As the Open Source Observatory strives to support public administrations in their engagement with open source software (OSS), we are thrilled to announce the launch of a webinar series that will focus on the key steps in the journey to develop and/or reuse open source solutions. Join our events to hear practical advice and first-hand experiences from OSS experts and enthusiasts, and share your own experience with us. The webinars will present different perspectives and good practices regarding the sustainability of OSS communities, the key steps to ensure the successful collaboration between communities and public administrations, and how to adapt to OSS development culture in the public sector.
- OSOR event: Sustainability of OSS communities
18 May, from 9.30 to 12.30 CET
This interactive session is an opportunity to exchange views on what community sustainability means to you. We will discuss good practices as well as gather participants’ needs when it comes to OSS community health and sustainability. You will also have a chance to gather useful tips on community sustainability and discuss your experience with colleagues from public sector and open source enthusiasts. These will serve as input in updating OSOR’s Guidelines for creating sustainable open source communities.
Koos Steenbergen, Open Source Project Manager (Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands) and Johan Linåker, researcher (Lund University), will share with us their insights on the sustainability of public sector OSS communities and the good practices to overcome the challenges that may get in the way of the adoption of OSS by public administrations.
- Public administrations and OSS communities: the keys aspects for successful collaboration
9 June
Public administrations are not alone in their efforts to build sustainable and thriving OSS communities within the public sector. They can find support in already existing OSS communities by relying on their knowledge and experience for guidance. However, the process might be confusing and the first steps of establishing a successful collaboration may seem unclear. You will have the chance to learn more and share your own experience on the practical steps to build up a community, the common roadblocks that can hinder the success of the project and ways to avoid them. Additionally, the webinar will shed some light on how to best foster the collaboration between public administration and OSS communities thus creating a local environment that nurtures OSS adoption and development within the public sector.
- Public administrations adapting to the OSS development culture
29 June
In spite of the increasing number of public administrations publishing their OSS solutions as open source, fostering change in software development culture can be challenging. Public administration may face challenges to make the right licensing choices, learn how to work in an open environment, develop thorough software documentation, interact with other open source developers or even adapt their procurement requirements for public tenders.
We will discuss the experiences of public administrations that successfully changed their software development culture. You will also have the opportunity to hear from several speakers the good practices adopted by their public administration to start using and developing OSS and share useful tools that other organisations can leverage.
Participation is free of charge and open to all European public administrations working in an OSS project or looking to engage with OSS communities, as well as OSS enthusiasts. The presentations shown during the webinars, as well as summaries of the discussions will be available on OSOR.
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