Sam Reed, a JavaScript developer from Washington, D.C., currently working in Hong Kong, is one of the driving forces in the effort. When healthcare.gov ran into trouble immediately after its Oct. 1 launch, he downloaded key parts of the code, shared it into an online repository at GitHub and set about analyzing and improving it. He also invited others to do the same in the hopes that federal contractors on the project would see their work.
“If we can get the open-source community involved in the issue, people in the trenches (working for the government) can see the fixes,” said Reed, who has previously worked on government projects.