Core Infrastructure Initiative Adds New Members to Fund and Support Critical Open Source Projects

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Aug 20, 2014) - LINUXCON & CLOUDOPEN -- The Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII), a project hosted by The Linux Foundation that enables technology companies, industry stakeholders and esteemed developers to collaboratively identify and fund open source projects that are in need of assistance, today announced new backers. Hitachi and NEC will work with existing CII members to collaboratively identify and support the critical infrastructure projects most in need of support.

These newest backers join other members of CII who include Adobe, Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, Cisco, Dell, Facebook, Fujitsu, Google, HP, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, Rackspace, salesforce.com and VMware. Comments from the newest members are included below.

"Hitachi and NEC are prioritizing support for some of the world's most important open source projects and will help the industry move from crisis-driven responses to a measured, proactive approach to funding projects that are most in need," said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. "Open source projects are the foundation for most of today's global infrastructure and need be supported by the companies and users who rely on them."

CII provides funding for fellowships for key developers to work full-time on open source projects, security audits, computing and test infrastructure, travel, face-to-face meeting coordination and other support. The Steering Committee, comprised of members of the Initiative, and the Advisory Board of industry stakeholders and esteemed developers, are tasked with identifying underfunded open source projects that support critical infrastructure and administering the funds through The Linux Foundation.

Projects currently receiving funding include Network Time Protocol, Open Crypto Audit Project (OCAP), OpenSSH and OpenSSL. Other projects are under consideration and will be funded as assessments are completed and budget allows.

The Advisory Board includes Linux kernel developer Alan Cox; security and cryptography researcher Matthew Green; Radio Free Asia's Open Technology Fund Director Dan Meredith; professor of law and legal history at Columbia University and founder of Software Freedom Law Center Eben Moglen; Fellow at the Berckman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School Bruce Schneier; Program Officer for Human Rights for MacArthur Foundation; Eric Spears; and Linux kernel developer Ted Ts'o.