Author Archive for Sander van der Waal

An open approach for the benefit of our ICT education

Published by Sander van der Waal on January 21, 2012 in Community. 0 Comments

Last week, Education Secretary Michael Gove announced that the current ICT curriculum, characterised as ‘demotivating and dull’, is to be replaced by a computer science programme. Gove said that the Programme of Study will be withdrawn and teachers are given freedom over what and how to teach.

Later that week, the Royal Society published the study on Computing in Schools, named ‘Shut down or restart?’. The main recommendation of the study is to restructure ICT education and make a clear distinction between these three main components of ICT education:

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Why collaboration is worth the investment

Published by Sander van der Waal on December 27, 2011 in Community. 0 Comments

Collaborating in an open source project might take time, but is worth the investment. Especially when bootstrapping a project and with a small community, the overhead projects need to put into the collaboration can be significant. But the rewards can make this worth the effort, even when having as few as 3 collaborators. At TransferSummit, I presented on this topic and the primary slide from that presentation was this one:

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Reusable widgets demonstrating the potential of open innovation

Published by Sander van der Waal on November 28, 2011 in Community. 0 Comments

OSS Watch is currently leading a small development project called Rave in Context. This project is developing templates to easily write W3C widgets that encompass best-practices in ussability and accessibility out-of-the-box. It is not feasible or useful for small projects like this one to try and develop a completely new community around the software. Instead, we looked for an existing project that would be a good home for the software and found that in Apache Wookie (Incubating). However, the project is also closely related to Apache Rave (also Incubating), because this project also supports the W3C widget standard and a few people involved with that project have shown an interest in what we’re doing.

Because of the close connection with these Apache projects and for the benefit of wider uptake of our project code, we thought it would be good to present about the Rave in Context project at ApacheCon 2011 in Vancouver. I was happy to be allocated a session in the ‘Fast Feather’ track, a track that focuses on latest developments and upcoming technologies.

The widgets that are being developed by the Rave in Context project will conform to the W3C widget standard. This allows for deployment in a W3C widget container such as Wookie. However, there are many other standards in the widgets and gadgets space. Another popular one is the OpenSocial gadget specification, which defines not only social concepts but also the packaging and specification of the gadgets themselves. Because of the big overlap between W3C widgets and OpenSocial gadgets, it has been relatively easy for the Rave project, that started of as an OpenSocial container, to also support W3C widgets. This makes the Rave in Context widget templates useful for that community as well.

During the presentation and some of the other talks and meetups at ApacheCon, it became clear that there is a lot of interest in the gadget/widget portal functionality that is being developed by the Rave project. Also the gadgets and widgets that are being developed may themselves be interesting to the wider community. We talked to a few people, for example, that have worked with portals based on the Java portlet specification, and are finding that this is not a specification that is suiting their needs anymore. They are looking to use a different technology for their front-end portals and the Rave portal is an option they’re considering. Also a project like Sakai OAE (f.k.a. Sakai 3) are working with gadgets and gadget repositories on their front-end. They are currently not working with a gadget standard, but moving to OpenSocial and using Rave as their front-end is something they are interested in.

The code of all the gadgets and widgets are currently scattered around the different projects, and this is not usually the best place for this kind of code. Hence, there is a clear need for a separate project to host the gadgets and widgets created, and this can also include the widgets created as part of the Rave in Context project. We will set one up at the Apache Extras site, which is a code hosting site specifically for Apache-related projects. This will enable anyone to reuse widgets and/or gadgets generated in any of the projects, thereby delivering on the promise of open innovation in software.

Manage your research data safely with open source

Published by Sander van der Waal on October 28, 2011 in Research Data Management. 1 Comment

The amount of data that is being generated is still rapidly increasing and both the commercial and the academic sector are working to tackle new challenges that arise from it. These are exciting times for open source projects like Apache Hadoop, a framework that allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers. Many big IT players like Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and Amazon use Hadoop in their offerings.

