Open Source

Fast access to knowledge and technology is a key factor in gaining an edge in competitive new markets. The European Union, its national governments and the European Commission view Open Source Software (OSS) as the key to developing an independent software industry in Europe. With open source software a computer programme’s source code is free of charge and openly available, making it possible for independent programmes to work cooperatively on software and to develop additional applications.

Fraunhofer FOKUS have been there from the start with our “open technology playgrounds” concept, providing science and industry with open cost-based access to the newest technologies.

Our declared goal is to increase open source’s use and acceptance. Fraunhofer FOKUS concentrates on the development of quality standards for open source software and thus particularly on the technical, semantic and organisational interoperability between singular open source software components and between open source and closed source software.

National and International Call to Action

An EU Commission study shows that Europe can be viewed as the leading region contributing to the development of open source software. With the support of the European Services Directive to promote cross-border trade of services, this topic is becoming particularly important, especially in the public sector.

The large share of open source used in the introduction of administrative procedures further increases the pressure on proprietary software providers to look into open source software to maintain their competitive edge in the future.

Approximately 80% of the public sector’s tasks in this field are associated with regional and national small and middle sized businesses. From the public institutions’ viewpoint using open source software can sometimes lead to considerable savings in licensing and operating costs. IT businesses testify to increased product innovation due to the use of open source software. Regional and national added value is therefore increased where open source is used.

Fraunhofer FOKUS’ Technology Playgrounds

Fraunhofer FOKUS is already fostering intensive cooperation between users and providers in telecommunications and the public sector based on existing development and test environments such as the FOKUS Open IMS Playground, the FOKUS eGovernment lab and the Berlios open source platform. All of Fraunhofer FOKUS’ SOA lab partners benefit from this.

Fraunhofer FOKUS sees open source as a model for a forward looking and intelligent IT approach. For this reason with our Open Source IMS Core we offer an IMS testbed core to download and self install.