The GitHub Story at NOAA Fisheries

Elizabeth “Eli” Holmes, NOAA Fisheries

Julie Lowndes, Openscapes

ESIP Winter Meeting 2025

https://2025januaryesipmeeting.sched.com/event/1snZs

YouTube Recording of this talk

Pictorial History of GitHub at NMFS

2013 NOAA Memo authorizing the use of GitHub for sharing scientific work

2021, 2022,

2023, 2024

Lots of GitHub orgs circa 2022

Rapid growth in public repos

???!!

Our story begins in early 2022

Josh London

Em Markowitz

We starting having an idea of where we should go, but how? We don’t have power.

EM Rogers (1962) “Diffusion of Innovation” theory

Predictable progression of stages as idea diffuses through a population: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards.

Time

Each group has different personalities, different motivations, and different objectives.

How to find them? Can’t “just email”

Crossing the Chasm

The Chasm blocking organizational adoption of new ideas

Visioning for GitHub at NMFS circa Nov 2022

GitHub at NMFS circa Jan 2025

1-year into our roll-out of GitHub Enterprise

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90% offices on-boarded, SOP

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20% ?? target staff on-boarded

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Joint governance

(scientists, IT, leadership)

NOAA Fisheries GitHub Governance Team

Joint Governance Structure

Regular (bi-weekly) training for end-users

• Joint-Governance
• All science centers and regional offices (ca 13 offices) have a
• GitHub IT rep
• End-user rep
• HQ IT owner - only one with veto power
• Terms of Reference defines how the GGT makes decisions and voting procedures.
• Both IT and end-user reps have equal votes.
• Focus on collaboration and consensus building

GitHub Enterprise is the foundation for addressing our Open Source and Transparency mandates

EVIDENCE ACT 2018 improve the use of data and evidence in federal policymaking. Requires making data and evidence (code) accessible.

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Federal Open Source Policy 2016 Make 20% of federal code Open Source

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SHARE IT ACT 2024 Requires that agencies share source code with each other

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NOAA Adminstrative Order 201-118 Requires release of NOAA funded software and code under open source license unless there are confidentiality constraints. Also requires improved code management.

Conditions for diffusion of innovation

Getting Ready for GitHub Adoption

2 years of work by GH advocates

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Solve problems that are causing “pain”

Lower barriers to adoption

Break down barriers to information spread

Ensure full outreach to Early Adopters* before working on wider adoption

Pain points and Barriers:

• No “Best Practices” guide for our users so a group of experience GH users created one.
• Lack of awareness of 2013 NOAA Memo permitting GH use
• Despite memo, some centers said “No GitHub”.
• Official products could not be served on GitHub Free.

Lower barriers to adoption:

• Get Authorization to Use for GitHub Enterprise
• Get buy-in for licenses from offices and HQ
• Establish GitHub Governance Team (GGT) that involves IT + End-User
• Staff person paid to run GGT

Information spread: Google Spaces for R and Python user groups, Openscapes mentors responsible for local outreach

Early Adopters outreach:

• Trained staff at every center, lots of trainings
• Find IT allies who are dealing with code archiving problems

Dealing with the elephant in the room

Lack of trust

If not dealt with honestly, this lack of trust will sabotage adoption efforts.

• Lack of trust comes from negative experiences in the past
• Establishing trust takes time and series of small steps where end users

Challenge: something that you face

Choice: a decision made in the face of that challenge

Change: the result of the action and transformation that follows

5 minute Silent journaling

5 minute Read others’ entries

5 minute Discussion and reflection