The average voter has probably never heard of software escrow, yet this flexible and cost-effective risk management tool is assuming a significant role in safeguarding the interests of voters - certainly in the US.
In the turbulent wake of the 2000 elections, characterised by multiple vote-tallying controversies, US legislators created the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), aimed at beefing up the administration of elections nationwide. The Bill, in particular, created minimum standards to be followed in specific arenas of administration, and made available funds to improve administrative capacities while replacing outmoded voting systems, such as the notorious chad-producing punch-card ballots, with more efficient and reliable alternatives.
Andrew Stekhoven, Managing Director of Escrow Europe (South Africa), a leading provider of active escrow services, says: "The process of implementing HAVA, enacted in October 2002, is ongoing. Much of the current effort centres on the certification of electronic voting systems (EVSs). In fact, 1 January 2006 was the deadline for voting system vendors to comply with new standards governing the machines` reliability. Suppliers have to demonstrate that their products are not only able to accurately record and count votes but also resistant to a variety of possible threats, including software bugs, hackers and malicious insiders.
"As part of the new standards framework," Stekhoven continues, "election authorities in several US states have adopted a risk management tool which has rapidly gained currency in the global information technology arena - software escrow. In simple terms, software escrow is an agreement between the supplier of a software program (or a software-controlled device) and the user, whereby an exact copy of the source (or machine-readable) program code is deposited with a third party for safekeeping until such time as certain previously specified conditions are met.
"These conditions could include the liquidation of the supplier company or some other circumstance that prevents the supplier from maintaining and/or supporting their software in the manner stipulated in the purchase contract. The escrow agent, as custodian of the source code, is then required to turn it over to the client, along with any other previously agreed-upon resources, so that the client is enabled to continue operating the programs and thus meet its business objectives and obligations.
"In the US election reform initiative, software escrow is being used by various states to compel EVS manufacturers to lodge their source code in escrow as a prerequisite for gaining certification as a voting system supplier.
"The benefits of escrow to the state, and ultimately to the US voter, are manifold," Stekhoven points out. "Firstly, state authorities are assured that a complete and operable version of the voting software is available for deployment should the vendor unexpectedly become incapable, for whatever reason, of supporting or maintaining its technology.
"Secondly, state election authorities enjoy the opportunity of scrutinising, should they see the need to do so, each and every line of program code embedded within any of the EVSs scheduled for use within their jurisdiction. This has the potential to make the electronic voting environment much more transparent and accountable than currently, and also to serve as a powerful deterrent to insiders bent on tampering with the inner workings of vote tallying programs."
Stekhoven concludes: "In business terms, software escrow increasingly is viewed as good and affordable means of assuring the continued availability of mission-critical software applications. Elegant in its simplicity, the software escrow concept is just as applicable when the `mission` is to safeguard the integrity of the devices that will help vote in the future leaders of the world`s most powerful nation."
Share
Editorial contacts