By David Ortiz
An IT pioneer who introduced open-source code to Rhode Island’s government Web sites is leaving after four years to return to his native New Jersey as the man who hired him, Secretary of State Matt Brown, prepares to leave office.
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James Willis, 35, who was recruited by Brown in 2003 as director of e-government services, transformed the inner workings of the office’s Web site – www.state.ri.us – from the standard proprietary software to open-source code.
The results have won national recognition while also making official information more accessible to the state’s citizens – exactly what Willis had in mind when he made the switch.
“If you want a transparent government,” he said, “well, let’s run it on transparent software.”
Willis first brought his open-source philosophy to Rhode Island government six years ago, when, as a consultant, he used open-source code to write an application for filing regulations.
The application he wrote was the first ever written for a state government using an open-source code, and it garnered national attention in the governmental IT community.
When he moved into the Secretary of State’s office four years ago, he implemented one of the first open-source initiatives by a state government, making it easier to share information such as meeting notices, new regulations, lobbyist registrations and corporate filings.
Today, many states and municipal governments in the United States use open-source software to disseminate public information and share data across internal departments, and the trend is quickly spreading around the globe.
Unlike the proprietary software sold by Microsoft and other private technology firms, open-source software costs nothing and its accessible source code can be modified and freely redistributed.
In practical terms, using open-source software to build the secretary of state’s Web site has enabled anyone in the world to borrow and alter the application to suit their needs.
The practice runs contrary to the way governments have historically provided public information on the Internet, by using proprietary applications that essentially set boundaries for how citizens can search for and use data.
“The route that we’ve gone is, ‘All right, we’ll write that application, no problem. We’ll take our best shot. But if you’ve got a better idea for how you want to access it, go for it,’ ” Willis said.
“My gut feeling is that people probably don’t want open-meeting data on their Web site,” he continued. “They probably want it on their cell phone. They probably want to get a text message when the City of Providence is having an open meeting relating to music ordinances.
“Well, you can sit down today and write an application that sends you a text message whenever the City of Providence files a meeting that deals with music ordinances.”
More esoterically, Willis said, he sees a “beautiful metaphor” for the desired transparency of government in the transparency of open-source software. “They just seem to me to go hand in hand.”
When he implemented the open-source plan, Willis and his team of programmers used a software bundle known as the LAMP stack, comprising a Linux operating system, an Apache Web server, a MySQL database and a variety of open-source programming languages.
They used that software to create an open-meetings application and an electronic voter-information center totally customized to the needs of Rhode Island residents.
The initiative spread beyond the secretary of state’s office when Willis’ team and the Carcieri administration’s IT shop discovered a philosophical affinity and developed a strong working relationship.
“We agreed that the citizens of Rhode Island are going to be much better served if we’re working together to share our data with each other and with the residents,” Willis recalled. “For example, when you start a business in Rhode Island, you touch five or six agencies. When these constitutional officers aren’t playing nicely together – that’s the definition of bureaucratic red tape.”
Almost from the start, the governor’s IT staff and the managers of RI.gov, the state’s quasi-public Web site, began pulling content into their Web sites using open-source applications from the secretary of state’s office.
Over time, other state departments and agencies also began sharing information in the same way. The phenomenon was a departure from the strongly adversarial relationship that has historically limited sharing information among the silos of state government, Willis said.
In recent months, the secretary of state’s office has been assisting the state attorney general’s office in its efforts to prepare and make public all of its electronic content from The Station nightclub fire trial.
Willis’ open-source initiative also has spread to at least 10 municipalities in Rhode Island, which are syndicating data from the secretary of state’s databases onto their own Web sites.
The City of Providence’s ability to share data with state government and modify the secretary of state’s source code greatly improves its ability to disseminate public information, said Richard Weinberg, the municipal Web master.
Today, when the city files a meeting notice with the secretary of state, as is required by law, the notice shows up instantaneously on the city’s own Web site.
“I probably can’t say enough good things about the initiative that Jim has spearheaded,” Weinberg said.
In his four years at the helm of e-government in Rhode Island, Willis said he has fielded numerous calls from other states asking for information and advice. He and IT staff in Massachusetts government also formed a group to begin sharing software.
But his tenure will end with the change of administration on Jan. 1, and Willis and his wife and two children will be moving to his home state of New Jersey. He said he will return to working as an IT consultant, and will be visiting Romania in May to assist in an open-government initiative.
Willis – who describes himself as a civic organizer who happens to be pretty good at programming – said he ultimately hopes to use technology to transform democracy.
“My hope is that, at some point, as we lower this barrier to government, we’re going to hit a tipping point where people are like, ‘Wow, it’s that easy for me to engage with my government?’ ” Willis said. “And now we’ve broken this apathy problem.”
