OPEN SOURCE SOLUTIONS FOR GOVERNMENT FROM CARAHSOFT ^TM

Black Duck Government Solutions

Open source software has become a major force on a global scale. Federal, state, and local governments are already taking advantage of the benefits of open source software, using it to enhance their local technology industries and lower overall government IT costs.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies the use of open source software is accelerating and it has implications for trade, security, intellectual property, research and development, government operations and procurement, liability and (perhaps) economic development. To this end, many government agencies have initiatives to explore how open source software can enable productivity, increase collaboration between agencies, and improve service delivery to citizens while lowering IT costs and other operating expenses.

Regardless of the program or motivation, governments must generally comply with the same license constraints that commercial companies do. Further, some government agencies also have statutes restricting or requiring distribution of government funded software. Whatever the situation it is clear that ongoing management of software license compliance will be impossible without some form of automated software compliance management system.

• How can you maximize the productivity advantages of software reuse, while still assuring that you meet the license obligations of the software?



• How do you protect your IP and comply with statutes, particularly when you combine your own intellectual property with that of others?



• How can you demonstrate to lawmakers, users, lawyers, partners and governments that you have control of your IP?



• How do you manage the complexity of tracking and compliance of the intellectual property you use?



• How can you manage compliance across the world and with developers you may not even know?

Manage Complexity with protexIP

Black Duck's protexIPTM software compliance management suite helps software developers to mitigate risk by validating proper use of open source software within their intellectual property (IP) assets. This system brings together developers, lawyers, and program decision-makers within an automated environment that supports both the accelerated pace of development and the heightened sensitivity to licenses and controls required by governments.

Our protexIP suite employs advanced digital Code Print technology and an online KnowledgeBase of thousands of open source projects and their associated licenses to quickly and accurately identify matching open source code within your software. It then evaluates associated software licenses and determines conflicts and constraints on your code's use. You can also extend the protexIP system to track your own proprietary and licensed commercial software. protexIP lets you establish compliance policies for software reuse and automatically manage to them throughout your software's lifecycle.

Black Duck's offerings helps governments take maximum advantage of open source and software reuse while at the same time assure they can satisfy the obligations associated with the code they use.