Appendix E. WordPress in Government

IN THIS APPENDIX

  • WordPress use in the federal government

  • WordPress use outside the United States

Open source software has had a difficult time making inroads in government over the years. With corporate giants like Microsoft owning the market share in IT infrastructure, deploying Microsoft solutions on desktops and servers, and implementing SharePoint instead of open source solutions, the adoption of WordPress has been an uphill battle.

In government, the concept of security by obscurity reigns supreme and hinders open source products from gaining traction. In addition, long-term licensing agreements make it difficult for a government entity to depart from long-term "white label" solutions provided by contractors who are implementing and supporting those solutions.

Fortunately, WordPress has begun to see much more adoption inside the halls of government in recent years, as government has taken the same tack as most other industries and has realized the necessity to be online and have blogs.

Though most of this appendix focuses on WordPress usage inside the United States (U.S.) federal government, WordPress is being used at the state and local levels and in other governments around the world. Notably, the availability of open source solutions, including WordPress, has special significance to governments in developing countries being hit hard by recession.

WordPress Use in the Federal Government

WordPress adoption in the federal government has begun to ...

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