A Digital Coordination Platform for the Open Source Community

Practical example and current challenges

• The open source community (association of people who develop software under a specific open license) sees that their solutions are used by operators of commercial platforms. The open source community has a need for an independent and trusted coordination platform where developers can collaborate and share their insights and expertise with all interested parties. Such a platform enables the operation of consulting, mentoring, and teaching, and provides users with a data collection (library) as well as the option of money pooling (individual investors collectively save for specific purpose) and online payment services.
• Currently, there is no data infrastructure that can be used globally in this way while ensuring the highest standards of digitization and trustworthiness. Although the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) and the European Cloud (EOSC) aim at this, the open application of platform-economic mechanisms is not possible on these infrastructures. Only private providers of similar platform solutions are able to compete with these infrastructures. There is therefore a need for a way to conduct the experiments envisioned by the open source community in a secure and transparent environment.
• A digital platform can facilitate the coordination of projects to find solutions to global problems by combining collective insights with artificial intelligence and behavioral design. Projects can be identified for dedicated funding. Insights on failed projects can be made openly available to avoid replication of failures. The use case offers a solution that did not exist before and revolutionizes platform design. The proposed platform is an open experiment and therefore, rather than serving the interests of a platform operator, should serve the collective purposes of the community. This is an added value that other platforms lack and thus increases resilience.
• The Use Case provides a platform framework for open source and open innovation and extends these movements with the Poll (topics around realization and prospects for success) and the Fund (topics around funding). Open source developers and researchers thrive on their reputation and leverage it when providing teaching and consulting or quality products and services. This use case solution strengthens their reputation through better visibility, platform-internal ratings and crowdfunding.

What added value does the "Gaia-X project" offer?

• Gaia-X provides the necessary infrastructure, ensures secure data exchange and allows data to be made available without media breaks. Data and platform management takes place within the Gaia-X data infrastructure, with the development, growth and change of the platform envisaged as an organic process. Thus, users and non-users are involved in the design of the platform through polling. It is ensured that not only innovative and standard, but also socially relevant digital solutions are tested, applied and finally integrated on the platform.
• In the framework of the trusted and transparent Gaia-X infrastructure, behavioral science methods on the platform are applied similarly in a transparent, explainable, trusted, and responsible way.

Use Case Team

• Dr. Christina Timko – Ruhr-University Bochum