The US Department of Defense have recently authored a government report titled The Open Technology Development road map [PDF]. In this document Ms. Sue Payton Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Advanced Systems & Concepts advised to integrate a comprehensive open source strategy into defense department procurement and development policies. The document is prepared by J.C. Herz, Mark Lucas and John Scott, about 79 pages introduce different aspect of open source, roadmap activities and finish with many recommandations. A very interesting study that will be very helpful for everyone interested into adopting open source technology.
This roadmap effort proposes a transition to OTD practices in the DoD initially focusing on the projects and activities within AS&C. Success is achieved when policies, procedures, requirements and practices establish OSS, open interfaces and systems, and collaborative technology methodologies as the default baseline. This will occur after the correct checkpoints, reviews, and policies are evolved towards those objectives. Once established within AS&C, those processes should be spread to larger programs and acquisitions using the metrics and information gathered along the way.
