Academic Open Source Program Offices in France

Open Source Program Offices académiques en France

Violaine Louvet (), Lucie Albaret () and Alexis Arnaud ()
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Violaine Louvet: LJK - Laboratoire Jean Kuntzmann - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes
Lucie Albaret: UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes
Alexis Arnaud: GRICAD - Grenoble Alpes Recherche-Infrastructure de CAlcul intensif et de Données - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes

Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: Université Grenoble Alpes inaugurated France's first academic Open Source Program Office (OSPO) in September 2025. This event provided the opportunity to organize a satellite workshop whose objective was to initiate reflections to define a framework for future academic OSPOs at the national level. The main points emerging from these reflections are first that OSPOs should be positioned within research divisions of institutions, address all disciplines, and support both open source practices (for the dissemination of free software) and inner source practices (for internal development or non-free software dissemination). Essential competencies include legal, technical, documentary and community management expertise. The composition of the OSPO, beyond a permanent team, should rely on disciplinary representatives. OSPOs should include services aimed at facilitating open source development: helpdesk support (single point of contact), training, animation, cataloging, legal assistance, and connection to central services, particularly technology transfer offices. National coordination appears necessary alongside institutional investments, to articulate initiatives and to act on certain points such as forge sovereignty, recognition in careers of software developments and contributions. From this perspective, it is necessary to find a balance between national policy and institutional initiatives, while building collaborative networks at national and international scales.

Keywords: free software; logiciel libre; OSPO; open source (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03-16
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05554225v1
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Published in Université Grenoble Alpes. 2026

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