Open source software adoption for safety-critical information systems design: the Thales case study

Abstract

Information Systems (IS) literature shows a huge interest for open source technologies
as well as from IT (Information Technology) strategies, business models or organization.
Nevertheless, research on the application of open source in safety-critical information
systems is particularly scant. By means of an exploratory study, this article describes the
reasons why Thales, a firm specialized in safety-critical fields (defense, aircraft industry
and security), adopted open source software technologies. From a theoretical perspective,
this articles relies on the technology, organization, environment (TOE) framework and
the literature on technology and innovation adoption. This research suggests a model of
barriers and motivations to open source software adoption for safety-critical information
systems design.