Open-sourcing pk-gov for an open Government

When we started building pk-gov, we knew it had to be intuitive, informative and effective at giving you what you want from us: Government information and services. With this in mind, we made sure pk-gov is fast and easy to use, whether you're learning more about our Kingdom or looking for help. Besides that, we also had to consider the long-term maintainability of pk-gov. That's why we've decided to make pk-gov open source on GitHub.

What is open source?

Open source software refers to software that features freely available source code, which users may view, modify, adopt, and share for both commercial and noncommercial purposes. This means anyone can edit the code, take it for themselves or contribute by adding new features or fixing bugs in the code.

Why is pk-gov open source?

As any good developer (me!) knows, many codebases eventually grow into a much more complex version of themselves, with some containing unused code and half-baked solutions. This makes maintaining the codebase and adding new features extremely tedious and slow. The Ministry of Technology, though full of expertise and experience, will not be enough to maintain pk-gov for years to come. That's why we want to enable anyone to contribute to pk-gov, ensuring that the website remains functional and stable as long as people use it. Besides, pk-gov was created to enable open access to information, so we thought it was only fair for the website's codebase itself to be open to the public too.

Will this change in the future?

No. We will ensure that pk-gov remains open source as long as it exists.

How can I contribute to pk-gov?

To get started, you can take a look at our GitHub repository. The files 'CONTRIBUTING.md' and 'CODEBASE.md' provide more details on how to contribute, what technologies we use and how the website's code is structured. We appreciate all kinds of contributions, even small things like fixing typos would go a long way in improving pk-gov for everyone!

What about Government content other than this website?

We will make more Government content freely accessible to the public in the future. For example, we have plans for making our staff photos and ministry icons downloadable. All Government assets which are downloadable will be available in the Government identity guidelines page.

What's next

Open source software will be a key pillar of Government digital services and tools going forward. We have always supported open access to information, and we believe this is the next logical step. Information isn't just about what you see, it's also about learning how things work under the hood to power everyday life. Open-sourcing pk-gov is just the start, and we can't wait to show you what else the Ministry of Technology has planned for the future!