The ZOOOM project (3Os – Open Source Software, Open Data, Open Hardware) is a European initiative started in 2022 to promote innovation and cooperation around free software, open data and free hardware. In two years, ZOOOM teams have produced in-depth studies, legal recommendations and training materials to help everyone better understand and adopt these three pillars of free software.
Ssupported by the European Commission and bringing together several partners, including the FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe)ZOOOM’s mission is to raise awareness among academia, businesses and the public sector of the strategic and economic advantages of open source.
ZOOOM simultaneously addresses the issues of free software, open data and free hardware. Consortium partners, including FSFE, conducted research to show how these three “open assets” intersect and complement each other. The work focused on license management, securing economic models and taking artificial intelligence into account in these ecosystems. Concretely, the project resulted in a set of deliverables: a report describing good practices for aligning its activities with the specificities of free software, a review of legal cases in order to better understand the legal challenges, as well as a set of training courses for SMEs, universities and administrations.
In a context where digital sovereignty is becoming a crucial issue for companies and public institutions, ZOOOM highlights the major role of open solutions in the sustainability and reliability of digital services. The recommendations resulting from the project emphasize the necessary consistency of software licenses in the field of AI, to avoid the proliferation of pseudo-free licenses which complicate interoperability and collaboration. By offering both theoretical analyzes and practical tools (such as training guides or usage scenarios), ZOOOM offers a starter kit to anyone considering using or contributing to open source, open hardware or open data.
Even though the main research cycle has ended, the ZOOOM project intends to continue its dissemination and encourage new contributions. To find out more, you can consult the official ZOOOM website where the various studies, educational materials and recommendations are published. Interested organizations and individuals can also contact the FSFE, which remains active to share and extend the fruit of the work carried out in this framework. The association also expressed this in a press release published on December 31, 2024. As well as on its social networks.
-Post by @
*protected email*
View on Mastodon
I like this:
I like loading…
