Military Explores Expansion of Open Source Technology

Open source technology can help military and other government entities modify software quickly without sacrificing data security. That flexibility, coupled with lower overall cost, is helping fuel a rapid increase in government adoption of open source software, advocates say.

Members of the Mil-OSS group, which represents the military and government open source community, are holding a meeting to discuss these and other developments May 22-24 in Charleston, S.C. Mil-OSS LANT, the group's first Atlantic region conference, will address a wide range of topics that include cloud computing, mobile development, crowd sourcing and other open source-related initiatives. Attendees will hear from speakers representing government, industry and academia.

"As a major open source conference in the Southeast, Mil-OSS LANT promises to be a great opportunity to report on progress regionally and to discuss future directions," said Joshua Davis, a research scientist with the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and a co-founder of Mil-OSS. "Budgets continue to shrink, in the U.S. and abroad, and the result is that governments are paying more and more attention to the advantages of open source technology."

Under the open source paradigm, developers make their source code available so that it can be changed and improved by other programmers in the community. Open source advocates maintain that bringing many minds to bear on program code leads to software that is high quality, low cost and rapidly available. They argue that when the military must go back to owners of a software product for important code changes, the process often takes too long to be useful.

Activity and interest in open source technology has increased significantly in recent years, said Michael Howard, a South Carolina-based executive with QinetiQ North America and a Mil-OSS LANT organizer.

Howard said that the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), which delivers advanced information technology to the U.S. Navy, is pursuing several projects that involve open source and open technology capabilities. These include TRANSCOM GAM/GAS, PEO-ES, Navy P-8A, Standardized Infrastructure Management (SIM) and QGlobe.

"We will be focusing on open source initiatives championed and supported by SPAWAR Atlantic, industry partners and other government agencies," Howard said. "Our goal for Mil-OSS LANT is for all attendees and speakers to walk away with a better shared understanding of open source in the government space."

At the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Davis and other GTRI researchers are engaged in government-funded open source efforts that include the Homeland Open Security Technology (HOST) program and the VehicleForge (vehicleforge.mil) project for collaborative military vehicle design.

John Scott, director of open integration at RadiantBlue Technologies Inc. and a Mil-OSS co-founder, said adoption of open source technology continues to build in the Washington, D.C., area.

"We're familiar with -- and in several cases working with -- government entities that have been using open source technology for some time, but now they're talking about it and using it openly," Scott said. "That's new, and that's a big win."

For example, he said, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) recently announced that it needed to reduce the cost of its information systems. In a document made public in April 2011, the NGA said it was shifting its IT infrastructure away from its current heavy reliance on commercial, proprietary software towards open source applications.

Among the sponsors of Mil-OSS LANT are Canonical Ltd., Carahsoft Technology Corp., Dell, DLT Solutions, Geocent LLC, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), LCE Life Cycle Engineering, Maga Design Group, OpenGeo, QinetiQ North America, RadiantBlue Technologies, Red Hat Inc., Riverbed Technology, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), SPARC LLC, SRC Scientific Research Corp., URS Corp. and VMware Inc.

Featured

  • The Key to Wellbeing in the Office

    A few years ago, all we saw in the news was the ‘great resignation.’ Now we have another ‘great’ to deal with. According to CBRE, 2023 was the start of the ‘great return’ as office workers returned to their normal offices after working from home. The data shows that two-thirds of all U.S office buildings were more than 90% leased as of Q2 2023. Read Now

  • Failed Cybersecurity Controls Costing U.S. Businesses $30 Billion Yearly

    Panaseer recently released ControlWatch and the Continuous Controls Battle: Panaseer 2025 Security Leaders Report examining the cost of cybersecurity control failures and the impact of growing personal liability for security failings on security leaders. The report analyzes the findings of a survey of 400 security decision makers (SDMs) across the US and UK. It shows that security leaders feel under increasing pressure to provide assurances around cybersecurity, exposing them to greater personal risk – yet many lack the data and resources to accurately report and close cybersecurity gaps. Read Now

  • The Business Case for Video Analytics: Understanding the Real ROI

    For security professionals who may be hesitant to invest in video analytics, now's the time to reconsider. In a newly released Omdia report commissioned by BriefCam (now Milestone Systems), the research firm uncovered a compelling story: more than 85% of North American and European organizations that use video analytics achieve a return on investment within just one year. The study, which surveyed 140 end users across multiple industries, demonstrates that security technology is no longer just for security — it's a cross-organizational tool that delivers measurable business value far beyond traditional safety applications. Read Now

  • Survey: 54% of Organizations Cite Technical Debt as Top Hurdle to Identity System Modernization

    Modernizing identity systems is proving difficult for organizations due to two key challenges: decades of accumulated Identity and Access Management (IAM) technical debt and the complexity of managing access across multiple identity providers (IDPs). These findings come from the new Strata Identity-commissioned report, State of Multi-Cloud Identity: Insights and Trends for 2025. The report, based on survey data from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), highlights trends and challenges in securing cloud environments. The CSA is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation. 3

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions. 3

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols. 3