Army reaps benefits of open-source policy

Federal Times: The Army’s decision to formalize its open-source software development policy is paying off. At least two major projects have benefited from the policy announced this spring, with open source helping to speed development and save taxpayer dollars, according to officials from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

“Open source can reduce development time and lower overall costs, resulting in a win-win situation for the Army and the U.S. taxpayer,” said ARL Deputy Chief Scientist Mary Harper.

When it comes to defense agencies embracing open-source software development, the Army is hardly at the cutting edge. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency paved the way with the launch of its GitHub open-source community in 2014. The Navy issued a guidance on the use of open-source code as early as 2007.

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