Another Nail in the coffin for Software 1.0
Mar 14th, 2008 by sharps
By way of Matt Assay (at c|net) - the US Navy - likely one of the world’s largest employers and users of technology just announced that they will no longer accept closed, proprietary technology. I liked this quote from Vice Adm. Mark Edwards (deputy chief of naval operations for communications) :
Above all, we must break the stovepipes of data so that we can share information across domains,”
This is a pretty common retort I hear from customers today - ie. that closed, proprietary systems can play no part in realizing their next generation of Distributed, service-based Network architectures. I’d go as far as to say that open-standards and an open, transparent development model are further defining propositions of Software 3.0.
While the Navy doesn’t imply at all that they’re basing their future on Open Source as well as Open Standards - they do seem envious of some of the cost savings seen in the “private sector” - which is likely a result of more than just interoperability through standards. I think it’s fair to say that vendors who are leading the way in realizing Software 3.0 are the ones that will be increasingly able to deliver better value to customers. This is something that the European Union understands well enough.