Open source license management systems Protecode is working alongside the British National Health Service (NHS) and Source Code Control Limited to launch the Code4Health competition, aimed at identifying quality software projects within the NHS’s Code4Health Custodian model.

The competition is open to any participant that is developing open source solutions for the healthcare community.The competition on managing compliance and vulnerabilities in open source software (OSS) is intended to highlight governance and security weaknesses that should be avoided by Code4Health collaborators as they develop and contribute their software to the community. For each submitted project, a report on the quality of coding practices that simplify the adoption and clearing of the software by Code4Health will be created and a score assigned. Judging will be based on multiple factors, including copyright, security, structure, and compliance.

“Code4Health is a programme managed by NHS to stimulate and encourage the development of new clinically led open technology solutions to deliver safe, high quality, efficient, and compassionate care,” said Peter Coates, programme head of NHS Code4Health. “We have a Custodian model to assure open source applications for this initiative, part of which is governance of the application code to minimize risks, such as security and licensing obligations.”

The competition is open to any participant that is developing open source solutions for the healthcare community. The winner will be announced in fall of this year.