Unmanned program launched

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. – A program launched Friday could attract companies interested in unmanned systems to South Mississippi. That's according to John Weathersby, executive director of the Open Source Software Institute. The institute, along with the military and Department of Homeland Security, launched a program that merges two technology trends: unmanned vehicle systems and open source software. The Open Source Unmanned Remote and Autonomous Vehicle Systems program is designed to drive innovation and reduce costs in part by utilized open source software. That's softare whose license agreement grants the user specific rights to access the human-readable source code and to modify and distribute the software without restriction or requirement to pay license fees. The research program is based at Camp Shelby and administered in conjunction with the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, DHS, Defense Acquisition University and non-government entities. Weathersby said economic development opportunities are very likely, especially with a UAS conference tailored specifically for the OSS community that's planned for fall 2014. "As a trade association, we look forward to working with Camp Shelby and inviting commercial entities down to visit and hopefully setting up shop throughout the South Mississippi Defense Corridor in support of this effort," Weathersby said. (Source: GCAC, 12/13/13)