"with the proliferation of issues and a scarcity of resources to address them all, leaders inside and outside government are turning to the principles of participation, collaboration, transparency, and efficiency to address the challenges facing our country and the world." - Tim O'Reilly
Case Studies
Despite technological advancement in earthquake monitoring, today it is still nearly impossible for scientists to forecast when and where an earthquake might occur. Even though warning systems are in place in many of the regions most threatened by earthquakes, at present they are still only able to sound the alarm seconds after the event. For this reason, collection of the relevant seismological data is crucial so that it can be made available to research and scientific organizations across the globe. The BGR has historical data on earthquakes dating back to 800 AD, as well as metadata on more than two million seismological events, and the database continues to grow.
Fast access to data and permanent availability are two of the key requirements for successful operation of the BGR. As a government agency commissioned to monitor and ensure compliance with the CTBT, the BGR must ensure a minimum 98 percent availability of data at all times. The International Monitoring System, (IMS), has 321 monitoring stations around the world that monitor adherence to the CTBT. The BGR is responsible for operating four of these highly sensitive listening posts and assumes the role of a national data center (NDC). The institute acts as expert advisor to the federal government and the CTBT organisation in Vienna. Read more.
The challenges Gynecological Oncology Group faced to support its web-based, form-driven clinical research
The Gynecological Oncology Group (GOG) is an organization funded by the National Cancer Institute to perform quality clinical research on female pelvic cancers. Organized in 1970 by a group of gynecological surgeons interested in quality clinical research, the GOG is a non-profit organization funded by the National Cancer Institute. The GOG conducts approximately 45 clinical trials at any given time – each trial tests a new cancer drug or new use of an established drug, and collects cumulative data on individual patient responses. To conduct a clinical trial, the GOG must be able to collect cumulative data on how each patient has responded to treatment via online forms. Read more.
The NSA’s Security Challenge
The National Security Agency has a mission. It is not just the nation's code keeper and code breaker, but it must ensure the security of the nation's digital infrastructure. Ironically, it had a security problem: the ecosystem for software that was keeping top secret information secret was deeply broken. There was little competition, no innovation and this essential software was expensive, slow to market, and antiquated. Using open source software, the National Security Agency was able to gather a community of professional and amateur security experts together to make unprecedented security protections available to the public. Read more
Public and Private Sectors Collaborate on Interoperable Electronic Health Information Exchange
During 2008, more than 20 federal agencies and the private sector collaborated on an open source project with the National Health Information Network (NHIN) and the Federal Health Architecture (FHA), and as a result, agencies are heading down the road toward electronic health information interoperability. NHIN’s open source solution enables secure and interoperable electronic health information exchanges with other NHIN participating organizations, including federal agencies, state, tribal and local-level health organizations, and healthcare participants in the private sector. Read more
The Veterans Administration estimates that one in five of all lab tests in the US healthcare system are unnecessarily repeated due to lack of portable health records. According to the VA, the VistA electronic health record system has largely eliminated all errors stemming from lost or incomplete medical records. The cost of maintaining the system is $87 per patient per year, whereas the cost of one repeated test is $80. The VA credits VistA for improving rates of pneumonia vaccination among veterans with emphysema, cutting pneumonia hospitalizations in half and reducing costs by $40 million per year, and more importantly, with saving 6,000 lives. The Veteran’s Administration is proof that open source solutions can strengthen the quality and affordability of Americans’ health care.
Read more from the Veterans Administration.
US Navy’s Real-Time Open Source Software Migrates to Wall Street
Using open source software, the US Navy was able to standardize the shipboard systems on its new destroyers, reducing the complexity of the ship's systems and their reliance on proprietary real-time software. Wall Street now uses this same technology to execute orders predictably, without relying on vendor-specific hardware and software. Read more