Academic researchers also continue to generate bigger and bigger data sets. This provides not only challenges for processing the data (something Hadoop can help with), but these data sets need to be managed as well. This involved aspects like version management and longer term curation of the data, to make sure they are and will remain available, just as the scientific publications that were created based on the data.

One exciting project that OSS Watch is currently involved with is DataFlow. This is a project that is tackling the issue of research data management in two stages.

Firstly, there is a software tool called DataStage. In a way this tool works similar to the popular tool Dropbox: researchers can save files to a dedicated location on a network drive, which means it will be stored on a departmental server and the file will be version-managed automatically. As a result, a new version will be created whenever a file is changed and saved onto the drive, which means that the researcher can always go back to a previous version of the file if necessary.

The second stage of data curation is when a file or a set of files is finally used for a publication and the researcher wants the data set to be available for other researchers, or wants to include a DOI reference to the data set. The researcher can then copy the file over to DataBank, an institution-level research data repository.

Both DataStage and DataBank are open source software projects so we welcome potential users and developers to try it out. The projects carry the permissive open source licence MIT. This makes it possible for commercial companies to include the software in a proprietary offering.

Many universities are looking for a solution for Research Data Management and we believe that the software DataFlow is developing are very useful tools that fulfil that requirement. Join us on our mailing list and find out more about this project!

Meritocratic project governance in action

Published by Sander van der Waal on October 19, 2011 in Community. 0 Comments

At OSS Watch we work with projects that develop software within and for academia. When these projects use the open development approach, they have the opportunity to engage third parties with the project and receive contributions from people with an interest in the project. In order to be able to do that, the project needs a governance model that makes it clear for external parties how to engage with the project. An example of how such a governance model would work in practice is the Cocoon project at the Apache Software Foundation (ASF), which is a classic example of how a meritocratic governance model works in practice. In this post, I will highlight bits of a case study that Andrew Savory has written about the project. It will demonstrate how the project governance at the ASF is organised and can help you when considering a governance model for your own project.

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Cross-sector engagement at TransferSummit

Published by Sander van der Waal on September 13, 2011 in Community. 0 Comments

Many inspiring conversations made the TransferSummit conference, last week at Keble College in Oxford, a great success. The conference was chaired by OSS Watch alumnus Ross Gardler, now OpenDirective, who was responsible for putting together a excellent programme with a diverse range of sessions on open innovation in software. OSS Watch is a Silver Sponsor of TransferSummit and co-organised the conference. The programme was carefully crafted and the sessions followed on each other very nicely, telling the story of how open innovation can be successfully applied to software. We set up virtual tracks on specific topics to help delegates find their way through all the sessions. Still, an often-heard comment was that attendees found it difficult to choose which session out of the three tracks to attend, because so many appealed to them.

An addition to the overall programme this year was the Open Gadget Playtme. This showcased a number of open source hardware, or innovative hardware running open source software. For example, a RepRap printer was shown in action, an open source 3D printer that can print many of its own parts. Another example is the Rasperry Pi project, who aim to develop an ARM Linux box for $25, specifically aimed for use in teaching computer programming to children. This led to many interesting discussions about other applications of this technology, for example as part of a media streaming network.

Sessions were being presented by experts from diverse backgrounds, ranging from the academic sector, the business sector, and the public sector. This led to many interesting conversations about sharing experiences and the challenges in open innovation.

One compelling example of the kind of cross-sector discussions and engagement that TransferSummit facilitated was found in a session about the Apache Rave (Incubating) project . Matt Franklink of Mitre, with help from Ate Douma of Hippo, gave an presentation on how the project came about as a result of an initiative from six organisations, combining three code bases. In the audience was John Pybus of Oxford’s OeRC, who are working on the Bamboo project, an international collaborative research project that is developing tools and infrastructure for humanities researchers. As part of that project they are developing a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) platform, and they are already working together with one of the project partners on the Rave project. However, there is a compelling argument to move from reusing their isolated code base towards using and engaging with the Rave project. That would enable them to benefit from the programming efforts put in by all organisations involved. For Bamboo, it is important to know that they can build on a code base that will be sufficiently mature and supports the main features they need to build on. For Rave, it is an excellent opportunity to have another academic partner be involved with the project and with Bamboo’s input they can support a wider range of use cases.

