Jared Moya
August 20th, 2006, 08:59 PM
The Open Technology Development road map, a recently authored government report, advises deputy undersecretary of Defense Sue Payton to integrate a comprehensive open source strategy into defense department procurement and development policies. Written by consultants for Advanced Systems & Concepts in collaboration with major technology companies and the Open Source Software Institute, the 79-page report advocates adoption of open technologies, support for and adherence to open standards, and discusses topics like licensing and software project governance.
The report argues that the standard practices associated with purchasing of physical goods are not adequate or fully applicable to software. According to the report, the DoD is "limiting and restricting the ability of the market to compete for the provision of new and innovative solutions and capabilities" by "treating DoD-developed software code as a physical good." The report also points out that utilizing open source technology will force the commercial software industry to respond with greater agility and competitiveness.
In addition to promoting open technology, the authors of the report feel that the DoD can improve interoperability while increasing efficiency and productivity by creating standard policies for internal redistribution of code developed by contractors. The report states that "by not enabling internal distribution, DoD creates an arbitrary scarcity of its own software code, which increases the development and maintenance costs of information technology across the Department."
The report strongly cautions against proprietary vendor lock-in and discusses at length how open standards can facilitate interoperability between open source and proprietary systems, explaining that the DoD "needs to evaluate the impact that locking into one set of proprietary standards or products may have to its ability to react and respond to adversaries and more importantly, to technological change that is accelerating regardless of military conflict."
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060820-7545.html
The report argues that the standard practices associated with purchasing of physical goods are not adequate or fully applicable to software. According to the report, the DoD is "limiting and restricting the ability of the market to compete for the provision of new and innovative solutions and capabilities" by "treating DoD-developed software code as a physical good." The report also points out that utilizing open source technology will force the commercial software industry to respond with greater agility and competitiveness.
In addition to promoting open technology, the authors of the report feel that the DoD can improve interoperability while increasing efficiency and productivity by creating standard policies for internal redistribution of code developed by contractors. The report states that "by not enabling internal distribution, DoD creates an arbitrary scarcity of its own software code, which increases the development and maintenance costs of information technology across the Department."
The report strongly cautions against proprietary vendor lock-in and discusses at length how open standards can facilitate interoperability between open source and proprietary systems, explaining that the DoD "needs to evaluate the impact that locking into one set of proprietary standards or products may have to its ability to react and respond to adversaries and more importantly, to technological change that is accelerating regardless of military conflict."
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060820-7545.html