Work in the open
Last updated: 13 July 2023
Work in the open by being transparent and collaborative. Provide maximum access to your work and artefacts, share knowledge and solutions, make collective decisions. Open source your code unless there is a good reason not to.
Rationale
The Home Office DDaT Strategy advocates working and developing in the open to realise the benefits of shared technology products and to deliver effectively at scale. This is aligned to point 3 of the Technology Code of Practice and requirement 12 of the Service Standard.
Working in the open helps to build institutional memory, shared knowledge and best practice. Sharing code in the open makes it easier for teams to discover patterns and components. This in turn enables reuse and the development of shared technology products, and reduces duplication of effort.
Applications and Implications
- Make your documentation, artefacts and code easily discoverable for other teams
- Follow central government guidance on open and closed source code, bearing in mind Home Office requirements
- Build more secure applications by reducing reliance on ‘security by obscurity’
- Encourage reviews of work by wider communities, and welcome feedback and contributions