This conversation and many others started at TransferSummit will hopefully lead to interesting new fruitful collaborations. OSS Watch will continue to play a facilitating role to connect people and projects relevant to the Higher Education sector to help foster open innovation. Do let us know about inspiring conversations you had at TransferSummit in the comments.

Exciting times for OSS Watch

Published by Sander van der Waal on June 28, 2011 in Community. 2 Comments

A page has been turned in the history of OSS Watch. After four years of strong guidance and excellent leadership, Ross Gardler has left OSS Watch to create a spin-out named OpenDirective with another great OSS Watch alumnus, Steve Lee. Ross has handed an OSS Watch over to me that is in very good health. With clear vision Ross has transformed OSS Watch into a service that is well-equipped to serve the current UK academic sector. I look forward to working with our excellent team to continue our services following on from the successful direction Ross has taken us.
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Lower the barriers to entry

Published by Sander van der Waal on January 25, 2011 in Community, Development and Discussion. 1 Comment

Getting new users actively involved in your open source project is one of the most important aspects of community development. A healthy open source project welcomes new contributors of all kinds and makes it easy for them to contribute. Prospective contributors feel welcome and are guided towards their first contribution, whatever their skills are. My OSS Watch colleague Steve Lee pointed out the website of LibreOffice; they managed to do this very well.

Care for your users

It’s very unlikely that any new contributor to the project will not have used the software before starting to contribute. Getting people to contribute therefore starts with helping your users. LibreOffice has a lot of channels to assist users in getting started and getting the most out of the software, ranging from mailing lists to IRC channels, FAQ and documentation. Having a dedicated and clearly marked ‘Get Help’ section on your website will help new users to get going and feel welcome.

It’s not all about code

As we’ve discussed before, contributing to an open source project is about much more than just writing code. Make sure you highlight all the different ways in which your users can get involved in your project. LibreOffice provides a nice example of how to do this. All of their documentation carry a Creative Commons licence, so don’t be afraid to copy from their pages, as long as you make sure you acknowledge them and stick a compatible CC licence on your documentation as well.

Lower the barriers to entry

So let’s say you would like to get more developers on your project (and you should!). It can be quite difficult for developers to know what they can do to help out. Having that clearly marked out is therefore important. A first code contribution is usually an easy hack like removing dead code or adding a unit test. Some people even argue that you should leave some of those easy hacks in, just to tempt potential contributors to fix it! If you can, list the easy hacks on your wiki, like the LibreOffice project has done.

But my project is really small!

Especially when your project is small, it’s important to involve your users and get more contributors. You may not have all the channels (like mailling lists and forums and IRC and FAQs) available from the start, but you can improve this gradually. For example, if your project is hosted on GoogleCode or SourceForge, it is really easy to set up a wiki so you have the framework in place. That is an easy win and will encourage users to contribute. And don’t feel afraid to ask people to contribute. If they are providing a good solution to a common problem on a mailing list, ask them if they’d put it on the wiki.

So check out the LibreOffice website for inspiration, and while you’re there, make sure you download their software. They launched their first release today!

Use OSS Watch’s resources within your organisation

Published by Sander van der Waal on December 1, 2010 in Business, Community, Development and Procurement. 0 Comments

Open source software projects can form a perfect example of a level playing field in software development. This is especially true for projects that have a meritocratic governance model in place, which by definition recognises all contributions to the project equally regardless of the person or organisation contributing. This is one of the reasons why we believe open source software projects are the prime example of open innovation in software.

