News

Event Overview in German:

Learn More:

• Event Overview PDF
• Event Website

The OpenChain Japan Work Group held its sixth meeting on the 31st of December at the Toshiba / Lazona Kawasaki Building. This meeting featured 49 participants from 24 organizations, continuing our tradition of building out a broad and active local community. It was also the first meeting dedicated to the new subgroups and milestones for 2019.

You can read the minutes of this meeting in English here:

• OpenChain Japan Work Group #6 (EN)

You can read the minutes of this meeting in Japanese here:

• OpenChain Japan Work Group #6 (JP)

Outline of key talks and guided discussions during the event:

1. Our motivations to get involve into OpenChain (Y. Kobayashi (Toshiba))
2. OpenChain and Japan Work Group reviews (N. Imada (Hitachi))
3. Sub WG1: Planning Sub WG status report (H. Fukuchi, A. Yamaoka (Sony))
4. Sub WG2: Proposal to publish a leaflet for upper supply chain (S. Ueda (Sony))
5. Sub WG3: Proposal to publish FAQ (Y. Ouchi (Fujitsu))
6. Case study: “Question sheet about OSS usage” (S. Koizumi (Olympus))
7. Proposal of our next plan and new Sub WGs (H. Fukuchi (Sony))
8. Report: OpenChain workshop at ELC-E (S. Tokumoto (Fujitsu), S. Kato (Panasonic))

Forthcoming face-to-face meetings:

• 2018/12/5 The seventh meeting will be held on Dec. 5, 2018.
  • Venue: TUV SUD Japan Office at Shinjuku(Tokyo)

• 2019/2/28 The eighth meeting will be held on Feb. 28, 2019.
  • Venue: Mitsubishi Electric Head Office at Chiyoda(Tokyo)

• 2019/4/xx The ninth meeting will be held on April, 2019.
  • Venue: Denso-Ten Office at Kobe(Hyogo)

• 2018/12/5　第7回会合　2018年12月5日（水） 　
  • 場所：テュフズードジャパン（東京都新宿区）

• 2019/2/28　第8回会合　2019年2月28日(木)
  • 場所：三菱電機 本社（東京都千代田区）

• 2019/4/xx　第9回会合（計画中）　2019年4月xx日(x)
  • 場所：デンソーテン（兵庫県神戸市）計画中

Learn More:

• OpenChain Japan Work Group Wiki

The OpenChain Japan Work Group has been planning a series of milestones for 2018 and 2019 via three new subgroups. These milestones include the creation of extensive guidance material regarding OpenChain adoption, inter-company communication, and open source policies. As with all OpenChain Curriculum material these documents are made available under CC-0 licensing for use, remixing and sharing for any purpose.

To learn more about this specific initiative see the slides below in English and Japanese. You can also be part of this activity via the OpenChain Japan mailing list or by attending any of the meetings hosted by our Japanese community members.

Curious about the titles, hosts and participants of each subgroup?

サブグループ活動 / Subgroups

• Planning subgroup
  • Team Lead: Hiroyuki Fukuchi
  • Members: Teppei Asaba, Mutsumi Abe, Nobuo Imada, Satoru Ueda, Masato Endo, Yoshiko Ohuchi,Satoru Koizumi, Norio Kobota, Shinsuke Kato, Hiroshi Nozue, Yuji Nomura, Atsuhiro Yamaoka, Ayumi Watanabe

• FAQ subgroup
  • Team Lead: Yoshiko Ohuchi (Fujitsu)
  • Members: Shuichi Awaji, Teruaki Itoh, Satoru Ueda, Masato Endo, Kazuyoshi Katagiri, Tomoki Kawamura, Manami Koshino, Norio Kobota, Naomichi Shima, Toru Taima, Shinichi Tanigawa, Hiroyuki Fukuchi, Yoshihiro Yasuda, Atsuhiro Yamaoka, Masato Yoshii

• Leaflet for Sales subgroup
  • Team Lead: Satoru Ueda
  • Members: Teruaki Itoh, Kiyoshi Owada, Shisuke Kato

• Planning サブグループ
  • チームリード：福地弘行
  • メンバー：浅羽鉄平、阿部睦、今田律夫、上田理、遠藤雅人、大内佳子、小泉悟、小保田規生、加藤慎介、野末浩志、野村祐治、山岡厚仁、渡邊歩

• FAQ サブグループ
  • チームリード：大内佳子（富士通）
  • メンバー：淡路修一、伊藤輝昭、上田理、遠藤雅人、片桐和宣、川村知生、越野愛美、小保田規生、島直道、當麻徹、谷川真一、福地弘行、安田佳宏、山岡厚仁、吉井雅人

• 営業向けリーフレット サブグループ
  • チームリード：上田理
  • メンバー：伊藤輝昭、大和田清志、加藤慎介

Learn More

• Slides in English (PDF)
• Slides in English (PPTX)
• Slides in Japanese (PDF)
• Slides in Japanese (PPTX)

Get these guides and many more documents in the OpenChain Reference Library.

