Transaction Description:
EAGER: MEASURING THE IMPACT AND DIFFUSION OF OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE INNOVATION ON CONTRIBUTOR AND PROJECT NETWORKS -OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE (OSS) IS DEVELOPED, MAINTAINED, AND EXTENDED THROUGH THE CONTRIBUTION OF INDEPENDENT DEVELOPERS AS WELL AS INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS FROM UNIVERSITIES, GOVERNMENT RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, BUSINESSES, AND NONPROFITS. MANY OSS PROJECTS ARE DEVELOPED IN FREE REPOSITORIES, AND THE INFORMATION EMBEDDED IN THESE REPOSITORIES - INCLUDING THE CODE, CONTRIBUTORS, AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY - IS PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. HOWEVER, THE EXTENT AND IMPACTS OF OSS ON THE ECONOMY AND INNOVATION ARE CURRENTLY UNKNOWN, AND THE CREATION AND USE OF OSS HIGHLIGHT AN ASPECT OF TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION AND FLOW NOT CAPTURED IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INDICATORS. THE GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO DISCOVER, COLLECT, AND USE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE NON-SURVEY DATA SOURCES ON OSS AND TO TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING METHODS TO MEASURE THE IMPACT AND DIFFUSION OF OSS INNOVATION. THE PROJECT WILL EVALUATE OSS THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF RIGOROUS, REPEATABLE, AND SCALABLE METHODS AND METRICS. THE OUTPUTS OF THIS EFFORT ? UNIQUE DATA SETS, CODE, AND THE RESULTING ANALYSES OF THE INTERACTIONS AMONG CONTRIBUTORS AND PROJECTS ? ADVANCE OUR NASCENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT OSS, INCLUDING THE PATTERNS AND DYNAMICS OF COLLABORATIONS, INFLUENTIAL ACTORS, PREVAILING TOPICS, AND DIFFUSION. DEVELOPED MEASURES WILL COMPLEMENT EXISTING INDICATORS ON PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS AND PATENTS. OUR FRAMEWORK COULD APPLY TO OTHER ASPECTS OF OPEN SCIENCE, SUCH AS SHARED DATA AVAILABLE IN PUBLIC REPOSITORIES. TO ADDRESS OUR CORE QUESTIONS, WE PROPOSE (I) TO CHARACTERIZE THE OSS ECOSYSTEM BY ANALYZING AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON OSS PROJECTS (CREATION AND USE), AND DEVELOPERS (INSTITUTIONS, SECTORS, AND COUNTRIES); (II) TO REPRESENT THE INTERACTIONS USING NETWORKS OF CONTRIBUTORS (THROUGH COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN DEVELOPERS) AND NETWORKS OF OSS PROJECTS (THROUGH REUSES ACROSS PROJECTS AND SHARED CONTRIBUTORS) AND TO ANALYZE THEIR STRUCTURAL FEATURES; (III) TO DEVELOP METHODS TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF PROJECTS AND DEVELOPERS USING NETWORK-BASED AND OSS-BASED MEASURES (E.G., DOWNLOADS); (IV) TO STUDY THE DIFFUSION OF OSS INNOVATION WITHIN AND ACROSS INSTITUTIONS, SECTORS AND COUNTRIES; AND (V) TO BRING FORWARD A UNIQUE AND NOVEL DATA PRODUCT COMBINING VARIOUS DATA SOURCES ON OSS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.
