The U.S. government is making a big shift towards open source, in part due to the cost savings (the government spends about $6 billion per year on software licenses) but also because it speeds up innovation and returns value to the tax payer.

Security has become one of the biggest IT challenges in the last 20 years. Regulations, threats, and the many different ways in which adversaries can gain access to sensitive network infrastructures, particularly within the Department of Defense (DoD), have spurred cyber priorities and strategic goals. These include defending the DoD information network, securing DoD data, and mitigating risks to DoD missions (Strategic Goal II) while being prepared to defend the U.S.