GitHub is a social network for software developers. Similar to how networks like Facebook and Twitter allow people to connect, organize, and comment on updates, GitHub allows you to share source code and other technical materials you're working on and benefit from the input and contributions of others.
GitHub is a social layer built on top of a long-standing open source project called Git. At its most basic level, Git simply tracks who made what change when. While it was originally used for collaborative software development, and still is, the workflow is equally applicable to countless applications including modern open data and open government efforts.
GitHub hosts projects, commonly referred to as repositories, which belong to and are managed by organizations, typically tracking to government agencies. While you can always control who has access to your content, if your project is publicly accessible, as is most common within government, at any time, anyone can submit a proposed improvement, which the government can accept or reject based on community feedback.
Government agencies are using GitHub to collaborate in many ways, including partnering with the public to create better government software, empowering civic hackers to better leverage government data, and tapping the expertise of the crowd to author well-rounded policies. To learn more about some of the innovative collaborative efforts within government, visit http://government.github.com, or contact governemnt@github.com for more information.