GSA CTO headlines WT open source breakfast

Open source and the power to disrupt the market will take center stage at our next WT Power Breakfast on July 12.

Open source and the power to disrupt the market will take center stage at our next Washington Technology Power Breakfast on July 12.

The use of open source software is pretty much a forgone conclusion in the federal market but we are just now starting to scratch the surface of its power to disrupt the market.

A big driver of this is the growing use of bimodal IT strategies by government agencies looking to maintain and even enhance legacy systems while also trying to field new technologies.

That trend is opening opportunities for companies to present unique solutions and new technologies, and open source is right at the heart of that.

Our panel includes Joseph Castle, the director of GSA Digital Service. He’ll be sharing insights on what government agencies are doing and how contractors can support those efforts.

We also have Alan Chvotkin from the Professional Services Council, who will cover recent policy initiatives coming out of the Office of Management and Budget that involve open source.

A third speaker is David Egts, chief technologist for public sector at Red Hat (our sponsor). He’ll share his expertise on open source and bimodal IT.

Our final panelist is John Coble, a solution architect at SAIC. He is leading one of the largest open source ERP implementations of OpenBravo in North America. You can bet he'll have some lessons learned to share.

I’m looking forward to this session because, frankly, I’m not an open source and bimodal IT expert. So as I moderate the panel, my questions may land on the simplistic side, but that’s why we have an audience Q&A.

The breakfast is free to WT Insiders (click here for information on how to join) and $49 for non-members.

The event kicks off at 7:30 a.m. for registration and networking at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner, Va. The program begins at 8:30 a.m. and should conclude around 10.

I think the panel is a strong one and will bring multiple perspectives to the issue. I’ll be blogging more as we get closer to the event.

Click here for more information and how to register.