ICT: Public Sector
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 22 May 2026, to question 477 titled ICT: Public Sector, whether Open Source software is used at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Answered by Ian Murray
DSIT makes extensive use of open source software. The Government Digital Service within DSIT uses open source software in the delivery and operation of citizen-facing digital services, in line with the government’s “Be open and use open source” guidance. Services are built using open-source technologies including programming languages such as Java, Python and Ruby, alongside widely adopted platforms and tools, for example, PostgreSQL and Grafana to support data management, monitoring and observability.
We also follow the government’s “Making source code open and reusable” guidance and develop code in the open to encourage transparency, reuse and community collaboration. A well-known example is the open-source GOV.UK Frontend project, which is publicly available on GitHub.
Separately, the Incubator for AI is working with world-class AI researchers through the Open-Source AI Fellowship to demonstrate the real-world potential of open-source AI, tackling public sector challenges spanning transport, education, and policing.
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