Bulgaria has proposed to start a repository for open source software. The government also wants to make it mandatory to use the web based code revision and code management system for all future government software development projects.

The proposals have been sent to the parliament for approval. A decision is expected not before January.

The publicly accessible repository for government software is to be operated by a new agency for Electronic Governance. The repository will likely be mirrored with GitHub, says Bozhidar Bozhanov, Advisor to the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister. “This should make it easier for Github users to contribute to code development.”

The repository will be made mandatory, Bozhanov adds. “Projects need to be developed as open source, instead of being published at the very end of the development.”

He expects that the parliament will publish the governments’ proposal sometime next week.

Mandatory

Bozhanov, a software engineer by training, is one of the open source software advocates involved in Отворен код в държавата (Open source in the country). The group is arguing for changes to Bulgaria’s public procurement rules, to make open source mandatory for government software development. “Software that developed for public administrations should be public property, as open source”, the advocates explain on their website.

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Earlier OSOR news item

Earlier OSOR news item