Standardizing the Software Tag in Japan for Transparency of Development

In this paper, we describe the Software Tag which makes software development visible to software purchasers (users). A software tag is a partial set of empirical data about a software development project shared between the purchaser and developer. The purchaser uses the software tag to evaluate the software project, allowing them to recognize the quality level of the processes and products involved. With Japanese government support, we have successfully standardized the software tag named Software Tag Standard 1.0, and have developed various associated tools for tag data collection and visualization. For its initial evaluation, the software tag has been applied to several projects. This paper also presents various activities aimed at promoting the use of the software tag in Japan and the world.
PROFES 2010 : Product-Focused Software Process Improvement, June 21-23, 2010, Limerick, Ireland