The fledgling Government Open Code Collaborative, formed last year, has set up a nationwide repository for government software applications, hosted on a server at the Massachusetts Information Technology Division data center in Chelsea. The first "deposits" into the repository will be made this month by Massachusetts and Rhode Island agencies offering software freely available for other states to use.

"The fundamental tenets of the open source community are around innovation and collaboration, and that's what we want to use it for," said Quinn, whose information technology division will deposit an open source "virtual law office" software program to helps state agencies procure outside legal services. "What we hope we get out of this is that people around the country will pick up on it and improve on it."

In addition to the virtual law office, the Massachusetts Information Technology Division is planning to deposit into the new repository software for mapping geography and topography, and network management software that interrogates computers and other devices on a network to make sure they're working. The secretary of state's office in Rhode Island, meanwhile, is planning to deposit software for registering lobbyists, giving public notice of open meetings, and providing public access to constantly updated state government data.

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