#11 Digital India That You Can Use: Open Forge

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How Open Forge Works

Open Forge is an e-governance platform set up by the Government of India to promote the sharing and reuse of e-governance application source code. It is a collaborative platform where government agencies, developers, and other stakeholders can come together to work on e-governance projects.

Open Forge works by providing a centralized repository for e-governance application source code. This repository is open to all registered users, who can browse, download, and contribute to the code. The platform also provides a variety of tools and resources to help users collaborate on projects, including issue tracking, code review, and version control.

Open Forge allows two possible collaboration models:

  • Government to Community (G2C): In G2C, projects can be created in the public mode by either government or community members. This means that anyone can contribute to the project, including developers, students, and researchers.

  • Government to Government (G2G): In G2G, projects can be created in a controlled mode by government agencies/members only. This means that only authorized users will be able to access and contribute to the project.

To use Open Forge, users must first create an account. Once logged in, users can browse the repository of e-governance application source code. To contribute to a project, users must first fork the project. This will create a copy of the project in the user's own workspace. The user can then make changes to the code and submit a pull request to the project's maintainer. If the pull request is approved, the user's changes will be merged into the main codebase.

Open Forge also provides a number of other features, such as:

  • Issue tracking: Users can create and manage issues related to e-governance projects. This can be used to track bugs, feature requests, and other tasks.

  • Code review: Users can review code changes submitted by other users. This helps to ensure the quality and security of the code.

  • Version control: Open Forge uses Git for version control. This allows users to track changes to the code and revert to previous versions if needed.

Open Forge is a valuable resource for government agencies, developers, and other stakeholders working on e-governance projects. It provides a platform for collaboration, sharing, and reuse of e-governance application source code. This can help to reduce the cost and time of developing e-governance applications, and improve the quality and security of the code.