The Georgia Tech Open Source Program Office (OSPO) supports the development, maintenance, and sustainability of open-source research software through the establishment of an open source program office at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
OSPO at Georgia Tech
The OSPO at GT combines expertise from Georgia Tech’s Center for Scientific Software Engineering Center (CSSE), the Partnership for Advanced Computing Environment (PACE), and the Georgia Tech Library.
The OSPO supports a host of activities, including the development of community-driven guidelines for open source software projects on campus, support for faculty-driven open source software projects, workshops and training events targeting both GT students and faculty as well as Atlanta-area community members.
What is an OSPO?
An Open Source Program Office (OSPO) is an organizational construct, originally developed in technology companies, with dedicated staff who coordinate and support open source activity. When adapted to a university, an OSPO can offer:
- Training and individualized support for faculty, students, and staff who want to grow local software efforts into healthy open source projects,
- Advice on how best to contribute to existing projects,
- Documentation of the value of open source work and
- Facilitation of relationships with other organizational units like technology transfer, research computing, or the library.
We deeply appreciate and acknowledge funding from Sloan Foundation to establish this OSPO.