NASA Open Source summit

Well, just to show that Open Source is something to reckon with, 

NASA is going to host an Open Source summit on 29-30 March

http://www.nasa.gov/open/source/
"This event will bring together engineers and policy makers across NASA and respected members of the open source community to discuss the challenges with the existing open source policy framework, and propose modifications that would make it easier for NASA to develop, release, and use open source software"

Wish someone sponsors my trip there ;-)

Jokes apart, its high time our Govt (or its parts like the services) convene a similar summit - 'coz I see a lot of decisions taken based on personality and experiences and not on a collective thinking or future implications. 

"Open source brings numerous benefits to NASA software projects, including increased software quality, reduced development costs, faster development cycles, and reduced barriers to public-private collaboration through new opportunities to commercialize NASA technology. This inherently transparent, participatory, and collaborative approach is revolutionizing the way software is created, improved, and used.

Although open source release has already provided numerous benefits to NASA, the full benefits of open source can only be realized if NASA is able to establish the processes, policies, and culture needed to encourage and support open source development. This will require expanding open source activities beyond releasing software only after completion and finding new ways to support two-way collaboration with an open development community throughout the entire software lifecycle."