Open Source Software
Whenever feasible and consistently as our first choice, we will utilize and develop open-source software to bolster data management and sharing initiatives. These tools will be accessible under widely accepted open-source licensing standards, inviting collaboration and contributions from other developers.
Open source software is software that is licensed in such a way that the source code (which is the language that computer programs are written in) is freely accessible. The antonym of this is proprietary, closed source software. The term usually describes software that is also free of charge, but this is not a must.