DISA open sources HR software

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) plans to open source a suite of programs that it developed for administrative tasks. The agency has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) to help release the source code of the programs.

The set of 50 programs, collectively called the Corporate Management Information System (CMIS), handles duties such as human resource management, training, security, acquisition and related functions. All the programs were developed by internally by DISA, and are used by more that 16,000 users worldwide.

“Numerous other government agencies have asked if we'd allow them to adopt CMIS for their internal use," Jack Penkoske, DISA's director of manpower, security and personnel, said in a statement. "We believe this will be a win-win for all involved.”

By allowing third-party developers to view, modify, and reuse the software source code, DISA is hoping that others will improve the code when they modify it for their own purposes.

DISA will license the software under version 3 of the Open Software License as well as version 3 of the Academic Free License, according to John Weathersby, OSSI's executive director.