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Open Source Activities

This section of the OSBOK describes common activities performed by staff involved in the consumption or contribution of open source software. Where possible, the OSBOK identifies the role performing this activity.

The Activities​

For easy navigation, the activities are broken down by the 5 levels of the Maturity Model.

Level 1: Ad-Hoc Usage​

Level 2: Compliance​

Compliant Open Source Consumption

Using open source within regulated organisations must be done in accordance with the policies and procedures in place to control risks and adhere to regulation. In this article we will look at:

Software Inventory

Software inventory is a precondition to most of the activities involved in OSMM level 2. The first step to licence compliance or supply chain security is to understand what software is in your estate.

License Compliance Management

There are several key points that a large enterprise should consider to ensure compliance with open-source license obligations:

Open Source Consumption Training

This guide is intended to help OSPOs of all maturity levels build an open source training course that is created with purpose to deliver impact. Whether your OSPO recently launched or is looking into re-doing the firms open source training, this guide will provide ideas and content that can be implemented to a comprehensive open source training course.

Level 3: Contribution​

Making The Case For Contribution

Organisational change can be very hard to achieve since organisations are naturally protective of themselves and the status quo. Setting up an OSPO and beginning an open source journey will seem like a risky and dangerous proposition for many parts of an organisation.

Ensuring Open Source Compliance For Contribution

Contributing to an open source project from within a regulated firm is likely to contravene one or more policies. Staff who contribute to open source as part of their jobs are likely to be in breach of their terms of employment or likely to get disciplined. For this reason, in order to enable open source contribution, new policy needs to be written which creates space within the compliance landscape.

Open Source Contribution Training

It is generally preferable if an Open Source Contribution Policy can be enforced via tooling (so called policy as code). However, often policy will refer to behaviours and expectations of staff which cannot be controlled through systems. In these cases, training courses will be needed to help promote desired behaviours.

Surveillance Processes

This article looks at the best practices around surveillance (of communications) to enable open source contribution.

Publication Processes

This article looks at the best practices around publication (of code) to enable open source contribution.

Fostering Community Engagement

Within the Open Source Ecosystem, millions of projects exist and some of the projects are duplicate efforts. The open source community is vast and sometimes very hard to reach.

Managing Open Source Talent

Managing talent in financial institutions is crucial because the quality, motivation, and expertise of their workforce directly influence the institutions' ability to innovate, maintain a competitive edge, comply with regulatory requirements, and ultimately drive financial performance and growth.

Level 4: Hosting​

Why Open-Source a Firm Project?

Just as there are many reasons to contribute to open source projects, it is the same when it comes to a financial institution deciding to open-source. However, the reasoning behind might be different.

Maintaining An Open Source Project

We currently live in a world where OSS is everywhere, consumable, helpful and can make a positive or negative outcome on the programs we rely on. Strong open source projects can lessen technical debt, increase reusability and discoverability. For the purpose of this guide, we will cover some key principles and practices for managing your open source project effectively.

Level 5: Leadership​