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Open Source in Government: Newport News, Va.
Sam Hiser writes "Open source in government is getting real. Tom Adelstein, in this penetrating interview with Andy Stein, the CIO of Newport News, Virginia, gets to the heart of why the opportunity to build collaborative software pulled the former chief IT architect of Capital One into the public sector. Police, fire and EMT early responders -- and the IT systems that support them - are under Sisyphean pressure to perform, while budgets are sagging. Something's gotta give, and it's going to be the aging software infrastructure in our towns and cities. Are Open Source platforms the only economically viable alternative? Maybe not, but collaboration will have to occur if we want to build the systems to save our lives."
Instersting interview though. I think government is one of the most natural places for OSS though. Government is (or should be) open to the people, as is OSS. And people are always trying to find ways to do Government cheaper, since the money we give to our cities (say for the Water Department) should go to Water Department stuff (new pipes, etc) not making sure they have the lastest version of Soliare that comes with Windows. Free software is a great way to save costs while getting things done (and staying secure too, because I don't want that dang Mr. Smith down the street to know I spend $7.23 more per month on water than he does :).
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
The irony is, most health insurance-issuing companies are non-profits because for-profits cannot possibly make a profit when there are non-profits providing the same service and health insurance is something good for society to have in existance.
It's true that there are many medical processes and office visits that cost more to file the surrounding paperwork than to provide the actual service, and that has to be reflected in the pricing of the services.
If even the existing medical-records systems could be ported to Linux, that'd eliminate $200 from the cost of each computer in the doctor's office, and that'd be a savings that'd add up over time... and just think what'd happen if the interchange between care providers and insurance companies happened over open source protocols...
I'm consulting for an industrial control firm that installed and maintains some of the industrial control stuff over there at Newport News, and it's all done with proprietary stuff like VMS, and most of the other systems on that net are Windows based. There's not any open source stuff at all on that subnet as far as I can tell (except maybe for whatever parts of the GNU toolchain end up in the images Cisco distributes for their routers).
Although some industrial control and SCADA firms are moving towards porting their stuff to Linux, many customers are very opposed to anything without 20+ years of history behind it. They all seem to be very opposed to this idea of hiring non-vendor people to support their software or to depend on software with a planned lifespan of less than 10 years or so. I think they'd have a revolt on their hands if they forced the city infrastructure departments to use open source stuff, based on the comments I've heard from some of the people working on the project.
-- thalakan
I wonder if this would work. In general, for those guys in charge of Open-Source projects out there, did you build your software based on personal interest, or some real-world requirement you'd heard about or experienced?
Or perhaps something like this already exists?
We all know why these governments are really announcing these plans. To get discounts on their next round of Microsoft purchases!
The biggest complexity is the million jobs that exist because of the fragmented structure of medical care providers. Unfortunately, the corporate form has proven that all corporate formations are not for the benefit of large numbers. Just the opposite, a few will profit, many will work under them, and many are left uncovered- very sad! I agree that if there is a national interest to violate copyright,patent and tm, it would be in the interest of establishing better medical care. Would open source achieve this or might it just encourage more corporate formations controlling people's health????
Jax
Governments like to buy "complete solutions", which is to say, they'll take whatever OS comes on the computer so long as it does everything they want. What it'll take is somebody willing to sell PCs pre-loaded with OS software that fully duplicates the functionality of a standard Windows PC, and able to produce them in mass quanities.
Maybe someone with first hand knowledge can comment, as this will most certaintly hit the popular press and it might be prudent to know the facts.
Help fight continental drift.
I have a friend who works at the Underwater Naval Warfare Center here in Newport, RI. He develops code that runs automated warfare and fleet movement. He says that about HALF of their 3000 machines are running RedHat Linux.
I was amazed to hear this, because there seems to be almost no Linux penetration in RI, only 7 users are registered here on LinuxCounter. I also have only seen one Linux box in RI in actual use (outside University), and it was just being used at a router at a non-profit.
Every time I asked a boss or a client about using Linux for menial purposes (file/print servers, routers/firewalls, etc.) They practically laugh me out of the room. I finally found a job that's OSS friendly, but it's in Boston where people have their heads on straight.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
I have a horror story about the BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) in Toledo, OH. While this was in 1999 - it was a major problem.
I walked into the office stating that I needed to acquire a new drivers license. The clerk asked me to sign in with my name and SSN, handed me a stub of a pencil, and pointed to the list sitting OUTSIDE of the sliding glass window. I nearly sh*t my pants. I had in my hand 40 or 50 names, along with their SSNs, which I could easily have mined for malicious purposes.
I looked around the office and saw about 20 people who I wouldn't trust with my enemy's life, let alone 2 parts of my Identity.
It kinda reminds me of the time the US Post Office thought they were going to launch a pay-per-email scheme, when I had already had a free Yahoo account for at least a year.
