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The GitHub platform is displayed in different colors on a laptop screen. A card is leaning against the screen. It says “Open by Default” in large letters and German translation in small letters underneath.
A portrait photo of Christian Kaatz A portrait photo of Benedikt Liebig
27. August 2024 author: Christian Kaatz | Benedikt Liebig
DigitalService Methods Software

Open source: Why – and how?

All DigitalService software projects are developed under open source licenses. Why? Because we work with public money and, therefore, want to make our results publicly available. Many call this concept “public money, public code.” Open source licenses have long been established in the private sector. The administrative landscape, on the other hand, is still struggling with this — despite a voluntary commitment to do so. In this article, we explain the advantages we see in open source, how we ensure security, and what others should keep in mind if they want to develop open source.

A portrait photo of Christian Kaatz

Christian Kaatz

is Head of Engineering at DigitalService. During his studies, he created city maps in Ethiopia before working at Nokia and HERE inter alia in the fields of data engineering, backend and APIs. Christian is the father of two children and uses every free minute to discover nature with them – including in the community gardens at Tempelhofer Feld.

A portrait photo of Benedikt Liebig

Benedikt Liebig

is a Product Manager at DigitalService. He was a fellow of the 2020 Tech4Germany cohort. Since then, he has been supporting the digital projects of federal public administration – with an iterative, data-driven, and human-centric view. He creates spaces in which administration, design, IT, and law work as a team in an interdisciplinary and fun way to provide a service. In his personal life, Bene is often on the road with his racing bike and is committed to a climate-resistant forest.