Florida ITCEs and SEI bid to improve software quality

The Florida Information Technology Centers of Excellence are working with Carnegie Mellon's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) to do research in software stability, testing and release management. The Florida IT Centers of Excellence, a not-for-profit organization, comprise a number of Florida universities, government agencies and companies such as Raymond James Financial, Disney, Motorola and others.

The research effort, called the IT Integrity Project, has been spearheaded by the research groups to set basic security standards for software, as well as tie research efforts more closely to industry needs, said Gene Fredrikesen, CISO of Raymond James Financial.

"I'd love to see greater cooperation," he noted, but he acknowledged the road would be rocky.

"It wouldn't be the first time in my career that I'd be accused of jousting at windmills," he noted.