James McGovern believes in open source software. And he believes in open source techniques, which his employer, The Hartford insurance company, is testing to develop a custom, industry-specific application.

McGovern, chief IT security architect for the property and casualty insurance group, isn't sharing all the details yet on the project, which hasn't started development. But the company plans to sponsor an insurance application project that will be shared across several companies. It's not exactly open source, since participation will be restricted, but it capitalizes on the open source model of the economies of shared development, including group input into the most valuable features. "If I can share the expense of development without giving away proprietary advantage," says McGovern, "then I have a competitive advantage."

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