The OpenChain Japan Work Group held its sixth meeting on the 31st of October between 2pm and 4:45pm at Toshiba Smart Community Center in Kanazawa. As with the previous five OpenChain Japan Work Group meetings discussion is expected to include a mix of structured reports, activity planning and case studies.

The Schedule

14:00  (5min)   Opening- H.Nozue
14:05  (10min)  Keynote: OpenChain Project updates – S.Coughlan
14:15  (20min)  Keynote: OpenChain and Toshiba activities- Y.Kobayashi
14:35  (10min)  OpenChain and Japan WG basic reviews- N.Imada
14:45  (40min)  Reports: SubWGs status (10minx3 + Q&C 10min)
– Planning SubWG status – H.Fukuchi, A.Yamaoka
– Level defined education (Ueda-san’s project) – TBD
– FAQ for beginners (Ouchi-san’s project) – K.Ouchi
– Questions & Comments
15:25 – 15:40 – break
15:40  (15min)  Case Study: “Form for clearing OSS usage” – S.Koizumi
15:55  (25min)  Discussion: next plan and new subWG proposal – H.Fukuchi
16:20  (20min)  Special Report: “OpenChain workshop @ ELC-E” – S.Kato,
T.Ueba
16:40  (5min) Announcement of Next meeting and Open Compliance Summit
16:45 – Closing

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the OpenChain Japan Work Group. This incredible team has built out one of the largest and most active open source compliance communities. Best of all, it is completely open, and has great gatherings every two months.

This year we held meetings at Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toyota, Fujitsu and Toshiba; TUV SUD Japan is scheduled for December. The meeting schedule for first half 2019 has already been published.

Learn More

• https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/openchain/openchain-japanese-working-group

The OpenChain Project has released an updated version of the project introduction slides. These contain the latest membership information, the latest conformance information, and improved formatting.

Get The Slides

• Get the slides in PowerPoint format
• Get the slides in PDF format
• Get the slides in ODP format

The OpenChain Project is being featured today at the Software IP event hosted by IAM and located at Golden Gate Club at the Presidio, San Francisco.

Our representative is Hung Chang, Senior Product Counsel at Workday, and one of the founders of the OpenChain Project. You can catch his panel between 1 and 2pm.

Learn More:

• http://www.iam-events.com/events/software-ip/agenda-84ca6114a62b4ea9940e1039b270d7a6.aspx#

Get these guides and many more documents in the OpenChain Reference Library.

There is a lot of cross-pollination between Linux Foundation open source projects. The latest is a contribution from Fukuchi-San, a driving force in the OpenChain Japan WG, to SPDX. Motivated by a suggestion from Thomas Steenbergen at Open Source Summit Europe 2017 he has prepared a Japanese translation of the SPDX Specification. The draft document is available for comments, suggestions and improvements here:

• https://github.com/hfukuchi/SPDX_specification/tree/master/chapters

About The Linux Foundation Compliance Stack

The OpenChain Project sits at the top of a stack of open source projects to address open source compliance. OpenChain is a high level standard defining the key requirements of a quality open source compliance program. Immediately below providing more specifics are the SPDX and TODO Group. The former is a standard for how the contents of software packages are described. The latter contains practical, timely information about how open source program offices can run. Moving further down the stack there are specific frameworks like FOSSology to scan code and confirm what software packages contain.

About The OpenChain Project

The OpenChain Project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent. The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements. The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

About The SPDX Project

Software Package Data Exchange® (SPDX®) is an open standard for communicating software bill of material information (including components, licenses, copyrights, and security references). SPDX reduces redundant work by providing a common format for companies and communities to share important data about software licenses, copyrights, and security references, thereby streamlining and improving compliance. The SPDX specification is developed by the SPDX workgroup, which is hosted by The Linux Foundation. The grass-roots effort includes representatives from more than 20 organizations—software, systems and tool vendors, foundations  and systems integrators—all committed to creating a standard for software package data exchange formats.

