powdermonkey

where is Technology Transparency (t2)?

There has been allot of talk about government transparency, which is good, more data to citizens is better than less, etc.

What about technology transparency?

As a taxpayer I would like to be able to use some of the code my government pays for the creation of (unless classified). As a contractor to the military I would like to be able to examine source code for the multiple technologies that are being integrated together to provide the best capability possible for soldiers, sailors, marines and airman in the field and ensure it works, especially if that source code was paid for with taxpayer funding.

The DC CTO and the Sunlight Foundation have recently held contests about creating mashup applications for various data sets, the thing has has made these contests possible is that existing source code was available to change, modify and add to. Otherwise everyone would be creating applications from scratch greatly slowing the speed of innovation. Another great example is Mashable, which has snippets of source code available for use and reuse.

Technology transparency also enables individuals and organizations to learn how the source code functions and maybe ensure that nothing nefarious is going on behind the scenes.

So I hope in the whole transparency discussion going on Transparency of Technology is included in the discussion is included. 

Defense BarCamp, Aug 8-9

we're putting on a defense barcamp if you're interested Aug 8,9 in Crystal City, VA

wiki:
http://barcamp.org/BarCampMil (Please RSVP)
Google group:
http://groups/google.com/group/barcampmil

Ground rules:
- Demo tech that is focused around the Defense, IC, Gov and humanitarian domains, just needs to have a gov tie-in
- only show stuff you are happy with 'getting out' there
- in general the proclivity is toward open source software, but not a requirement

OSS: NetEpi

very cool: NetEpt

Free, open source, network-enabled tools for epidemiology and public health practice

Public health is an area of endeavour concerned with protecting and improving the health of sub-groups of the population (or the entire population), rather than with the care of individual patients.

Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations, and serves as the foundation of almost all public health health practice.

NetEpi, which is short for "InterNet-enabled Epidemiology", is a collaborative project to create a suite of free, open source software tools for epidemiology and public health practice which make full use of the Internet. Anyone with an interest in population health epidemiology or public health informatics is encouraged to examine the current suite of tools and to contribute to their further development. Contributions which involve formal and/or informal testing of the tools in a wide range of circumstances and environments are particularly welcome, as are offers of assistance with design, programming and documentation tasks. We are also happy to talk to potential sponsors of the NetEpi projects.

Dec 11-12, 3rd Open Technology Developement Conference

Please plan on attending the next OTD Conference

December 11-12, 2007
Sheraton Premiere, Vienna, VA

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Conference and registration details: http://www.afei.org
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Conference Sponsors:         Sun    BearingPoint     Unisys
“Open source software is here to stay, and the community better get educated!” 
 - former CTO of DIA

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Keynotes Speakers:

Brig. General Nick Justice, USArmy

Mark Tolliver, CEO Palamida

Andre Boisvert, Chairman of Palamida, Compiere and Zenoss, former President and COO, SAS Institute

Bill Vass, President and COO, Sun Microsystems

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Benefits of attending this conference:

+ Connect and network with Open Source SMEs

+ Reinforce your position as a solutions leader

+  Improve your ability to guide your organization in open technology

+ Hear case studies on the use of open source software

+ Learn why Open Systems and Open Source are not the same

+ Learn about OpenSSL, DIACAP and software assurance/security

+ Understand the business model for Open Systems

+ Discover the emerging DoD acquisition best practices for COTS/OSS.

ABC and DISA

More on Build versus Buy versus Opensource
good discussion on what to use when:

• For common problems use Opensource
• For rare problems use Buy
• For unique problems use Build
• And in all cases make sure you maximise reuse

Abhijit Nadgouda points out that “with opensource, it is quite possible that you end up doing all three”. Which is also something I agree with, I think we are heading towards a time when opensource is the heart of all software development, but with some local builds and some specialised builds in a hybrid model. The distinction between build and buy and opensource then becomes one of scarcity economics versus abundance economics. Everyone’s got bills to pay, we just have to get the funding models right. Whatever the answer, one thing’s for sure, the current model’s busted.

Louis Nauges takes the argument in a slightly tangential direction, suggesting that SaaS plus open APIs is a different option. I guess I considered it nothing more than a variant of Buy, but then I may have misinterpreted what Louis said. Yes there are SaaS examples that are free-as-in-gratis, but opensource to me remains free-as-in-freedom, so I can’t really find examples of “opensource” SaaS. I need to think about this a little more.

Jag takes a completely different line, one that I am still pondering. What kind of ontology and taxonomy is needed in order for us to classify the problems and their domains accurately? How do we have to educate IT professionals as a consequence of this? More of this later.

Once again, do keep the comments coming. I really do appreciate them, even where I don’t answer back individually. And I learn from them. Occasionally I land up with quite a backlog as a result, but that’s a nice problem to have.

And remember, these conversations are snowballs. None of us should be proprietary about how they evolve and where they get to. You start them off and soon they have a life of their own. Sometimes someone else starts them off, and all you do is add bits to it.

