Brief: DoD offers open-standards approach

The Defense Department's Open Systems Joint Task Force has published guidelines for an emerging procurement methodology called the Modular Open Systems Approach. The military can use the approach, known as MOSA, to define open standards for interoperability in a way that allows vendors to continue to offer proprietary solutions, according to Mark Gordon, an analyst for the National Center for Advanced Technologies.

In February, Lockheed Martin Corp. hosted a steering committee meeting on MOSA, with members from BAE Systems Plc, Northrop Grumman Corp., Science Applications International Corp. and others . The report is available at http://www.acq.osd.mil/osjtf/pdf/PMG_03.pdf .