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HOST Announcement (June 1, 2009) |
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Department of Homeland Security
and University of Southern Mississippi launch
Homeland Open Security Technology Program
Federal Government Commits $1.5 Million to Open Technology Development
(Washington, DC – Hattiesburg, MS) – June 1, 2009 - The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss) and the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) announced today the launch of the Homeland Open Security Technology (HOST) program.
The HOST program is a collaborative effort involving DHS, Southern Miss, the Department of the Navy and is designed to facilitate the continued adoption of Open Technology Solutions (OTS) within U.S. Government IT systems. DHS and the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in San Diego will invest $1.5 million in the HOST program to be administered by The University of Southern Mississippi.
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“Open Technology Solutions (OTS)”, is a term adopted by the HOST program to include open source and other software solutions and development methodologies which utilize and promote common standards, open architecture and non-restrictive licensing and distribution methods. The “OTS” term was inspired by the Department of Defense's Open Technology Development Roadmap (published 2006), and has been adopted by the HOST program in order to include applications and programs developed and used within Government system, but did not strictly adhere to the “Open Source” definition as defined by the Open Source Initiative (www.opensource.org), the governing body for open source licenses.
“The goal of the HOST program is to help Government fully realize the technical, security and economic benefits that Open Technology Solutions can provide to public sector IT systems,” said Dr. Richard Hadden, the HOST principal investigator for The University of Southern Mississippi. “Initial phases of the program will focus on identifying existing Open Technology efforts within Government and leveraging their successes and learning from their setbacks.
“Each member of the HOST team has extensive experience with open technology adoption within Government
systems,” he added. “DHS S&T has funded many open technology efforts. The Navy is a leader within the DoD
community, being the first to issue formal guidance for open source adoption and usage. Southern Miss and
OSSI have collaborated for years on a wide variety of open source projects within the Federal Government, industry and development communities. We believe this diverse team will provide a great opportunity to help move open technology adoption throughout Government systems.”
The U.S. Government relies on an extensive and complex array of IT systems to meet a range of critical needs including national security, governance, financial operations, health care, as well as other core services for its citizenry. The HOST program will initially address issues of software governance, standardized documentation, information assurance and security practices and community relations between development communities, industry and the Government.
“Key to the HOST program is a focus on the security and functional operability of our national IT infrastructure,” said John Weathersby, executive director of the Open Source Software Institute and strategic advisor to the HOST program. “Open Technology Solutions have demonstrated that they can be secure, reliable and cost effective. There are many success stories of open technology applications and OTS resource repositories within branches of the Government.
“However, what is needed is a comprehensive strategy on how to make these various resources work together and be available to all Government users and vendors who support these systems,” said Weathersby. “This takes leadership and coordination and that is the role the HOST program will serve.”
To accomplish this task the HOST program will establish a coordinating advisory board to identify champions within Government who will represent their agencies; draft reports, technical guides and other support documentation to be published through a publicly accessible on-line portal; identify necessary Information Assurance (IA) and security vetting practices for OTS used within Government systems; and facilitate and manage community relations with OTS development communities and industry partners.
The HOST program will officially launch on June 1, 2009. Program updates will be provided through a web portal to be launched in the Fall of 2009.
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National Center for Open Source Policy and Research
