Best Practices for the Development of Public Software

Through Regulation No. 2/2019, the National Agency of Information Technologies (the “ONTI” after its Spanish acronym) approved the “Code of best practices for the development of public software” (the “Code of Best Practices”), which seeks to provide a  reference framework for public entities in connection with the development of public software.[1] In order to keep up with technological improvements, the Code will be revised and updated at least twice a year.

The Code of Best Practices is divided into seven main areas: (i) understanding the needs of users, (ii) taking advantage of the cloud and virtualization, (iii) reusing and sharing software data, (iv) testing the service from end-to-end, (v) protecting the software and users, (vi) using agile and iterative methodologies, and (vii) documenting and sharing knowledge of the systems. Within each area, the Code identifies the ideal level, the minimum level and the first steps to be taken.

The Code of Best Practices is applicable throughout the Argentine Public Sector, and all entities falling within its scope will have to manifest their adherence to the Code of Best Practices when they conduct software development projects, regardless of their source of funding.

The Code of Best Practices can be accessed here.