Open Source Software in the Public Sector: 25 years and still in its infancy

TL;DR

Despite the widespread adoption of open source software in industry, its use in the public sector remains limited due to various challenges, requiring targeted research and practice to unlock its full potential.

Contribution

This paper highlights the gap in OSS adoption in the public sector and calls for focused research and practical efforts to address barriers and promote wider use.

Findings

Public sector OSS adoption is still in its infancy.

Regulatory, cultural, and capacity challenges hinder OSS use.

Need for targeted research to facilitate OSS integration.

Abstract

The proliferation of Open Source Software (OSS) adoption and collaboration has surged within industry, resulting in its ubiquitous presence in commercial offerings and shared digital infrastructure. However, in the public sector, both awareness and adoption of OSS is still in its infancy due to a number of obstacles including regulatory, cultural, and capacity-related challenges. This special issue is a call for action, highlighting the necessity for both research and practice to narrow the gap, selectively transfer and adapt existing knowledge, as well as generate new knowledge to enable the public sector to fully harness the potential benefits OSS has to offer.