What is OSSI? The Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) is a non-profit (501 c 6) organization comprised of corporate, government, academic and Open Source Community representatives whose mission is to promote the development and implementation of open-source software solutions within U.S. federal, state and municipal government agencies and academic entities.
To keep up-to-date on OSSI activities, please register on the OSSI web site to access additional OSSI program information and updates as well as open source reference materials. (this is a low-volume info-update list) As an open source, non-profit organization, information provided on this site is available under the Creative Commons. All industry reports and other information are the property of their respected owner.
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OSSI is a non-profit (501 c 6) organization that depends on YOUR support to keep our programs going. Please join or make a contribution today. Thanks.
Opengear Joins OSSI's Efforts to Expand Secure
Open Source Network Communications within Federal Computing Environments
Opengear Sponsors Extension of the OpenSSL FIPS Object Module FIPS 140-2 validation to ARM Processors
SANDY, UT – December 2, 2009 - Opengear (www.opengear.com), today announced it has joined the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) and will work to contribute software that will expand the use of safe, secure computing protocols in Federal computing environments. As a part of Opengear’s commitment to open source, Opengear has extended the OpenSSL cryptographic module – for the first time making it FIPS 140-2 compliant for ARM –based processors.
The Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) is a non profit organization dedicated to the promotion and implementation of open source solutions within U.S. federal, state and municipal government agencies and academic entities. As a part of its charter, OSSI works with representatives of the U.S. government, IT industry and Open Source Community to maintain and support open source projects such as OpenSSL.
By joining OSSI, Opengear Charmain Bob Waldie will become a board member of the Open Source Software Institute.
Opengear’s full line of ARM-powered console servers and power management solutions will be FIPS compliant.
Opengear has previously partnered with OSSI and the OpenSSL project to sponsor an extension of the existing OpenSSL FIPS Object Module v1.2 validation (certificate #1051) that enables, for the first time, that open source cryptographic module to meet the FIPS 140-2 standards for ARM processors. The OpenSSL project is a collaborative effort to develop a robust, commercial-grade, full-featured, and open source toolkit implementing the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL v2/v3) and Transport Layer Security (TLS v1) protocols as well as a full-strength general purpose cryptography library.
Pursuant with the organizational bylaws, OSSI will host its annual meeting on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 from 8:00 - 11:00 AM. All members of OSSI are invited to attend. Only members in good standing and members of the OSSI Board of Directors and Advisory Board Members may attend the Board Meeting from 8:00 - 9:15 AM. All associate members or others interested in OSSI are welcomed to the year-end briefing and strategic session from 9:30 - 11:00 AM.
Please RSVP via email to jmw at oss-institute.org or call 601.427.0152 by December 1, 2009.
OSSI turns to Jaspersoft for expertise in government open source Business Intelligence deployments
GOSCON, WASHINGTON, D.C., November 5, 2009 - Jaspersoft, provider of the world’s most widely used business intelligence (BI) software, today announced that it is joining the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) to support its mission of extending the benefits of open source software to government agencies and academic organizations. Paul Loeffler, director of government programs at Jaspersoft, is joining the OSSI Advisory Board.
The OSSI is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the development and implementation of open source software solutions within U.S. federal, state and municipal government agencies.
The U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Federal Reserve Bank and USDA are among the federal government agencies today using Jaspersoft in mission-critical applications. For more information about Jaspersoft’s Federal programs and customers, please visit:
www.jaspersoft.com/government-bi.
CENDI is an interagency working group of senior scientific and technical information (STI) managers from 13 U.S. federal agencies:
* Defense Technical Information Center (Department of Defense)
* Office of Research and Development & Office of Environmental Information (Environmental Protection Agency)
* Government Printing Office
* Library of Congress
* NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program
* National Agricultural Library (Department of Agriculture)
* National Archives and Records Administration
* National Library of Education (Department of Education)
* National Library of Medicine (Department of Health and Human Services)
* National Science Foundation
* National Technical Information Service (Department of Commerce)
* Office of Scientific and Technical Information (Department of Energy)
* USGS/Biological Resources Discipline (Department of Interior)
These programs represent over 97% of the federal research and development budget.
The scientific and technical information (STI) managers have responsibility for STI at agencies representing over 97% of the federal research and development (R&D) budget. STI is an integral part of the R&D process and a necessary raw material for all science and technology programs. The effective management and use of STI is vital in advancing the state of knowledge and in technical problem solving. A better understanding of this role along with better cooperation between science and technology management and STI management can increase the effectiveness of the process.
U.S. Department of Defense
Issues Official Open Source Software
Guidance Memorandum
Washington, DC, -- On Friday, October 16, 2009, David Wennergren, acting CIO for the U.S. Department of Defense signed the long-awaited guidance document regarding the adoption and use of Open Source Software within the DoD.
the Memorandum says
Subject: Clarifying Guidance Regarding Open Source Software (OSS)
To effectively achieve its missions, the Department of Defense must develop and update its software-based capabilities faster than ever, to anticipate new threats and respond to continuously changing requirements. The use of Open Source Software (OSS) can provide advantages in this regard. This memorandum provides clarifying guidance on the use of OSS and supersedes the previous DoD CIO memorandum dated May 28, 2003 (reference (a)).
Open Source Software is software for which the human-readable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, enhancement and redistribution by the users of that software. In other words, OSS is software for which the source code is “open.”
There are many OSS programs in operational use by the Department today, in both classified and unclassified environments. Unfortunately, there have been misconceptions and misinterpretations of the existing laws, policies and regulations that deal with software and apply to OSS, that have hampered effective DoD use and development of OSS. Attachment 2 contains clarifying guidance to address some of those issues.
By the way, there are numerous people who have worked quietly behind the scenes over a LONG period of time to help make this happen. And since there is no way to thank them all in public (without unintentionally leaving someone's name out), let's just say, "Thank you all." It has been a community effort...as it should be.
Congratulations. Job well done.
National Center for Open Source Policy and Research
