We are pleased to announce that Red Hat’s Data Services Platform, specifically MetaMatrix 5.5.3, has achieved Common Criteria certification at Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 2. This is a significant milestone for Red Hat’s data services solutions and adds another Common Criteria certification to the Red Hat portfolio, in line with the goals we set in November 2007.

Recognized in 25 countries, Common Criteria is a set of internationally approved guidelines for evaluating and certifying the information security of IT products and information systems. The certification gives private and public sector organizations the confidence that the evaluated IT solution complies with widely accepted security standards.

Data services platforms have become more important as the business world continues to face ever-increasing scrutiny and regulation. The Common Criteria certification for our Data Services Platform, MetaMatrix 5.5.3 shows that the solution complies with these worldwide security standards, making it an attractive option for a security-conscious company or government agency.

Red Hat’s Data Services Platform can help bridge the gap between the data you have and the data you need, reducing the time and cost of software development and integration. This solution facilitates the development of systems that provide consistent, integrated data in real time with enterprise performance, security and management capabilities allowing customers to make better use of existing information assets and work already done.

Red Hat’s Data Services Platform, MetaMatrix, is the latest Red Hat solution to meet the stringent requirements for Common Criteria – the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform received its certification in July 2009. To see the full listing of security-certified Red Hat solutions, please visit our Certifications and Accreditations page.

Red Hat continued its quest for a remedy to the problem of software patents today by submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in the Bilski case. The Court has decided to address the issue of when abstract subject matter is outside the range of inventions that can be patented. Our brief sets out the background facts related to software patents and asks that the Court address them. As most everyone in the open source software community knows by now, this is a serious issue.

The success of open source software shows that patents are not necessary to promote software innovation. Patents give the right to exclude others from using an invention, but open source developers are not seeking exclusion. They want to share code and collaborate, and patents interfere with this process. Open source developers aren’t alone in understanding the dangers of patents. For example, back in 1991, Bill Gates stated, “If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today.” It should be noted that Microsoft recently acquired its 10,000th patent, and Mr. Gates has not, to our knowledge, recently questioned the logic of software patents.

But patents are problematic for innovation. In the 1990s, federal court decisions began allowing patents in areas that had previously been considered too abstract for patenting, including software, and now there are more than 200,000 computer software patents. Modern programs may involve thousands of discrete components that may arguably infringe previously issued patents.

As patent lawyers know, proving patent infringement does not require showing that the accused party copied the patent holder’s product or had knowledge of the patent. A new invention can be completely original, in the sense that it is the product of independent creativity, and also infringe a patent. In fact, most infringement cases involve no allegation that the defendant wrongfully copied someone else’s patented invention. » Read more

What if you could develop software without risking a patent infringement lawsuit?

What if open source innovation was unencumbered by lurking patent trolls?

What if there were no software patents?

The United States Supreme Court will be reviewing the Bilski case in the coming weeks. The Court’s decision in this case could help move some of these “what ifs” closer to reality.

The Bilski case involves the standard for patenting a process. The Federal Circuit issued its decision in the case about a year ago, and now it’s up for Supreme Court review. The high court’s decision on patentable subject matter is of huge importance to the future of software development, including open source. The Court’s ruling on Bilski could clarify the law and lessen the risks that software innovation will be hindered by patents.

The Federal Circuit’s decision in Bilski recognized that abstract ideas are not patentable, and a new test for patentability was substituted. The Federal Circuit set forth a clear test to determine if a process is patentable in stating that it must be either “tied to a particular machine or apparatus” or must “transform a particular article into a different state or thing.”

Red Hat has continually shown our commitment to open source throughout the Bilski proceedings. Today, we announced that we’ve filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court explaining the practical problems of software patents to software developers. It also asks the Supreme Court to adopt the machine-or-transformation test set forth in the Bilski case and to make clear that it excludes software from patentability.

While we haven’t won yet, Red Hat will continue fighting for the good of technology and for the good of innovation.

Red Hat today announced it is a founding member of Open Source for America. Launched today, Open Source for America’s mission is to serve as an effective voice to the U.S. Federal Government on behalf of the open source development community and industry representatives.

The Obama Administration has articulated its interest in developing an open, transparent and participatory government from its very first days in office. The formation of Open Source for America is a step in the right direction to advocate and promote the benefits of open source and help achieve a truly effective and efficient government.

Open source provides an answer to government agencies at all levels as they look for opportunities to carve out IT costs, improve security and increase efficiency. Government agencies are using Red Hat’s open source solutions to meet mission-critical IT demands and improve service delivery. Take a look here at the many government entities in not only the United States, but across the globe who rely on Red Hat.

At Red Hat, we’ve been leading the charge for years for open source in the government sector.

More than 60 companies, academic institutions, open source communities, think tanks and related groups and individuals have joined with Red Hat in promoting open source in government through Open Source for America. Participation is open to any person or entity signing Open Source for America’s mission pledge. I offer a challenge to all advocates of open source to join Open Source for America today and continue to build on this unprecedented opportunity to change our government.

Summer is quickly approaching in the Northern Hemisphere and we cannot believe how fast April came and went. The Red Hat Summit and JBoss World are officially four months away, and we are very excited about everything these co-located events will offer attendees. Mark your calendars and don’t forget to submit for the 2009 Innovation Awards before nominations close on May 31. This year’s winners will be announced in September at Red Hat Summit and JBoss World.

Red Hat has a busy May ahead of us, with events in every region of the world. Make sure to keep up-to-date on all Red Hat events by following us on Twitter.

Worldwide

Red Hat and the Salt River Project (SRP) will be hosting a webinar on May 5 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Learn from a customer’s perspective how SRP made Red Hat Enterprise Linux deployable, scalable and manageable.

