Open Source for America Welcomes Lucid Imagination as Its Latest Member in Advocating Open Source in the U.S. Federal Government


SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwire - July 22, 2009) - Lucid Imagination, a commercial company dedicated to supporting open source Apache Lucene and Apache Solr search technologies, today announced that it has joined Open Source for America, a broad cross-section of more than 50 companies, academic institutions, communities, related groups and individuals that serve as a unified voice for the promotion of open source in the U.S. Federal government sector. Open Source for America strives to effect change in government to encourage broader support of open source technologies and the open source development community.

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"We've received great response from companies, organizations and individuals interested in joining together to advocate for greater use of open source software in the U.S. federal government," said David Thomas, principal at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti and spokesman for the Open Source for America campaign. "We are very pleased to welcome Lucid Imagination in joining our cause and look forward to their active involvement in articulating the true value open source delivers to the U.S. government."

Lucene/Solr-based search has become one of the fastest-growing segments in the enterprise search market over the past three years, with over 4,000 organizations -- commercial as well as government and educational institutions are already using the open source software for some of the industry's most intensive search needs. Recently, the company received a strategic investment from In-Q-Tel (IQT), the independent strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the mission of the CIA and the broader U.S. Intelligence Community. Through the IQT strategic investment, Lucid Imagination will support the United States Intelligence Community, made up of 18 organizations including the Central Intelligence Agency, by providing advanced access to Lucene and Solr search solutions.

"We are excited to join this effort to promote the use of open source technologies within the U.S. Federal government," said Eric Gries, CEO of Lucid Imagination. "Several government agencies such as FDA, DOJ, The Library of Congress and the Smithsonian already are using Apache Lucene/Solr. We see significant potential for much broader adoption of open source technologies across the sector."

As a member of Open Source for America, Lucid Imagination has pledged to support the organization's mission and its founding principles. This includes the belief that the U.S. Federal government can and should become more transparent, participatory, secure and efficient by leveraging the advantages of open source software; the open source community can drive collaborative innovation for government; and the decision to use software should be driven solely by the requirements of the user.

To learn more about Open Source for America, please visit http://opensourceforamerica.org

About Open Source for America:

Open Source for America is a coalition of industry leaders, associations, non-government groups and academic/research institutions organized to serve as a centralized advocate, to encourage broader U.S. Federal Government support of and participation in Free and Open Source projects and technologies. Membership in Open Source for America is open to any individual or entity signing the campaign's mission pledge. You can also follow Open Source for America on Twitter at https://twitter.com/OpenSourceGov.

About Lucid Imagination

Lucid Imagination is a commercial company dedicated to Apache Lucene technology. The company provides free certified distributions, commercial-grade support, training, high-level consulting and value-added software for Lucene and Solr. Lucid Imagination's goal is to serve as a central resource for the entire Lucene community and make them more productive. Lucid Imagination is a privately held venture-funded company. The investors include Granite Ventures, Walden International and In-Q-Tel. To learn more visit www.lucidimagination.com

Contact Information: Contact: Anil Uberoi Lucid Imagination 650-353-4057 x104 anil@lucidimagination.com Andrew Karl Lois Paul & Partners 781-782-5782 andrew_karl@lpp.com