4. The Value of Apereo
The Apereo Foundation provides a framework for the development of open source software ‘by education for education’. Apereo provides a shared space for higher education institutions to identify objectives, connect with other institutions and work to secure the resources required for the realization of common solutions. A key aspect of this aggregation of effort is the reduction of friction associated with collaboration.
Common Licensing
Apereo reduces friction by providing a range of common licensing, community and technical services, together with a range of opportunities to collaborate and construct partnerships around common goals. Agreement around this flexible service and shared intellectual property framework reduces the necessity of negotiating point-to-point agreements between multiple institutions.
Services
The services Apereo offers are provided collectively because they would be less efficiently provided on an institution-by-institution basis. Apereo is at core an organization rooted in the principle of subsidiarity (1), performing only those tasks that cannot be more effectively provided at a more local level. This reduces overhead and encourages direct participation and contribution. Apereo...
- Manages inbound and outbound licensing, providing a neutral point from which to share contributed intellectual property. A shared licensing and intellectual property regime greatly facilitates the development and maintenance of trusted partnerships to undertake shared work.
- Provides community and technical infrastructure in the form of mailing lists, wikis, web sites, issue tracking systems, conferencing facilities etc. where appropriate.
- Maintains a series of metrics demonstrating the health of Apereo Software Communities.
- Provides financial management, including financial management for projects, software communities and communities of interest where required.
- Promotes projects, software communities and communities of interest through outreach activities.
- Hosts and manages an incubation process, where new projects can gain and share experience of sustainable software development and community building.
- Provides a series of physical and virtual spaces and events where higher education institutions and others can share experience, access the experience of others, and broker new initiatives.
The Foundation is a legal non-profit entity registered in the state of New Jersey. It is deliberately lightly staffed to provide key services in a cost-effective manner. The Foundation hires a small number of staff who work with individual and institutionally committed volunteers to work towards common goals identified by foundation and project governance bodies. These include a foundation-level Board of Directors, and bodies governing individual projects, software communities and communities of interest.
Apereo Values:
Section 1. Framing the Issues
Section 2. The Value of Open Source Software
Section 3. The Value of Open Source Software in Education
Section 4. The Value of Apereo
Section 5. Apereo Software Communities
Section 6. Incubation: Growing Sustainable Solutions for Education
Section 7. Regional and National Partnerships
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity
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Illustrations by Giulia Forsythe