Invest in making open source compliance more predictable, understandable & efficient across supply chains
SAN FRANCISCO and YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – OPEN COMPLIANCE SUMMIT – December 6, 2018 — The OpenChain Project, which builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent, announced today at Open Compliance Summit that Facebook, Google and Uber have joined as platinum members. The only standard for open source compliance in the supply chain, OpenChain provides a specification as well as overarching processes, policies and training that companies need to be successful.
Every day companies consume billions of lines of open source software through their supply chains as they build exciting new products and services. One key challenge as code flows between companies is ensuring the relevant license requirements are met in a timely and effective manner. Many organizations seek to address similar compliance issues in a similar manner, providing an excellent opportunity for consolidation and harmonization.
The OpenChain Project provides companies with a consistent way to address these challenges. At the heart of the project is a specification, an overarching standard for how companies of all sizes, whether in physical products, in the cloud or internally, can deal with open source compliance.
Running some of the largest data centers, platforms and cloud infrastructure in the world, Facebook, Google and Uber use a considerable amount of open source software in their businesses and are joining the OpenChain project to proactively manage open source across their supply chains.
“At Facebook, we believe open source software accelerates the pace of innovation in the world. We are proud to support the OpenChain project, and, by doing so hope to make the open source supply chain more predictable and efficient so the community can focus on solving challenges of speed, complexity, and deploying open source software at scale,” said Michael Cheng, Facebook Open Source.
“Google is a strong believer that working together and being engaged with open source communities creates a ripple effect for the broader industry,” said Chris DiBona, Director, Open Source, Google. “We’re excited to join the OpenChain project and expect it will encourage greater compliance, and foster discussion on how the industry and open source projects can continue to work to improve software throughout the supply chain.”
“In the tech industry, it’s easy to take for granted how critical open source is for innovation and community collaboration,” said Matt Kuipers, IP senior counsel at Uber. “However, the lack of consistent open source policies remains an obstacle for adoption throughout the supply chain and across industries. We’re excited to join the OpenChain Project to support the adoption of consistent policies, reduce barriers to adopting open source, and increase the value of open source for more industries beyond tech.”
“We are very excited to see three innovative tech leaders join the project and welcome their experience to our Governing Board,” said Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “We believe that their support will be a vital component as we continue to build upon a successful, meaningful industry standard for open source compliance in the supply chain.”
OpenChain also provides companies with overarching processes, policies and training to be successful in open source compliance. OpenChain Conformance with the OpenChain Specification confirms that an organization follows the key requirements of a quality open source compliance program, and builds trust between organizations in the supply chain. It makes procurement easier for purchasers and preferred status easier for suppliers.
As platinum members, one representative from each company will join the OpenChain Governing Board. Other platinum members of the OpenChain project include Adobe, ARM Holdings, Cisco, Comcast, GitHub, Harman International, Hitachi, Qualcomm, Siemens, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota and Western Digital.
Additional Resources
About the OpenChain Project
The OpenChain Project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent. The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements. The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.
About The Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.