Open Source, Open Government: EchoDitto and the Federal World

We have good news! EchoDitto is now a GSA-approved federal contractor in the United States.

What does this mean? EchoDitto now flies black helicopters in Iraq?

In layman’s, non-governmentalese, being on the GSA schedule means that we are now eligible to work with the federal government — agencies, departments, and all governmental entities. This is exciting because federal agencies can only hire firms approved in advance by The Government Services Administration. That list of approved contractors now includes EchoDitto.

From our start, EchoDitto has been committed to using technology to open and democratize government. We grew out of Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, where our founders saw, used, and grew the power of online technology to involve people directly in the political process.

Now, as GSA-approved service providers we are planning a future that includes helping federal agencies use open source technology to democratize their programs – making government services more accessible to the public, and the work of government agencies more open to the public sphere.

We are inspired and encouraged by President Obama’s commitment to using open source technology in government, and his application of the open source theory to government itself in the Open Government Initiative . Being on the GSA schedule will allow us to help connect Americans to government in new and groundbreaking ways.

And no black helicopters — yet.

EchoDitto.com