Open Sourcing Best Practices
The purpose of the Digital Government Network is to enable ‘Open Sourcing Best Practices‘, documenting Digital Government projects from around the world and sharing those as repeatable recipes for others to emulate.
The mission of Digital Government Network (DGN) is to build a dynamic, inclusive space where public organizations can collaborate on reusable open source solutions.
Inspired by initiatives such as the Standard for Public Code, the platform enables collaboration to openly document and share best practices spanning the Digital Government spectrum of required solutions and capabilities.
By facilitating the exchange of best practices, resources, and expertise, the DGN seeks to reduce duplication of effort, lower costs, and enhance the quality of digital services delivered by governments at all levels—from local municipalities to supranational bodies.
Through use of open source methods and tools like Github, software and also business models can be shared via repositories of reusable knowledge for others to repeat those best practices for their local needs.
At the heart of the DGN’s approach is its commitment to fostering sustainable communities around public code projects. The platform provides a space for public administrators, developers, and vendors to connect, share insights, and build ecosystems that support collaborative digital infrastructure. By aligning with the Standard for Public Code’s criteria, DGN encourages the development of codebases that are not only technically robust but also designed for reuse across jurisdictions.
This collaborative model helps public organizations avoid reinventing the wheel, enabling them to adapt existing solutions to local contexts, as seen in projects like OpenZaak and Signalen, which exemplify the power of shared open source infrastructure.