God help us all.
May the Universe continue to bless itself - through You!
Stuff that matters.
Go down to your local HMO hospital and look in the parking lot. I will betcha that most of the nice hardware does not belong to the physicians. Rather, it belongs to the managment, particularly in HMO's that are vertically organized and provide the insurance as well as the health care delivery.
You mean like Kaiser Permanente?
My stepfather is a retired Kaiser cardiologist. Yeah, he has a pretty lame car. But that's because he prefers to spend the few million he's saved up over the years on trips to Borneo and $10k gifts to causes he likes.
He might have had a nominally higher income in private practice, but with the overhead (especially malpractice insurance) it's unlikely he would have taken home much more. And it seems he didn't really need to, either.
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
Most of us have recently seen an increase in news reports about open source software showing up in governments. Most of those reports seem to dramatize an upcoming battle between Linux and Microsoft. Rarely do we see information on the pros and cons of collaborative software development.
It is difficult to have a battle when one side will not show up, and the other side's weapons will not work without rebooting several times.
(Insert bullet. Detected new hardware, please reboot. Loading drivers, please reboot. Shoot. Insert bullet. Detected new hardware...)
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I learned about programming in the late 70s-early 80s. I started learning by reading code in magazines. I figured that someday I would share my code in magazines. Source was open because everything was interpreted.
I naively thought that was how software was shared. I thought that all programming would be shared. Write once, or find someone else's version, then never write that function again.
I grew up and entered the corporate world. I wrote code, and it was shared inside the company. We did not really have a method to share with other companies.
Then the internet. All the source was open, at least for HTML pages, and continuing when JavaScript was added. Sharing was mandatory, because the "code" was still interpreted.
But we also had these new things called software companies. I learned Pascal by reading the source to Visicalc. I have never seen the source for Lotus123 or MSExcel. How can I fix or add to it? How do I learn from it?
Then I read about RMS and FSF and GNU. Sounded good. Why were businesses using proprietary programs when they could collaborate and get what they wanted cheaper? I still have not heard a good answer, other than management DOES NOT WANT any responsibility they can avoid. They prefer a fixed cost every year to a single effort that produces something that exactly fits their needs.
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For example, in October I noticed that one of my clients had an incredibly poor process: bad UI for input, little error-checking during input, more human resources dedicated to fixing the bad data than to entering it.
I built a prototype of an application that would solve all that, run on worse client hardware than they were using, and allow remote access. It would integrate further up and down the process, so the people collecting the data would also input it. It included a similar business process that had not been automated yet. I arranged a meeting with management, and I demonstrated it to them.
It turned out that for several years they had been considering an "industry standard" software package to improve this process. My demonstration was the catalyst that caused a decision to be made. They "chose" the industry standard. My software was:
- cheaper in the short term. (They are my favorite client. I had built the prototype for fun. I wanted them to use it to demonstrate other skills that might have led to more business. So I told them to pick a price a little lower than the first year of the other product.)
- free in the long term (I was giving them all source. The industry standard is proprietary and charges annual licensing.)
- better suited to their business. (I built it for them. I know how they think. I know how they will use it and what output they expect. The industry standard is, well, standard.)
- better integrated with their current software. (I BUILT THE CURRENT REPORTING SOFTWARE. My prototype was built to easily transfer into that program. We had already proven integration with the other backends. I do not know how the other product integrates, but IT is already complaining.)
- better ownership. (Forget the source. The industry standard uses the ASP model where the proprietary company owns your data!)
I have had every person involved with this process, except the decision maker, tell me that my "prototype" was already better than the new product.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
Health costs have little to do with computers and everything to do with economics.
The spiralling costs of healthcare in the US are caused by price ceilings (which have an inflationary effect), 1993-1995 "Reform" and deregulation of the pharmacutical industry and companies and patients jumping from insurer to insurer.
Drug companies spend about $2 billion (2002 dollars) on direct to consumer advertising and about US$35 billion (2002 dollars) on R&D. Yet 20 years ago, drug companies spent $5 billion (2002 dollars) and released 150% more new drugs.
Do some googling, you'll find that the US medical system is amoung the most corrupt institutions on the planet -- and nobody really cares.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
Take a look at HIPAA transactions Transaction FAQ. Standard formats are already implemented. Trust me, I'm intimately familiar with these formats having coded several of these transactions personally for my company. While the idea is great, and the potential for reducing cost high, guess what? Providers (docs) have been very slow to move over to this standard. After all, its a huge expense, all they want is their claims paid. Now, open source practice management at the office, with HIPAA transaction support would be a lifesaver. The cost savings in elimating paperwork and proprietary standards from the Provider to HMO connection is enourmous. Currently most Providers are keying in data to a web form on WebMD and paying dearly for it (as well as the HMO's (payers)). Integrated with there office system... not at all.