OSOR.eu
Encyclopedia
The Open Source Observatory and Repository (OSOR) is a website launched by the European Commission
under the IDABC programme, to support the distribution and reuse of software developed by or for public sector
administrations across Europe, connecting EU
services and Member States.
OSOR.eu aims to support the collaborative development of OSS applications and solutions, in particular cross-border collaboration and exchange of knowledge or software. Project owners are invited to open projects on the OSOR.eu platform and to license their content or source code
under a recognised Open Source license, giving to a larger public the possibility to test and use their solutions, to provide their feedback
and to contribute to quality. Re-use and collaboration should produce positive outcomes regarding the number of users, interoperability
, sustainability
due to the size and the motivation of the supporting developer’s community. OSOR.eu will also promote and link to the work of national repositories so as to encourage the emergence of pan-European federation of Open Source Software repositories.
As from September 2006 (kick-off) the delivery of the project is managed by a consortium led by UNISYS (Belgium), including also the United Nations University MERIT (Netherlands), the URJC University Rey Juan Carlos (Spain) and Gopa-Cartermill (Belgium).
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
under the IDABC programme, to support the distribution and reuse of software developed by or for public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
administrations across Europe, connecting EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
services and Member States.
Mission statement
The OSOR.eu platform, and in particular the OSOR.eu Repository and the OSOR.eu Forge are aimed to support and encourage the re-use of publicly-financed Open Source Software developments (OSS or FLOSS for "Free, Libre & Open Source Software") that are of particular use for public administrations in Europe.OSOR.eu aims to support the collaborative development of OSS applications and solutions, in particular cross-border collaboration and exchange of knowledge or software. Project owners are invited to open projects on the OSOR.eu platform and to license their content or source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
under a recognised Open Source license, giving to a larger public the possibility to test and use their solutions, to provide their feedback
Feedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
and to contribute to quality. Re-use and collaboration should produce positive outcomes regarding the number of users, interoperability
Interoperability
Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together . The term is often used in a technical systems engineering sense, or alternatively in a broad sense, taking into account social, political, and organizational factors that impact system to...
, sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
due to the size and the motivation of the supporting developer’s community. OSOR.eu will also promote and link to the work of national repositories so as to encourage the emergence of pan-European federation of Open Source Software repositories.
Services
The following services are available on the OSOR.eu site:- A central pan-European information platform on OSS which includes news, events, case studiesCase studyA case study is an intensive analysis of an individual unit stressing developmental factors in relation to context. The case study is common in social sciences and life sciences. Case studies may be descriptive or explanatory. The latter type is used to explore causation in order to find...
and newsletterNewsletterA newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...
s about on-going initiatives, projects, new applications and developments in European Members States and across the world, as well as advices/guidelines around the use of OSS and the OSOR;
- A repository and registry which provide visibility to European OS projects and initiatives in public administrations, allowing users to upload and download, search and retrieve software and documentation. It will facilitate mutual access to existing projects through a dedicated taxonomyTaxonomyTaxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
and therefore multiply chances to develop exchanges, re-usability and community building across borders;
- A collaborative cross-border development environment providing technical, organisational and legal support. It will enable collaborative development and share/exchange of experience and software by providing facilities for the collaborative creation of content - including a "forge", discussion forums, blogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s...
Bodies behind the project
The OSOR project is financed by the European Commission, managed by the IDABC unit (DG Digit), and supported by the Member States national, regional and local administrations.As from September 2006 (kick-off) the delivery of the project is managed by a consortium led by UNISYS (Belgium), including also the United Nations University MERIT (Netherlands), the URJC University Rey Juan Carlos (Spain) and Gopa-Cartermill (Belgium).