Initiatives

The primary functions of the OSPO are to foster a culture of networked collaboration, promoting open-source software development, open data, and open access in research and education, and to support the university community in adoption of open practices.

The following initiatives aim to maximize our impact on a local and global scale leveraging GW’s research, teaching, and policy expertise.

Open Research Initiatives

The goal of these initiatives is to give researchers tools and training to help maximize the quality, reproducibility, and accessibility of their research.

• Training and workshops supporting open science
  • Gelman Library open source workshops
  • URSSI free 3 day Research Software Engineering workshop for graduate students June 24-26, 2024
  • See the Events page for upcoming workshops
• Resources to support open-source software, open data, and open access
  • GW Enterprise Github with Copilot and other add-ons
  • Open Science Framework (OSF)
  • DPMTool
• Services to support researchers address open requirements related to grant submission and execution
  • Book a consultation

Community Building Initiatives

We hope to build and grow a strong local open source community comprised of faculty, staff, and students.  The OSPO aims to be a bridge connecting members of the GW community across disciplines to create an inclusive and diverse set of passionate open source supporters.

• Project Registry
• Student Award Programs
• Open Source Survey - We value all GW voices and are grateful for your time.  Takes 10 minutes.
• GW Open Source Conference (Scheduled for March 24 & 25, 2025 in person at the GW Student Center)
• Internship opportunity with our industry partners (to be announced)
• Training and resources to support collaborative open-source software development

Open Policy Initiatives

GW's location in Washington DC and our expertise in Law and Political Science combined with our technical prowess make our University uniquely qualified to research and define policy for open work.

• Developing and implementing policies, processes, and guidelines in coordination with other university OSPOs for open-source software and open scholarship
• Educating our community about evolving US policies on open access, open data, open science, etc.
• Forming external partnerships to help amplify and advocate for open practices
  • Founding member of Open Forum for AI (OFAI) hosted by CMU
  • Membership in multiple open source advocacy organizations (CURIOSS, CHAOSS, SustainOSS, InnerSourceCommons, opensource.science, HELIOS Open, OSF)

Please book a consultation to learn more about any of these topics.