diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index e82c31e3..c6faf01f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ jobs:
     pdo_ci:
         if: "!contains(github.event.commits[0].message, '[skip ci]')"
         name: PDO CI Job
-        runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+        runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
 
         strategy:
             matrix:
@@ -17,7 +17,16 @@ jobs:
 
         steps:
             - name: Check out repo
-              uses: actions/checkout@v2
+              uses: actions/checkout@v4
+              with:
+                submodules: recursive
+                fetch-depth: 0
+                fetch-tags: true
+
+            - name: Display branch name
+              run: |
+                echo "Building branch $GITHUB_HEAD_REF"
+                echo PDO VERSION is $(bin/get_version)
 
             - name: Build and run tests
               if: "!contains(github.event.commits[0].message, '[debug]')"
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7972eadf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+0.3.0	5fa37a13fac2749b1a6a43039ed2bee16d6cc70e
+0.2.0	90884c67bf6c1445f96e068c5c06904a89de2411
+0.1.0	cd993a69cd5955ebfe5a9e74b37e26c1b479ddce
diff --git a/bin/get_version b/bin/get_version
index bfca2dd9..d78cf4dc 100755
--- a/bin/get_version
+++ b/bin/get_version
@@ -14,35 +14,42 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+import argparse
+import os
+import pathlib
 import subprocess
-import sys
-import warnings
-
-count = 0
-commit = ''
-dirty = ''
-
-try :
-    output = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'describe', '--dirty'])
-    (version, *rest) = output.decode('utf-8').strip().split('-')
-    (major, minor, patch) = version.strip('v').split('.')
-
-    # first case: this is a dirty tagged release, only dirty flag
-    if len(rest) == 1 :
-        assert rest[0] == 'dirty'
-        dirty = 'dirty'
-    # second case: this is a committed post tag release
-    elif len(rest) == 2 :
-        count = rest[0]
-        commit = rest[1]
-    # third case: this is a dirty, committed post tag release
-    elif len(rest) == 3 :
-        assert rest[2] == 'dirty'
-        count = rest[0]
-        commit = rest[1]
-        dirty = rest[2]
-
-    print('{}.{}.{}'.format(major, minor, count))
-except Exception as e :
-    warnings.warn('failed to compute version, using default')
-    print('0.0.0')
+
+pdo_source_root=pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
+version_file = pdo_source_root / 'VERSION'
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+
+parser.add_argument(
+    '--version-file', '-f',
+    help=f'File where version information is stored (default: {version_file})',
+    type=str)
+
+options = parser.parse_args()
+
+if options.version_file :
+    version_file = pathlib.Path(options.version_file)
+    pdo_source_root = version_file.parent
+
+# the version file is a tab separated list of version numbers and git commit hashes in reverse
+# order (newest is at the top of the file)
+with open(version_file, 'r') as vf :
+    (version, commit, *rest) = vf.readline().strip().split('\t')
+
+# the version is of the form x.y.z, there may be an optional 'v' at the beginning of the version
+# string
+(major, minor, patch) = version.strip('v').split('.')
+
+# compute the number of commits since the tagged version was
+# committed to the repository
+command = ['git', 'rev-list', commit + '...HEAD', '--count']
+output = subprocess.run(command, cwd=pdo_source_root, capture_output=True, text=True)
+count = output.stdout.strip()
+
+# the actual patch version number is the recorded patch number added to the number of commits
+# since the version was committed
+print('{}.{}.{}'.format(major, minor, int(patch) + int(count)))
diff --git a/bin/set_version b/bin/set_version
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..d83d4efb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/set_version
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+
+# Copyright 2018 Intel Corporation
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+# Add a new version to the version file. The version file is a tab separated list of version numbers
+# and git commit hashes in reverse order (newest is at the top of the file). The version may contain
+# a short description as well.
+
+import argparse
+import datetime
+import os
+import pathlib
+import subprocess
+
+pdo_source_root=pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.parent
+version_file = pdo_source_root / 'VERSION'
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+
+parser.add_argument(
+    '--version-file', '-f',
+    help=f'File where version information is stored (default: {version_file})',
+    type=str)
+
+parser.add_argument(
+    '--version', '-v',
+    help='Version to commit, form <major>.<minor>.<patch> (default: increment minor version by one and reset patch level)',
+    type=str)
+
+parser.add_argument(
+    '--description', '-d',
+    help='Optional description to add to the version',
+    type=str)
+
+parser.add_argument(
+    '--commit', '-c',
+    help='Hash of the git commit to associate with the version (default: commit at HEAD)',
+    type=str)
+
+options = parser.parse_args()
+
+# Get the VERSION file and current source path
+if options.version_file :
+    version_file = pathlib.Path(options.version_file)
+    pdo_source_root = version_file.parent
+
+# Compute the new version, by default the version will increment the minor version of the most
+# recent version and reset the patch level. the version is of the form x.y.z, there may be an
+# optional 'v' at the beginning of the version string
+if options.version :
+    version = options.version
+    (major, minor, patch) = version.strip('v').split('.')
+
+    major = int(major)
+    minor = int(minor)
+    patch = int(patch)
+
+else :
+    # get the current version information from the version file
+    with open(version_file, 'r') as vf :
+        (version, commit, *rest) = vf.readline().strip().split('\t')
+
+    (major, minor, patch) = version.strip('v').split('.')
+
+    major = int(major)
+    minor = int(minor) + 1
+    patch = 0
+
+# Compute the commit to associate with the new version
+if options.commit :
+    command = ['git', 'rev-parse', options.commit]
+else :
+    command = ['git', 'rev-parse', 'HEAD']
+
+output = subprocess.run(command, cwd=pdo_source_root, capture_output=True, text=True)
+output.check_returncode()
+commit = output.stdout.strip()
+
+description = str(datetime.date.today())
+if options.description :
+    description += f' {options.description}'
+
+# Finally write the new version out to the VERSION file
+version_entry = f'{major}.{minor}.{patch}\t{commit}\t{description}'
+with open(version_file, 'r+') as vf :
+    content = vf.read()
+    vf.seek(0,0)
+    vf.write(version_entry + '\n' + content)
diff --git a/build/cmake/ProjectVariables.cmake b/build/cmake/ProjectVariables.cmake
index b12f5ef1..88a6974b 100644
--- a/build/cmake/ProjectVariables.cmake
+++ b/build/cmake/ProjectVariables.cmake
@@ -85,9 +85,13 @@ ENDIF()
 # the version if something goes wrong (like running
 # without any annotated version tags)
 EXECUTE_PROCESS(
-  COMMAND ./get_version
-  WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PDO_SOURCE_ROOT}/bin
+  COMMAND ${PDO_SOURCE_ROOT}/bin/get_version
+  WORKING_DIRECTORY ${PDO_SOURCE_ROOT}
   OUTPUT_VARIABLE PDO_VERSION
   ERROR_QUIET
   OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
 )
+
+IF (NOT PDO_VERSION)
+  MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR "Unable to compute PDO_VERSION")
+ENDIF()