This document provides information about working with the government using open source skills. It discusses where open source is currently being used in government, why government needs open source skills, an overview of government procurement systems, and strategies for getting involved in government projects. Specific advice is provided from current government employees on establishing relationships, developing flexible business models, and clearly defining project scopes. Opportunities for open source skills in areas like training, project management, and health IT are also mentioned.

1. How to Work with the Government*
* for Fun and Profit

2. Today’s Talk
An snapshot of where open source is being used in
government today
Why government needs your skills (or is just about
to find out they do)
Government government procurement systems
nutshell including culture
A brief introduction to Hoops (as in the ones you’ll
need to jump through)
Ideas that can get you working on government
projects

3. Extra Stuff
(no-cost options)
What’s Happing in Washington D.C.
What Big Federal Agency will be the
first to do significant collaborative
development

4. About the Speaker
Day Job: Public Sector Communities
Manager / www.goscon.org director
Recovering Technocrat
Former State Deputy CIO
Independent Consultant to Ways & Means
Hopelessly Optimistic
www.democracylab.org
www.osdv.org

5. Your Volunteer Mentors*
Public University System CIO
State of California Agency CIO
State of Oregon Agency CIO
Oregon State Infrastructure Manager
Virginia City IT Director
Oregon County CIO
*Advise they would give anyone, open source or not.

6. Where is OSS in Gov 2Day?
Infrastructure - extensive
Database & back office systems, GIS,
CMS,
Increasingly replacing legacy systems
Collaboration tools, wiki, blogs ( most in
intranet) + vertical app dev

7. Why Government Work?
Once established, can provide a long
term source of income.
Projects tend to move slower, provide
greater workload flexibility.
Government agencies always pay their
bills (even if eventually).
Add credibility to your client portfolio.

8. Why Not Government Work?
Long ramp to establish oneself as a
contender
Formal RFPs can be challenging to
respond to
Cost of doing business with may exceed
your threshold
Procurements can be pulled back at any
time

9. Procurement
Government is not monolithic.
Oregon Example:
135 agencies, boards and commissions
35 counties
250 Cities
Plus myriad special districts.

10. All Government Shares
Common Values
Public, Open and Competitive
Equal access for all vendors to
information
Equal consideration based on Objective
Criteria
Increasing formality as costs increase
Most have no local preference by policy
Can prefer a minority business

11. Oregon Procurement System
http://orpin.oregon.gov/open.dll/welcome

12. Common Procurement
Strategies
Personal Ser vices Agreement
Low threshold (5K), limited use.
Competitive Pricing
Call around for three prices
Requests for Information (RFI)
Trolling for better info to develop an RFP
Master Services / Regional Collaborative Contracts

13. Get Started Strategies
Sign up for (fill in the blank)
procurement notices
Go talk to someone who works for
government
Get on approved vendor lists
Identify companies winning IT bids
today and partner with them
If you have more money than time, hire
a professional to get you started.

14. RFPs: What to Expect
Merciless deadlines.
Ruthless rule-following.
Information Holes large enough to drive
a motor-pool car through (but you get to
ask questions).
No dickering with terms and conditions.

15. Safety Tips
Read Solicitations Carefully
Read Solicitations Carefully.
Did I mention, Read Solicitations
Carefully?
If you can’t stand reading long
documents, pay a smart person to do it
for you.

16. If you’re lucky enuf
Be flexible in your business model
Don’t let the scope creep
All the usual best practices to ensure
you’re on track
Leave the organization behind you
stronger

17. Wisdom from an Oregon
State Agency CIO
“The best advice I
can give to an
independent
contractor or small
business ...is: sign
up with the state's
Managed
Services Program.”
https://oregon.nextsource.com

18. County CIO Wisdom
1. Working with government agencies is built on
providing good ser vice and maintaining good
personal relationships.
2. Establish a "flexible business model" and stay
within your parameters so you provide your clients
good ser vice within your areas of expertise.
3. When contracting, develop clear project plans and
stick to them to avoid scope creep and ensure that
you get paid for your work. But, provide a clear
understandable process so that clients can expand
your project if needed.

19. Wisdom from a City IT
Director
In my region, we have a collaborative
procurement contract, about 10 localities
participated in the RFP and we selected about
15 vendors to provide services at pre-
negotiated rates in multiple disciplines. Once
that hurdle is overcome, the rest is relatively
easy: as baby boomers retire, some of their old
skills we back-fill with contractors from the
pre-negotiated list.

20. Deb wisdom - relationships
Be respectful - could YOU do their job?
Be transparent
Ask for advice
Be helpful
Don’t buy lunch
Don’t spam, or contact during an official
procurement process
Always deliver what you promise.

21. Crystal Ball: Opportunities
Local gov wants: Training!
OSS-sav vy Project Management
Writing RFPs or grant requests
intended to encourage OSS
Health IT, esp. Electronic Health Records
Public Safety/First Responders
data interop, GIS

22. Make us Proud!
Thanks!
Questions?

23. More info...
Deborah Bryant
Oregon State University Open Source Lab
email: deb@osuosl.org
phone: 971.533.8050
blog: www.bryantsblog.com
OSL: www.osuosl.org
Conference: www.goscon.org