It is therefore of no surprise that a lot of the materials that we write at OSS Watch are not just applicable to the Higher Education and Further Education sector in the UK (which form our remit as defined by our main funding body JISC). On the contrary, many of our documents discuss issues related to open source that apply just as well to the public sector at large, or to the commercial sector for that matter. I will highlight a few of the most relevant documents here.

Suppose you are in an organisation that’s developing software either for itself or collaboratively with other departments or other organisations. If you are considering the longer term sustainability of your software you might want to consider releasing your code under an open source licence. To better understand what software development in open source projects actually entails, our document that deals with getting to grips with the open development method could be of interest.

In many cases it is more beneficial to join an existing project community rather than trying to create your own. Joining an existing project means that you can tap into an existing body of knowledge and benefit from the development efforts of other, potentially myriad, developers. To better understand the mechanisms of contributing to an open source project some of more technical documents, like the one that explains what a software patch is, could be helpful. In any case you will have to make sure that all the provisions are in place to be able to contribute your code to the project.

If you are sure there is no existing project where your code will fit, you could consider starting your own open source project. In that is the case, it is important to consider what the right governance model is for your project. Do you want to go with the benevolent dictator model, which leaves all decision to one person or governing body, or do you want to create a level playing field by choosing a meritocratic governance model? Another important aspect in open source projects is ensuring the Intellectual Property is properly managed, which means that you should consider putting a Contributor Licence Agreement in place.

A completely different use case that we come across often is considering open source in a procurement process. Also then many issues are the same irrespective of whether your an academic institution, some other organisation in the public sector, or a commercial company. Our document on decision factors for open source software procurement could be useful in these circumstances. To get a more detailed and substantial view on existing open source projects, we have developed the Software Sustainability Maturity Model that guides you through the most important issues you should consider as an end-user of open source software.

To summarise, there are many aspects of open source software where our resources may be of use. All OSS Watch documents are available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 England & Wales licence, so you are free to reuse our content as long as you mention where you got it from and make any derivative work available under a similar licence. These are the documents that were mentioned in this post:

Case studies on open innovation from academic projects

Published by Sander van der Waal on October 25, 2010 in Business. 0 Comments

CERN is an organisation with a major track record in terms of openness, going back to the very start. The declaration from the 1953 CERN Convention states: “the results of its experimental and theoretical work shall be (…) made generally available”. Well known is the history of the world wide web and the role of Sir Tim Berners-Lee played, who was working at CERN at that time.

Last week I attended and presented at a workshop on ‘open source software with TT Perspective’, organised by the Technology Transfer Network at CERN. Given their long history of developing and using open source software, the TT network was interested in getting to know more about issues related to the commercial exploitation of open source software.

I presented two case studies of projects that originated from academia and managed to generate a lot of interest from the commercial sector. The first one is Apache Wookie (Incubating), a project OSS Watch is working closely with. Wookie started off as part of the TENCompetence project but the people at Bolton University realised that there was value in the widget server they developed as a separate project. By bringing the project to a foundation and working on a W3C standard it attracted the attention of many new potential partners, both from the academic and the commercial sector. Some of these have resulted in collaboration both on the project itself and in new collaborations with Europe.

The other example I presented was TexGen. By open sourcing this modelling tool, the university of Nottingham found many new collaborators. Commercial partners, for example from the aviation industry, were interested in this tool and in the expertise that Nottingham had developed. The open source project turned out to be a very good marketing tool and as a result new investments were made.

These examples show how open source software projects are an excellent example of bringing open innovation into practice. Cross-collaboration between the academic and commercial sector can thrive in these projects and the examples mentioned show that there is not a single best way of achieving this. Wookie and TexGen are quite different projects: Wookie is centred around widgets, which is a very generally applicable technology, and the project carries a permissive licence. TexGen on the other hand is operating in the niche market of modelling the geometry of textile structures and their licence is GPLv2. But in both cases the commercial sector was interested and willing to invest in the project. Being open and making their work generally available as an open source project was a key factor. This involves much more than just choosing a licence and dumping your code; by using the open development methodology projects can become a true platform for open innovation.