Google Summer of Code is a global program focused on introducing students to open source software development. Students work on a 3 month programming project with an open source organization during their break from university. Since its inception in 2005, the program has brought together almost 13,000 student participants from over 114 countries worldwide. Google … Read more
Open Technologies Alliance(GFOSS) became associate organization of Free Software Foundation Europe(FSFE). GFOSS – Open Technologies Alliance and FSFE collaborated in dozens of actions in recent years in order to promote the ideals of free software . Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives; and it is important that this technology empowers rather … Read more
By Gretchen Vogel, Kai Kupferschmidt In a third-floor conference room here overlooking the famous Potsdamer Platz, once bisected by the Berlin Wall, the future of academic publishing is being negotiated. The backdrop is fitting, because if the librarians and academic leaders at the table get their way, another major divide will soon fall: the … Read more
“For the first time, the overwhelming majority of scholarly literature is available gratis to anyone with an Internet connection.” The recent publication of an academic paper, published before peer review, has lasting implications for academic publishing and for the conduct of research. Himmelstein et al reported in Science that 99.3% of valid incoming requests for academic … Read more
Education systems around the world are changing at an ever-expanding rate, much quicker than it ever has before. Information can change on a day by day basis and the volumes of information our children are learning are becoming more challenging with every generation that passes. With this in mind, it’s important for education systems to … Read more
The German federal government adopted its first Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan (NAP) today. With the NAP, the federal government takes important steps to strengthen citizen participation. The 15 commitments in the NAP will provide new ways to increase transparency, open innovation and enhance the effectiveness of governments and administrations. The Working Group … Read more
Mozilla, the creators of the popular Firefox web browser, are launching a new program to counter fake news stories. Fabricated news, made to mislead or turn a profit, is a growing problem in online communities. The U.S. intelligence community assessed that Russia used social media to propagate misinformation campaigns throughout the 2016 presidential race. “Misinformation devalues the open … Read more
GFOSS – Open Technologies Alliance has become an Associate organization of the OW2 Consortium. OW2 is an independent, global, open-source software community. The mission of OW2 is to a) promote the development of open-source middleware, generic business applications, cloud computing platforms and b) foster a vibrant community and business ecosystem. OW2 developments follow a flexible, … Read more
Elections are key milestones for democratic engagement, and referendums such as the UK’s Brexit poll are innovative ways for citizens to be more directly involved in the decision-making process. But voting provides only a limited taste of the variety of ways citizen can participate in government. The real antidote to citizens’ feeling of disenfranchisement lies … Read more
The Copyright Reform that’s being discussed by the EU now, could crush certain type of startups when they reach the ripe age of three. “We know from entrepreneurs we spoke to that they would move their business outside of Europe if this law becomes a reality,” Lenard Koschwitz, Director of European Affairs at Allied for Startups, … Read more