Yes of course the conversations get fragmented. But this is better than stultifying and straitjacketing the conversation in the first place. And if we use tags and folksonomies sensibly, we can always de-fragment them.

Diplomats take a shine to Wikipedia-like app

I met the guy at the State Dept., who put this together, great guy and great that he was able to  push it through! And saved  money too!

Diplomats take a shine to Wikipedia-like app

State Department employees are using Diplopedia, a new collaborative internal Web site, more often to share their expertise and experience with colleagues worldwide.

Diplopedia is similar in design and uses the same software as Wikipedia, which allows users to edit, update and contribute entries. State’s Office of eDiplomacy launched the wiki last September and there are now more than 1,400 active articles and 255 agency employees registered as editors, according to the program’s organizers. The site is housed on State’s sensitive but unclassified intranet and is accessible by all department employees.

OSBC 2007: Panel-Constructive Disruption: An Enterprise Perspective on Open Source

Constructive Disruption: An
Enterprise Perspective on Open Source
05/22/2007, 11:30 AM - 12:20 PM
Moderator:
Robin Vasan, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund.

Speakers:
Wilson D'Souza, Director, Infrastructure Software Development, MIT
- using large amounts of OSS
Oliver Marks, Senior Manager Web Portal, Sony Playstation
- runs global collaborative network for SONY game developers
Daniel Cahoon, Architect, H&R Block
- H&R block, huge amount of open source, Marc West keynote in AM, said open source helps them define their competitive advatage
Russ Danner, Software Architect, The Christian Science Monitor.
----
D'Souza: open source never left MIT
Marks: 100% open source for collaboration
Open source keeps options open, key
Danner: using OSS content management and delivery, infrastructure and app's, cost important
Marks: wants app's that scale and are flexible. former model of using proprietary worked BUT cost was high and needed specialty consultants to help integrate. Put together 2 options, one open source and one the former way. The open source way worked, SLA worked and you can do it with open source, big lesson for H&R block. Demonstrated that it can work well and interoperability was key.
Danner: this is about value where ever you find it
D'Souza: have SAP at MIT and it works, open source aguments the mission

Where are the holes in the OSS market?

Marks: no open source calendering almost a plethora of app's. too much choice, (Me: everything is relative)
Danner: would like to see app's that touch the user and see users get involved with the developers (me: marry end-users to developers)
Cahoon: we have Death by Configuration file, need better management tools.can't innovate on the highest skills in the company. skills that cross between the two worlds. adapt to existing packages in companies today.

things seem to be moving up the stack...

D'Souza: Need cross platform online/offline outlook relacement
Danner: simplicity is key, need to focus on that. software still a culture run by techies. focus on the user.
Marks: facts on the ground stop innovaiton, Lotus is a trainwreck
Cahoon: Keeping vendors honest is important, oss helps. need vendors that are well matched up to you. Calling Oracle sucks, oss faster at feedback. Open source needs to slow down, companies like oracle need to speed up. need more predictability

What is the right cycle time:
Marks: sometimes allot to update, sometimes too much

Marks: Corporate bureaucracy slows things down in the US. Contacting is tough, IP issues need to be worked out

Collaboration: 10 rules

interesting how they mesh well with open source design methods:

Rule 1: Do Not Be Lured into Just Any Collaboration

Rule 2: Decide at the Beginning Who Will Work on What Tasks

Ten Simple Rules for a Successful Collaboration

WSJ Article: Hospitals and Standards

interesting (WSJ pay for,

Hospitals Target Risks Of Color Wristbands April 4, 2007; Page D5) article on how hospitals are coming together to standardize the color of wristbands in hospitals, to:

"To address the problem, a number of hospitals around the country have formed groups to standardize color designations in their states and regions. They are limiting the number of colors and bands to avoid confusion, and taking steps to ensure that labels and stickers used in patients' medical records correspond with the colors and meanings used on the wristbands. Hospitals are also purchasing bands embossed with pre-printed messages to reinforce the meanings -- such as "allergy" or "fall risk" -- and asking both patients and staffers to remove any colored charity or social-cause bracelets that might add to the confusion."

I really think this is the only way to effectively deal with standards AND get a majority of a community to buy in and use them. Let them bubble up from the bottom-up, there may be some chaos, but otherwise you go down the road of committee meetings and planning forever.

the end of the beginning

couldn't agree more, especially since silly people at DHS think it's something to get into.
from ValleyWag:
"Now one of Second Life's most gushing proponents concedes that access to the online world requires too much computing power for the general public. In the words of Winston Churchill, this is not the end of Second Life, nor even the beginning of the end; but it is the end of the beginning. The key passage, from Rubel's post, on the folly of crowds, after the jump.

    'There is definitely a problem in this Web 2.0, enthusiastically charged time we live in. Scott Donaton at AdAge calls it GMOOT - short for "get me one of those." That's the cry that marketers often hear from their executives. They get wind that their competitors have viral videos so then they want one too. It's the opposite of the Wisdom of Crowds. '"