Black Duck Software (News - Alert) recently announced the number of mobile open source software (OSS) projects have nearly doubled since 2010.
Analysis of the open source mobile project data revealed that the growth has been especially strong in new enterprise mobility projects which focus on strengthening security, encryption, cloud, mobile payments and database management.
"Black Duck metrics highlight momentum and opportunity in the market, both for open source software and for enterprise developers and organizations as well,” said Jay Lyman, Senior Analyst, 451 Research. “Just as we see in cloud computing, open source software is prominent in the mobile space where vibrant mobile operating systems, applications and communities require sufficient knowledge of codebases and proactive approach with policy for efficiency and innovation."
The surge in new projects can be attributed to the open source Android (News - Alert) platform. There has been an increase in Android shipments and the platform's installed base, fuelling interest in OSS platforms and galvanized community support for Android – all of which drive new project data.
Analysis of the platform trends of those OSS projects which specified a platform revealed that more than 70 percent of new mobile OSS projects are Android-based; iOS projects have gone up since 2011, but overall iOS share of new projects saw a 20-percent dip in the current year.
The other four percent of new project activity is taken up by the remaining platforms, and enterprise mobility accounts for nearly ten percent of new projects.
Some of the leading projects include payment applications that enhance security for mobile payments as well as QR codes scanners which make purchases via PayPal (News - Alert) easier for customers.
There is also a surge in demand for security applications, such as OATH.net, which use HOTP and TOTP algorithms to ensure two-factor authentication. Cloud applications such as Cumulus and an Android version of iCloud are also seeing a surge.
"The mobile industry and open source community have the undivided attention of enterprise development organizations,” said Peter Vescuso, Executive Vice President at Black Duck Software. “As mobile apps displace desktop applications and mobile devices displace laptops and desktops, the high-quality apps we've seen thus far will become more popular, undoubtedly bringing the level of OSS interest and use within enterprises to an all-time high."
There has also been a rise in database engines for mobile apps like TouchDB, and the device agnostic OpenMEAP, a HTML5 mobile enterprise application platform.
Edited by Braden Becker