JBoss will be hosting a webinar entitled “Make it Rich: JBoss Tools to Easily Build Rich Internet Applications.” The webinar will take place on May 7 at 2:00 p.m. ET, and recordings will be available soon after.

View all upcoming worldwide events.

North America

Jim Whitehurst, president and CEO,will be keynoting on Monday, May 4, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. PT at the SIIA Software Summit and CODiE Awards conference, located in San Francisco. This is a comprehensive conference for the entire software industry including: ISVs, platform vendors, system integrators, venture capitalists other influencers.

On May 5th, Red Hat will be hosting the JBoss Government Users and Developers Conference in Washington, DC. Back by popular demand, this complimentary one-day conference will help attendees learn how agencies can securely and rapidly deliver mission-critical Web 2.0 applications and SOA services by leveraging open source middleware and data services platforms.

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2009 has already been a big year for open source solutions in government. Enthused by President Obama’s call for a transparent, participatory and collaborative government, pundits and government and technology leaders are calling for an open source government. The Do It Yourself (DIY) Federal IT Bailout Report, issued by MeriTalk, an online community addressing IT and public policy issues, identified billions of dollars in potential Federal IT savings for government agencies from open source, virtualization and cloud computing. The Department of Defense (DoD) launched Forge.mil as a site where developers can work on open source software projects specifically for the DoD. Both Carahsoft Technology Corp., the Master Government Partner for Red Hat, and DLT Solutions, a Red Hat Ready Government Partner that serves as a government and educational reseller for Red Hat, were awarded Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs) through the DoD’s Enterprise Software Initiative (DoD-ESI) to provide open source solutions – including Red Hat and JBoss – to the DoD community. And most recently, the Open Source Software Institute (OSSI) and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced that they would be collaborating on a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to publicly distribute more than 50 federal administration agreements under an open source license.

So why is the government’s adoption of open source solutions garnering so much attention these days?As Paul Smith, vice president of Red Hat’s government sales operations, outlines below (in an article originally contributed to MeriTalk), open source simply enables government officials to deliver a better government faster.

Delivering a Better Government Faster Through Open Source

By Paul Smith, Vice President of Government Sales Operations, Red Hat

Much has been said in recent weeks about the need for change transparency and accountability at all levels of government. During his first full day in office, President Barack Obama set forth his expectations regarding government transparency in two important memorandums fueling commentary that President Obama is the first open source president.

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President Obama came to office with the promise of change. His administration has pledged to create an environment of openness and participation. Some have already called him the “open source president” such as consultant and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos.

There’s no better time than now. Transparency builds trust. Participation solves problems. And we believe that open source provides an answer.

Red Hat is excited that the Obama administration recognizes the value of open source beyond software. Open source principles are changing how we learn, how we share information, how developers create, and how companies do business. Now it has the opportunity to change our government.

When information is open and individuals have the means to contribute, everyone shares in the responsibility for improvement. Informed citizens become engaged citizens. Engaged citizens contribute opinions, ideas, and effort. Our government has pledged to listen. It’s time to give citizens a new voice. » Read more

The United States recently ushered in a new CIO for the federal government. President Obama has directed the CIO to “work to ensure that we are using the spirit of American innovation and the power of technology to improve performance and lower the cost of government operations.” Open source offers a compelling means to achieving these goals, harnessing the power of peer review and transparency of process and drawing on an ecosystem of thousands of developers and customers across the globe to drive innovation.

Healthcare IT presents an industry ripe for innovation and change. The new CIO appointment comes on the heels of the recent economic stimulus bill which includes legislation on healthcare IT that is of significant interest to the open source community.

An open source health IT system holds tremendous potential to improve the quality of the healthcare delivery system and make it more efficient. The current marketplace has had limited success in improving healthcare IT. Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology is a prime example. A July 2008 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that only 4% of physicians in the United States had a fully functional EHR, and 13% had a basic EHR. In addition, the study also found that 2/3 of physicians cited affordability as the key barrier to EHR adoption.

We wanted to highlight two specific items that were part of the Health IT language in the stimulus package. First, the National Coordinator for Health IT is empowered to support “the development and routine updating of qualified EHR technology.” The federal government has already developed an open source health IT system, VistA, that is in use today by many private hospitals. For example, Midland Memorial Hospital, one of just 33 hospitals nationally certified as HIMSS Analytics Stage 6 of EHR adoption, replaced its existing proprietary systems with an open-source solution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and VistA. We’re hopeful that the federal government will continue to adopt an open source approach to the development of any qualified EHR technology and welcome creative solutions to the problem, and the direct support of the National Coordinator should help move these efforts forward. » Read more

Red Hat’s government team today announced its new Government Advisory Board, a panel of public sector technology industry experts who will provide strategic advice to help the government team continue its rapid growth trend. The advisory board, which will meet on a quarterly basis, is comprised of a number of industry luminaries including S. Bradford Antle, Dr. Edward H. Bersoff, Dr. Renato “Renny” A. DiPentima, Jerry C. Harrison, Carleton S. Jones and Dendy Young.
» Read more

North America

The VA Information Technology Connection 2008 (VA ITC) will take place from July 7-10 in National Harbor, Maryland. Come learn how Red Hat serves the government sector with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, including the JBoss Enterprise Middleware suite. VA ITC 2008 highlights the establishment of a single Information Technology (IT) authority and the consolidation of multiple IT operational and development activities. This event supports the VA strategic initiative for IT and advances the realization of “One VA” from an IT perspective. Be a part of this unique and dynamic forum that encourages interaction between developers of applications, systems architects, users, security experts, other field operations support and associated business partners. Make sure to stop by and visit us at Booth #700 to see how Red Hat solutions can help your agency.
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