News

The OpenChain Project will be featured at a forthcoming Bird & Bird event on the 20th of November in Frankfurt, Germany. Find out more or register for this event by contacting the Bird & Bird team:

Bird & Bird LLP
Marienstraße 15
60329 Frankfurt am Main T: +49 (0)69 74222 6000
F: +49 (0)69 74222 6011
frankfurt@twobirds.com

Bird & Bird & Open Source License Compliance in Softwarelieferketten

Am 20. November 2018 findet in unserem Frankfurter Büro ein Seminar zur Open Source License Compliance statt, das wir in Kooperation mit dem OpenChain-Projekt der LinuxFoundation durchführen. Sprecher sind u.a. Andreas Bärwald (TÜV SÜD Product Services GmbH), Dr. Michael Jaeger (Siemens AG), Dr. Catharina Maracke (Software Compliance Academy) und Shane Coughlin (OpenChain Projekt).

Datum: 20. November 2018
Ort: Bird & Bird, Frankfurt am Main

The OpenChain Project will host a workshop co-located with the Open Source Summit Europe in Edinburgh on the 23rd of October. Details below. All welcome!

The OpenChain Workshop – The Supply Chain Compliance Solution (Not A Blockchain)

The OpenChain Project defines the key requirements for a quality open source compliance program through a single, simple specification. It supports this specification with free online self-certification and educational reference material for organizations of all sizes. This workshop will feature the latest developments around supply chain compliance and provide an excellent opportunity for attendees to both learn from and contribute to the project work teams. The goal is to provide practical solutions for real-world challenges across all market sectors.

Date: Tuesday, October 23
Time: 15:00 – 16:30
Location: Edinburgh 1, Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa Edinburgh
Registration Cost: Complimentary; Pre-registration required

Learn More:

• Co-Located Events at Open Source Summit Europe

Can the OpenChain Project offer even more news this week? Of course. We are delighted to announce the public Beta of a new Web App for benchmarking OpenChain Conformance. The idea is to provide a quick, simple and attractive way for companies to check their status regarding meeting the OpenChain standard. This project is being managed by our good friends at Source Code Control.

We are seeking feedback on the current offering regarding:

1. Ease of use
2. If it helps solves friction around conformance
3. How complementary it is to our Conformance Web App

Ideally we will end up with a great thinking tool to support companies undertaking formal conformance.

“Source Code Control wanted to offer an  easy to use, interactive and engaging mechanism for people or organizations interested in learning more about the Software Supply Chain and OpenChain to benchmark their current position,” says Paul McAdam, Director, Source Code Control. “This quick self-assessment format helps to identify the gap in understanding and capability.”

“OpenChain Conformance is of vital importance to improving the quality of open source compliance,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “As our project matures we are collaborating with partners to support the process with better reference material and better tools. A quick benchmarking tool fits right into this concept. We are delighted to work with Source Code Control on this new beta…and on developing it into a finished work product for the project as a whole.”

Notes on this Beta release:

• Currently the URL clearly comes from the Source Code Control Typeform subscription. This will be replaced with a project address later in the beta.
• The “respond to” email address is Paul’s but will be replaced with a project address later in the beta.

Learn More:

• Check out the benchmarking Web App

Help Us Out:

• Provide comments, suggestions and corrections

Today the OpenChain Project closes off our ranges of educational case studies with two anonymous contributions via our Japan Work Group. These are available in both English and Japanese.

“Building out a collection of case studies has been one of the most frequent requests from our community,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “We started with general open source case studies three months ago and for the past month we have been focusing on a series of releases around education. Our two anonymous case studies today close off this branch and provide a great conclusion to our work. Watch this space for more topics in the near future.”

These case studies are made available under the CC-BY-ND 4.0 license.

Learn More:

• Get the case study in PDF format
• Get the case study in PPTX format

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

The OpenChain Project will be featured in a Flexera webinar on the 25th of October at 11am Central Time. This event will serve as a great starting point for any organization seeking to adopt the key processes of a quality open source compliance program. The webinar will be hosted by Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager, and Jeff Luszcz, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera.

Points covered:

• Overview of the software supply chain; why is OpenChain necessary
• What is OpenChain and how does it address software supply chain issues
• How is OpenChain being deployed in the market right now

Learn More

• Open Source Central: The Linux Foundation’s OpenChain Project Explained

The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce that our friends at TÜV SÜD Japan have launched an OpenChain Certification Program. This is the first such program and foreshadows a series of announcements over the coming months.

The core of the OpenChain Project is our specification (standard) and our simple, free process for self-certification. Commercial activities adjacent to this by TÜV SÜD Japan and other organizations are complementary, providing an avenue for verified/audited certification for entities that want to have this level of assurance.

Learn More:

• TÜV SÜD Japan (Japanese)
• PR Times (Japanese)

“One of the key requirements for any quality open source program is to comply with the requirements of open source licences. Companies, especially new entrants to the field, often have a lot of questions about what processes to follow, the methods of compliance and what challenges may be involved. The OpenChain Project by the Linux Foundation is a standard developed to solve and answer all these questions. To understand more about the OpenChain Project, Ankita K.S. from the EFY Group had a chat with Shane Coughlan, OpenChain general manager at the Linux Foundation.”

Learn More:

• OpenChain Project: Managing Open Source Compliance Across the Software Supply Chain

About Open Source For You

Open Source For You is Asia’s leading IT publication focused on open source technologies. Launched in February 2003 (as Linux For You), the magazine aims to help techies avail the benefits of open source software and solutions.

The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce our fifth and final major company educational case study. This contribution comes from Fujitsu and is available in both English and Japanese.

“Five Japanese companies with a vision of building broader, stronger community engagement have contributed a great deal through recent educational case studies,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “This marks another inflection point in our steady march towards ensuring open source compliance in the supply chain is effective, measurable and efficient.”

This case study is made available under the CC-BY-ND 4.0 license.

Learn More:

• Get the case study in PDF format
• Get the case study in PPTX format
• Get the case study in ODP format

The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce our fourth educational case study. This contribution comes from Toyota and is available in both English and Japanese.

“Our goal with these case studies is to help companies of all sizes understand approaches to open source education approaches,” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “In a massive company like Toyota there are scale challenges that are as applicable to large multinationals in other sectors as they are to the automotive segment.”

This case study is made available under the CC-BY-ND 4.0 license.

Learn More:

• Get the case study in PDF format
• Get the case study in PPTX format
• Get the case study in ODP format

The OpenChain Project is delighted to announce our third educational case study. This contribution comes from Sony and is available in both English and Japanese.

“Our Japan Work Group is going from strength to strength” says Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “Sony has been a pivotal leader in both building out the community and driving productive discussion. This case study, as with our recent releases from Panasonic and Toshiba, provides a useful reference in both English and Japanese.”

This case study is made available under the CC-BY-ND 4.0 license.

Learn More:

• Get the case study in PDF format
• Get the case study in PPTX format
• Get the case study in ODP format