New report highlights open technology best practices in the military

The military often finds itself in a sticky position with taxpayer-funded, contractor-developed software: one contractor with a monopoly on the knowledge of a military software system and with  effective control of the software source code. This creates inefficiencies for the government, reduction of opportunities for the industrial base, severely limits competition for new software upgrades, depletes resources that can be used to better effect and most importantly wastes taxpayer funds. So what is to be done?

In a new report out last week titled "Open Technology Development:Lessons Learned & Best Practices for Military Software," members of the defense industrial base put forward a how-to guide for effectively developing, deploying and managing open military systems. Snip from the report: 

"Software is the fabric that enables modern planning, weapons and logistics systems to function. For that reliance on software to be a strength, the military must actively manage its software portfolio and instill a culture of open interfaces, modularity and reuse.

 

Software might be the only infinitely renewable military resource. Capabilities evolve as new software is created anew or builds on existing software. From ground sensors to satellites, software is pervasive; it is the final expression of military knowledge transformed into source code and deployed on the battlefield."
The authors include John Scott, David Wheeler, J.C. Herz and Mark Lucas.