Emerging Issues in the Acquisition of Open Source Software within the U.S. Department of Defense

In the past five or so years, it has become clear that the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy have all committed to a strategy of acquiring software-intensive systems that require or utilize an “open architecture” (OA) and “open technology” (OT) which may incorporate OSS technology or OSS development processes. There are many perceived benefits and anticipated cost savings associated with an OA strategy. However, the challenge for acquisition program managers is how to realize the savings and benefits through requirements that can be brought into system development practice. As such, the central problem we examine in this paper is to identify principles of software architecture and OSS copyright licenses that facilitate or inhibit the success of an OA strategy when OSS and open APIs are required or otherwise employed. By examining and analyzing this problem we can begin to identify what additional requirements may be needed to fulfill an OA strategy during program acquisition.