Preventing waste and abuse has long eclipsed innovation as a focus for the US government. Despite this, innovation is still happening. In fact, the US government doesn’t have an innovation problem; it has an adoption problem. The theory of constraints tells us that aiming our efforts anywhere except the source of a bottleneck is unlikely to deliver value. That’s why some of the most innovative initiatives in government focus on accelerating procurement, streamlining compliance, and platform engineering. What do these things have in common? They all aim organizational effort at attacking the most impactful bottlenecks in modern service delivery in government programs.
It’s critical, as government organizations continue to work to improve their delivery models and reduce time lines around procurement and compliance, that they don’t lose sight of where the rubber meets the road: modern service delivery and product development. Our research shows that two of the common threads among organizations that do this well are in embracing agile development practices from the executive down to the program office level and leveraging open-source projects where possible instead of reinventing the wheel. While these two concepts are rarely paired together explicitly, both play a key role in accelerating development and fostering innovation.
Let’s explore what makes open-source and agile adoption a unique proposition for government organizations.
Open-Source Adoption In Government Is Viable But Challenging
Open-source software is a powerful alternative to commercial or customized solutions, allowing development teams to build on community efforts and inherit their collective innovation. But for government organizations, adopting open-source projects comes with its own set of hurdles: The stringent regulatory environment, national security considerations, and complex acquisition processes make assessing the viability of an open-source project a critical precursor to adoption.
The Top Challenges In Government Open-Source Adoption
- Security, compliance, and privacy: Government security, compliance, and privacy laws might not be top of mind for open-source contributors, leading to gaps that must be filled during implementation.
- Influence over project direction: Government program offices likely won’t have significant influence over the direction of large open-source projects, making alignment with specific needs challenging if you are expecting a full solution out of the box.
- Licensing and legal considerations: Licensing terms and legal considerations can change, leaving programs scrambling to adapt. For example, when HashiCorp changed its licensing from the Mozilla Public License to the Business Source License, organizations had to quickly reassess their use of HashiCorp products to ensure compliance with the new terms.
- Interoperability and integration risks: Open-source projects are often a great starting point for new applications, but legacy modernization projects bring additional complexity and considerations. Interoperability with legacy architectures can lead to costly integration challenges.
Agile: Commitment Vs. Execution
Federal leaders are committed to agile development, but the results at the team level often lag. Despite strong support for modern service delivery practices, few projects are fully agile in their execution. This paradox highlights the challenges and opportunities in adopting agile methodologies within government agencies.
The Key Impediments To Agile Adoption
- Cultural resistance and security concerns: A blend of cultural resistance and legitimate security and compliance concerns can hinder agile adoption.
- Waterfall-oriented frameworks: Acquisition, budgeting, and contracting frameworks still promote waterfall approaches, making agile implementation challenging.
- Federated organizational structure: The inherently federated structure of government organizations complicates the shift to agile.
- Mission-critical systems: Mission-critical systems and infrastructure cannot be replaced by half-baked experiments, necessitating a cautious approach.
Unlock The Full Reports
To dive deeper into how to build a foundation for success and accelerating adoption, read the full reports on assessing open-source viability in government projects and accelerating agile in the US government.
