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Since open source became a tangible idea, the world has evolved in numerous ways, helping to set the stage for open source to become a real force for changing the way government operates.

Government now runs on a 24/7 cycle, and each new day brings increased concerns about security, stability and performance. With tight budgets a fact of life for most agencies, open source presents itself as an effective and reliable solution to meet the needs of modern government.

Open source offers an alternative to proprietary software applications, freeing government from business-as-usual approaches. More and more government agencies find that open source solutions allow them to collaborate, innovate and reduce IT costs.

Massachusetts CIO Peter Quinn is a leading open source advocate in government. Not only is he a believer in open source, Quinn also spearheads his state's implementation of an open source strategy. He explained why the time is right for government to consider open source solutions.

Quinn said he sees Massachusetts as a Fortune 60-size company with $24 billion in revenue and 200 business units, all of which must work together. "Up until two or three years ago, everybody did their own thing. Our goal since I've come here is to speak about one IT community because that is the way the public sees us. That is what our employees expect of us. So shouldn't we act that way as IT professionals?"

In addition to his role as CIO, Quinn leads an organization known as the Government Open Code Collaborative (GOCC). The GOCC is developing a repository for open source applications that are available to agencies with similar objectives. The goal is to lower costs and improve effectiveness by sharing open source solutions.

"We're 50 states that do the same things," Quinn said. "We register cars, collect taxes, pay welfare, house inmates -- so why do we embark on doing these things by ourselves?"

According to Quinn, the GOCC is unaffiliated with any professional government organization. Instead, the GOCC's sole purpose is to use open source as a collaborative tool. Full members of the GOCC can deposit and withdraw open source code, while partial membership offers more limited access. GOCC members are becoming more numerous and diverse. And with big future plans in store, the more contributors, the better.

"Among the folks we have signed are executive branches, auditors' offices, secretaries of state, universities -- so we're running across the template of government, which is really what our intention was," explained Quinn. "There is some code in there now, and we're starting to work on how we are going to publicize this. We're also going to attempt to build a project together with some other entities across state lines. We're going to demonstrate government can actually build things together in a collaborative manner, and in a meaningful and sustaining way that people are going to be interested in."

Throughout state and local government, open source offers scalable strategies that result in a range of benefits.

"If you employ the tenets of open source, which is collaboration and increased innovation, we think it is an important enabler and motivator to help change the silo practices in government," Quinn said.

An open source strategy also can be more cost-effective than traditional, proprietary solutions.

"We truly believe open source is lowering our costs in Massachusetts," Quinn said. "We think that's not just on the acquisition side -- the early indications are that on the total cost of ownership side, it is less expensive as we go forward."

But perhaps the most important reason to consider an open source strategy is that it can improve the services government offers to constituents. By inviting collaboration, agencies also invite review from others, which in turn, fosters a more complete and better final product.

"The quality of the products we are seeing so far is very good. We think that is a combination of a couple of things," Quinn said. "We think it's because you have a larger set of eyes on it all the time, so you have this sort of peer pressure to do really good work. If you're not doing good work, I think the community will just toss you aside immediately -- I don't think they suffer fools gladly."

As Quinn and Massachusetts are proving, open source solutions are viable now. Reduced costs, improved stability and increased collaboration await those willing to break from tradition. With constituents demanding round-the-clock service, agencies can no longer afford to be shackled by proprietary solutions. And as more agencies join the open source community, their contributions continue to strengthen and expand the range of open source options.