The software search engine that facilitates intelligence interoperability throughout the Department of Defense has been contributed to the open source community by Lockheed Martin. The Corporation has donated all copyright for the Distributed Data Framework (DDF) source code to the Codice Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to support government-based open source projects.

"The ability to provide an open source data sharing and interoperability tool directly to our international partners is something we are happy to support," said Rich Radcliffe, Director of US BICES and International Intelligence Programs at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence.

"This new delivery mechanism for DDF significantly reduces the barrier to entry for our international partners willing to share data and collaborate between systems."

Previously obtainable by only the defense community, the DDF is the core component of the software infrastructure that enables users of the DoD's Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) to share time-sensitive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data.

Developed by a Lockheed Martin internal research and development team and matured under contract with the DCGS Multi-Service Execution Team Office (DMO), the DDF provides U.S. partners and other users with improved access to DCGS data without having to purchase commercial software licenses.

"With the support of OSD, we're able to provide this source code to the broader community," said Jim Quinn, vice president of C4ISR Systems for Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Solutions.

"The DDF offers others a solid foundation upon which to build new capabilities, creates opportunities to share information, and ultimately lowers the cost of development and sustainment."

Providing unencumbered access to the DDF source code helps reduce future integration and lifecycle costs and ushers in a new level of opportunity for international interoperability.

The DDF can query multiple computer systems, access the requested data, authenticate the user, and then provide the user with only the information they are authorized to receive. More information about DDF and its source code can find found at the Codice Foundation website.

"Now anyone can use DDF to search separate systems securely and at scale with the results presented in a meaningful and useful way," said Lt. Colonel Mark Murray, Director of the DMO, where the DIB is managed.