At the UK's Government Digital Service, we write most of our code in the open. This has been a huge transformation from the previous government culture. This talk is about how we got here, how this works for us and what's next.

1. I work for the UK government
@annashipman GDS

2. @annashipman GDS

3. @annashipman GDS

4. @annashipman GDS

5. @annashipman GDS

6. @annashipman GDS

7. @annashipman GDS

8. Open sourcing government

9. Anna Shipman
Technical Architect
Government Digital Service
@annashipman

10. How we got here

11. @annashipman GDS

12. The UK’s Government
Digital Service (GDS)
@annashipman GDS

13. Our job is to change the
way government works
@annashipman GDS

14. GOV.UK
was first
@annashipman GDS

15. Worked with eight departments
to improve services
@annashipman GDS

16. Digital services so good that
people prefer to use them
@annashipman GDS

17. @annashipman GDS

18. The owner had to
fill in this form
@annashipman GDS

19. @annashipman GDS

20. 91% user satisfaction
@annashipman GDS

21. @annashipman GDS

22. @annashipman GDS

23. 45%
of prisoners lose
contact with their
family while inside
@annashipman GDS

24. 39%
more likely
to reoffend
if not visited
@annashipman GDS

25. The prisoner
gave this form
to the guard
@annashipman GDS

26. @annashipman GDS

27. 85% user satisfaction
@annashipman GDS

28. @annashipman GDS

29. We are supporting
other parts of government
@annashipman GDS

30. @annashipman GDS

31. @annashipman GDS

32. @annashipman GDS

33. The UK government has
committed to making code open
@annashipman GDS

34. Why we code in the open

35. Potential for reuse
@annashipman GDS

36. You don’t know what will be
useful to others
@annashipman GDS

37. Increases transparency
@annashipman GDS

38. It’s also nice to show
what you’re working on
@annashipman GDS

39. @annashipman GDS

40. Code in the open by default
@annashipman GDS

41. The potential downsides of
coding in the open

42. It can be difficult to get started
@annashipman GDS

43. @annashipman GDS

44. @annashipman GDS

45. Possibility of making mistakes,
e.g. passwords, credentials
@annashipman GDS

46. Be able to recover quickly
@annashipman GDS

47. Have processes that
make mistakes harder
@annashipman GDS

48. Separate code and configuration
@annashipman GDS

49. Coding in the open forces you
to do things properly
@annashipman GDS

50. When to keep code closed

51. @annashipman GDS

52. Configuration should be
closed source
@annashipman GDS

53. Configuration should be
closed source – maybe
@annashipman GDS

54. @annashipman GDS

55. @annashipman GDS

56. Security should be
closed source
@annashipman GDS

57. Security should be
closed source – maybe
@annashipman GDS

58. @annashipman GDS

59. @annashipman GDS

60. @annashipman GDS

61. @annashipman GDS

62. Security thinking has to be
holistic – users, culture, context
@annashipman GDS

63. Focus on reducing
mean time to recovery
@annashipman GDS

64. Good security works
even if it’s open
@annashipman GDS

65. Policy not yet announced
@annashipman GDS

66. Code as if you are
going to release it
@annashipman GDS

67. No credentials or secrets
@annashipman GDS

68. Good commit messages
@annashipman GDS

69. Good documentation
@annashipman GDS

70. But you would do that anyway!
@annashipman GDS

71. We are not perfect

72. Change can be very difficult
@annashipman GDS

73. @annashipman GDS

74. @annashipman GDS

75. @annashipman GDS

76. You can do this in
your organisation
@annashipman GDS

77. Other people
using our code

78. @annashipman GDS

79. @annashipman GDS

80. @annashipman GDS

81. @annashipman GDS

82. Coding in the open
vs open source

83. We don’t promise
to support it
@annashipman GDS

84. We’ve not committed
to maintain it
@annashipman GDS

85. There are some
open source projects
@annashipman GDS

86. @annashipman GDS

87. @annashipman GDS

88. Originally coded in the open
@annashipman GDS

89. @annashipman GDS

90. Other parts of government
are using it
@annashipman GDS

91. @annashipman GDS

92. Maintaining open source
has challenges
@annashipman GDS

93. Getting time to work on it
@annashipman GDS

94. Open source Thursdays
@annashipman GDS

95. Contributors taking it in a
new direction
@annashipman GDS

96. Talk to people
@annashipman GDS

97. What we are doing next

98. Identify most useful
projects to open source
@annashipman GDS

99. Helping teams code in the open
@annashipman GDS

100. Increase our OSS contributions
@annashipman GDS

101. How you can get involved

102. Get your organisation
coding in the open
@annashipman GDS

103. Let me know if you want to
use our code
@annashipman GDS

104. Come work for GDS!
gds.blog.gov.uk/jobs/
@annashipman GDS

105. Anna Shipman
Technical Architect
Government Digital Service
@annashipman

106. @annashipman GDS
Personalised licence plate image credit
• flickr.com/photos/ambernectar/3748854184/
Studies about prison visits
• thinknpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Investing-in-family-ties.pdf
• webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110201125714/http:/www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/
research-factors-reoffending.pdf
The Digital Service Standard
• gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard
GDS Operations open source
• gds-operations.github.io
Blog posts
• gdstechnology.blog.gov.uk/2016/09/30/easing-the-process-of-pull-request-reviews/
• gds.blog.gov.uk/2014/10/08/when-is-it-ok-not-to-open-all-source-code/
• gdstechnology.blog.gov.uk/2016/01/19/opening-gov-uks-puppet-repository/
• identityassurance.blog.gov.uk/2015/12/21/gov-uk-verify-technical-delivery-update-21-
december-2015/