Open Source Business Alliance

The Open Source Business Alliance - Bundesverband für digitale Souveränität e.V. is a German non-profit that operates Europe's biggest network of companies and organizations developing, building and using open source software.[1]

Open Source Business Alliance - Bundesverband für digitale Souveränität e.V.
MottoTrust matters!
Founded2011
FocusEstablish open source as the standard in public procurement and in research and business development. Support of digital sovereignty for citizens, companies and administration
Location
  • Stuttgart and Berlin (Germany)
Websitewww.osb-alliance.de

History

The alliance was founded in July 2011 in Stuttgart. The two founding associations, Linux Solutions Group e.V. (Lisog) and the LIVE Linux-Verband e.V., officially merged their groups at their annual general meetings on the 20th and 21 July 2011.[2][3]

The merger aimed to create a unified lobby group for the German open-source movement.[4]

In 2014, a further attempted consolidation failed. The OSB Alliance and the Open Source Business Foundation (OSBF) first announced their intention to merge the two associations to form a single large advocacy group on 18 November 2013. After almost a year of negotiations that only achieved an agreement, the merger collapsed on 15 October 2014.[5]

At their annual general meeting in Berlin in 2018, the association's name change to "Open Source Business Alliance - Federal Association for Digital Sovereignty" was proposed and received broad support from the members present. From the perspective of the association, open source software and open standards are necessary and essential prerequisites for digital sovereignty. The OSB Alliance has established itself as one of the mouthpieces and has been promoting and promoting the topic of "digital sovereignty" for several years. As a nationwide representative of the open source industry and users, the OSB Alliance has now expanded its name in order to make this objective more aware.[6]

Goals

General goals

The alliance's main aims are to:[7]

  • Promote Linux and open source-based solutions and their use in businesses and institutions, and to support the providers of open-source software and services
  • Help companies to develop an open source-based business strategy
  • Provide a communication platform to open source-focused IT providers and users, to encourage and promote improvements in open source
  • Develop continuous contact with politics and public administration bodies
  • Work to raise public awareness of open source

Central objectives of the alliance:[8]

  • The use of open standards with manufacturer-independent, fully published, unlimited specifications
  • The abolition of software patents, or alternatively, irrevocable free use of existing software patents
  • Inviolability of copyright
  • Action by public bodies to enable participation, i.e. open data, open innovation and open access
  • Open-minds economy through public forms of cooperation in politics and business
  • Net neutrality, i.e. equal treatment of all online data flows

Board

The current board of Open Source Business Alliance e.V. consists of 17 members:[9]

  • Peter Ganten, Univention GmbH (Chairman)
  • Milisav Radmanic, SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH (Vice Chairman)
  • Henriette Baumann, integratio GmbH (Vice Chairman)
  • Diego Calvo de Nó, Proventa AG (Financial Director)
  • Rico Barth, c.a.p.e. IT GmbH
  • Lothar Becker, .riess applications GmbH
  • Hong Phuc Dang, OpnTec GmbH
  • Holger Dyroff, ownCloud GmbH
  • Frank Karlitschek, Nextcloud GmbH
  • Prof. Dr. Helmut Krcmar, Technische Universität München
  • Felix Kronlage-Dammers, gridscale GmbH
  • Prof. Dr. Jorge Marx Gómez, Universität Oldenburg
  • Anke Pawla, Kopano GmbH
  • Lisa Reisch, independIT Integrative Technologies GmbH
  • Alfred Schröder, Gonicus GmbH
  • Jens Ziemann, Red Hat

Honorary Chairman

  • Dr. Karl-Heinz Strassemeyer, formerly IBM Germany

Working groups and projects

The OSB Alliance supports working groups that cover a wide range of issues. As of February 2021 the following working groups were in operation:[10]

