Open Source Innovation in Universities

On March 24th, OSPO++ organized an in-person event at Trinity College Dublin to discuss emerging trends relating to open source in Open Science, Innovation, and Knowledge Transfer. The event, held in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, and Open Ireland Network, brought together experts from universities and public research institutions from around the world.

The event highlighted the increasing importance of open source software (OSS) in today's software industry, as 98% of the world's software now contains open source code. It focused on the role of OSS in the Open Science movement and explored how universities and research institutions should manage the rapid increase in the use and creation of OSS. The discussions also touched upon the management of Open Science, Innovation, Knowledge Transfer, Intellectual Property Rights, and the opportunities now emerging around OSS in governments and the corporate world.

Speakers included Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity College Dublin; Sachiko Muto, Chair of OpenForum Europe & Senior Researcher at RISE; Clare Dillon, Co-founder of Open Ireland Network; Sayeed Choudhury, Director of Open Source Programs Office at Carnegie Mellon Libraries; and Brad Topol, Director of Open Technologies at IBM. Our own colleagues John Whelan and Aoife Tierney also particpated as panellists. They covered a range of topics, from global trends in OSS, OSS in Open Science, commercial open source, OSS licensing practices, and measuring innovation in the age of open source. The event concluded with breakout workshops focused on various aspects of OSS, including licensing, security, education, skills, and sustainability.