SAN FRANCISCO and EDINBURGH (OPEN SOURCE SUMMIT EUROPE) – October 23, 2018 –The OpenChain Project, which builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent, announces Toshiba has become a Platinum Member. Toshiba has long been a driving force in the OpenChain Japan Work Group, and their new Platinum membership will enable the company to contribute even more to the global adoption of the OpenChain standard. OpenChain member organizations provide resources and support to enable the community to be effective in recommending key processes for effective open source management.

“The OpenChain Project has seen exceptional engagement by the Japanese community,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “Toshiba has been at the forefront of this, actively contributing to our meetings and our strategic planning. Their Platinum Membership is a natural evolution of their roles as thought leaders in open source and we are looking forward to accomplishing great things together.”

“OpenChain is not just a project for OSS license compliance, it also helps to improve mutual trust and effective communication between open source developers and users,” says Tetsuji Fukaya, Director of the Corporate Software Engineering and Technology Center of Toshiba Corporation. “Open source is publicly recognized as an essential part of digital transformation and widely used in numerous products. In order to use open source appropriately, we think that license compliance alone is not enough. Mutual trust between developers and users is also essential. OpenChain will be key to achieve both. For that reason, we feel proud of being part of the OpenChain Project.”

Every organization of every size in every market is invited to conform to the OpenChain Specification free of charge. This builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

Start today by visiting:

https://www.openchainproject.org

Go directly to online self-certification here:

https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance

Platinum Members of the OpenChain Project include Adobe, ARM Holdings, Cisco, Comcast, GitHub, Harman International, Hitachi, Qualcomm, Siemens, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota and Western Digital.

About Toshiba

In over 140 years, Tokyo-based Toshiba Corporation has built a global network of almost 400 companies that channels reliable technologies into “Social Infrastructure”, “Energy”, “Electronic Devices” and “Digital Solutions”—the basic infrastructure that sustains modern life and society. Guided by The Basic Commitment of the Toshiba Group, “Committed to People, Committed to the Future”, Toshiba promotes value creation that helps to realize a world where generations to come can live better lives. In fiscal year 2017, the Group and its 141,000 employees worldwide secured annual sales surpassing 3.9 trillion yen (US$ 37.2 billion).

Find out more about Toshiba at www.toshiba.co.jp/worldwide/about/index.html

About the OpenChain Project

The OpenChain Project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent. The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements. The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage.

Linux® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

SAN FRANCISCO and EDINBURGH – OPEN SOURCE SUMMIT EUROPE – October 23, 2018 – The OpenChain Project, which builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent, announces it has welcomed SUSE to its community of conformance. Conformance with the OpenChain Specification confirms that an organization follows the key requirements of a quality open source compliance program, and builds trust between organizations in the supply chain. It makes procurement easier for purchasers and preferred status easier for suppliers. Conformance is accomplished by answering a series of questions online.

SUSE is the first enterprise Linux distributor to earn conformance with the OpenChain Project Specification. In doing so, SUSE is helping free industry resources to focus on innovation by reducing complex processes. SUSE joins 17 other organizations with publicly announced conformant programs.

“The OpenChain Standard is suitable for every organization involved in the open source supply chain,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “Welcoming SUSE to our community is a landmark milestone that illustrates how we positively impact the beginning of the supply chain. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with a great team toward goals that will ultimately benefit thousands of companies across the globe.”

“For more than 25 years, SUSE has created and engaged with open source communities as a foundation for its enterprise solutions,” said Thomas Di Giacomo, SUSE CTO. “We always engage with the community to better meet customer needs, and our OpenChain certification is another indication to enterprises that we are committed to making their experience with open source software more reliable and cost effective.”

Every organization of every size in every market is invited to conform to the OpenChain Specification free of charge. This builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent.

Start today by visiting:

https://www.openchainproject.org

Go directly to the online self-certification here:

https://www.openchainproject.org/conformance

Platinum Members of the OpenChain Project include Adobe, ARM Holdings, Cisco, Comcast, GitHub, Harman International, Hitachi, Qualcomm, Siemens, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota and Western Digital.

About the OpenChain Project

The OpenChain Project builds trust in open source by making open source license compliance simpler and more consistent. The OpenChain Specification defines a core set of requirements every quality compliance program must satisfy. The OpenChain Curriculum provides the educational foundation for open source processes and solutions, whilst meeting a key requirement of the OpenChain Specification. OpenChain Conformance allows organizations to display their adherence to these requirements. The result is that open source license compliance becomes more predictable, understandable and efficient for participants of the software supply chain.

About The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world’s top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage.

Linux®is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.