WG Cloud Computing
focuses on all aspects of cloud technology. One of its central initiatives is the “Deutsche Wolke” (“German Cloud”) project.[11] Participants in the project are mostly small and medium-sized businesses based in Germany. The aim is to create a cloud solution adapted to German businesses that offers security, transparency and reliability. The project won third prize in the platform services category at the “Hosting & Service Provider Summit 2014″, held in Frankfurt am Main on 8–9 May.[12]
WG Education
works on the modern use of digital and interactive teaching and learning material in schools and digital education platforms based on open technologies and standards. In November 2013, the group presented a 30-page document entitled “Digital media, educational platforms and IT infrastructure in schools based on open systems and standards”.[13][14] The goal is to create an open “education cloud” that is centrally provided but configured locally.
WG Events
decides which events the association attends and arranges its participation. Since 2012, the Working Group Events has organised the OSB Alliance’s Open Source Day,[15] held every autumn. Another of its main focuses is coordinating the appearance of the OSB Alliance at CeBIT,[16] as well as at other events with relevant topics, such as the OPEN-IT SUMMIT [17][18][19] or OPEN!2015.
WG Office Interoperability
aims to improve the compatibility of the open-source solutions LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice with Microsoft’s proprietary Office suite, to promote the use of open-source office solutions critical for business. The group’s first project was the continued development of the OOXML filter in LibreOffice. The specification “Layout-getreue Darstellung von OOXML-Dokumenten in Open Source Office Applikationen” [20] (“Layout-faithful depiction of OOXML documents in open-source office applications”) was developed in 2011 by SUSE and Laredo.[21][22][23][24] The specification and subsequent patches were included in Apache Software License 2.0 and has been included in LibreOffice since version 4.0.
WG Public Affairs
formulates the positions of the OSB Alliance related to politics and public administration.[25][26][27] The group maintains direct and regular contact with politicians, acts as a point of contact for all questions from the public sector and cooperates in European fora. In November 2013, the working group published a brochure on PRISM and its consequences, with tips for countermeasures.[28][29] Most recently on 21 October 2014, the group held an open IT conference with councillors of the Green Party.[30][31]
WG Continuous License Compliance
would like to make companies that rely on the "innovation model - open source software" less vulnerable and thus more competitive. The group wants to contribute to efficiently taking into account the aspect of license compliance in medium-sized companies. The “Continuous License Compliance” working group aims to bring routine and continuity to the handling of open source licenses and to promote the automation of open source compliance in cooperation with the community. In addition, the exchange of experiences and best practices should be encouraged and promoted.

References
  1. About the OSB Alliance
  2. Computerwoche: The raise of the OSB Alliance
  3. Linux-Magazin: LiSOG and Live merged
  4. Pro-Linux: LiSoG and Live merged
  5. heise.de: No merge between OSB Alliance and OSBF
  6. pro-linux.de: OSB alliance is renaming itself
  7. OSB Alliance: About us
  8. OSB Alliance: The guidelines of the OSB Alliance
  9. Board OSB Alliance
  10. Working groups OSB Alliance
  11. Initiative "Deutsche Wolke"
  12. Press release Vogel-IT
  13. Working Group Education Whitepaper "Digital Media, Educational Platforms and IT infrastructure in schools based on open systems and standards"
  14. Pro-Linux: About the whitepaper of the Working Group Education/OSB Alliance
  15. Linux Magazin: Open Source Day 2012
  16. Linux Magazin: OSB Alliance@CeBIT 2014
  17. Linux Magazin: OPEN-IT SUMMIT
  18. Official Webpage OPEN-IT SUMMIT
  19. Heise about the OPEN-IT SUMMIT
  20. OXXML-project Working group Office Interoperability
  21. SUSE Commercial-libreoffice-support
  22. Lanedo project with the OSB Alliance
  23. Report Linux Magazin about OXXML (1)
  24. Report Linux Magazin about OXXML (2)
  25. Report Linux-Magazin about the letter to the city of Freiburg (1)
  26. Report Linux-Magazin about the letter to the city of Freiburg (2)
  27. Report Linux-MAgazin: Statement to the coalition agreement
  28. OSB Alliance about PRISM
  29. Report Linux-Magazin: About Prism
  30. www.silicon.de: Open Source Policy for the public sector
  31. Report Linux Magazin: Open IT Summit in Hamburg
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