Fork the Government：The Back and Forth Open Source Advocacy Road in Taiwan

Open source initiatives usually bubble up from the grassroots community, and while governments have been paying more attention recently, policy is often subject to the whims of election cycles. This means long-term continuity is never guaranteed.

Even when policies are in place, their implementation can be hampered by two significant factors: civil servants' open-source literacy and existing legal/regulatory bottlenecks. Sure, enshrining open source into law would make it mandatory and sustainable, but let’s be real—the legislative process is painfully slow.

The Open Culture Foundation (OCF) has been deeply embedded in Taiwan’s open source scene for over a decade. Some of our members have been tracking the government’s on-again, off-again open-source journey for nearly 30 years, since the early community days. Others have even moved from leading government open-source policy to eventually return to the non-profit sector. Throughout this journey, OCF has continually adapted how we collaborate with and support the government, seeking the best communication strategies and case studies—all while managing the inevitable cycles of disappointment and excitement.

Most recently, we saw Audrey Tang depart from the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), and the government's visible focus on open source has noticeably dialed down. However, we also found like-minded partners in the Taipei City Government's Department of Information Technology (DOIT). We are now working with them to ensure that open source software continues to be adopted and deployed within the government.

In this 30-minute session, we’ll be sharing the different collaboration models we’ve developed with the government and the tangible deliverables we’ve produced. Crucially, we’ll also discuss how we keep the momentum going and move forward even when we face headwinds.