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The Boy Scouts of America Open Source Initiative Project will provide the organization with a means to enhance the technology offerings provided to the Scouting Community. The OSI Project will introduce an Open Source Software Website where the Scouting and Open Source Communities can work together to create software applications designed to meet the unique technical needs required to support Scouting activities. [top]

The goal of the Boy Scouts of America Open Source Initiative is to enhance the efficiency of managing scouting activities while reducing the costs to local organizations. The OSI Project will produce an Open Source Software Website that will serve as a centralized resource where the Scouting Community can focus their efforts and resources in an efficient manner. The OSS Website will provide dispersed organizations a platform where the Scouting Community can combine their efforts in solving common problems faced from using technology. The OSS Website will provide Scouting Community organizers a communications bridge where information related to technology challenges and solutions can be shared.

In addition to supporting scouting management activities, the OSS Website is intended to help scouts learn about the creation and use of computer software. The OSS Website is intended to help scouts learn about contributing to the community while gaining a better understanding of the impact of technology in their own lives. The OSS Website will provide Scouts an opportunity to contribute knowledge gained from their life experiences while learning from others.

The OSI Project will provide a cost effective method for Boys Scouts of America National Headquarters to aid local organizations in reducing their costs and improving their productivity. The project is intended to provide a vehicle where National Headquarter resources can be applied to a large number of recipients by a relatively small number of employees. The National Headquarters staff will coordinate the efforts of volunteers by providing project management resources and, when possible, augmentation to project teams. [top]

1. Proactive technology support for local scouting organizations.
2. Reduce technology related costs throughout the Scouting Community.
3. Provide software for local scouting organizations that cannot afford to purchase commercial software.
4. Centralize and coordinate the exchange of information between organization managers and volunteers to solve common issues that can be addressed by technology.
5. Standardize technology used by scouting organizations to manage their activities.
6. Improve the productivity of organization managers through ready to use technology tools that address the unique needs of scouting.
7. Leverage the pool of Subject Matter Experts and technology professionals in the Scouting Community to build a state of the art technology base.
8. Focus the financial resources from local donors to create technology that can benefit the entire Scouting Community.
9. Provide a tool where scouts can explore the possibilities of technology as a profession.
10. Provide a conduit for scouts to contribute to technology that helps others. [top]

The Boy Scouts of America Open Source Initiative has the potential to have a profound and lasting effect. To-date Open Source Software projects have primarily been produced by technology oriented individuals and companies. Universities and governments have been getting involved in Open Source Software primarily as users of OSS products, or focused on narrowly defined research projects. Thousands of OSS programs have been created by individuals to serve a variety of personal needs. And the Open Source Community at large has spent most of their efforts in producing system level software, or replacements for commercial software offerings.

The common motivation that most OSS projects have focused on, have been related to inward looking self serving factors. Very few initiatives are specifically intended to benefit a wide spectrum of users across a broad range of needs. Organizations like OpenOffice.org and Mozilla are a benefit to a large user base, but they are focused on a narrow need. Companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Sun Microsystems are focused on enhancing their business interests. And the results of University research projects benefit many, but the software is only useful to a few. With the OSI Project the Boy Scouts of America has an opportunity to be a leader in establishing a model for other organizations to follow. [top]

The OSI Project will expand the Learning for Life and ISD missions by enhancing the availability of educational opportunities to scouts and technology resources to the organization. The OSI Project will encourage the Scouting Community to take a proactive role in both learning from and contributing to the cooperative effort. [top]

The Boy Scouts of America have an opportunity to take a leadership role in the expansion of Open Source Software beyond technology oriented communities. OSS is in its infancy as a resource for general users and non technology organizations. Outside of the technical and scientific communities very little is known about OSS and the benefits that can be gained from its application.

1. The OSI Project has the opportunity to educate users and organizations about OSS as a resource. By incorporating OSS education into the OSS Website, users will gain an understanding of how the resource can benefit them. By publishing the lessons learned from building the OSI infrastructure, other organizations will have a blueprint to follow as a guide in their own efforts.
2. Most OSS projects undertaken today are the result of an idea expressed by a developer, not a user. The OSI Project will reverse this model by focusing projects on providing solutions to the needs expressed by users. The perception of OSS being only for "geeks" accounts for a major barrier to the acceptance of OSS by the mainstream body of software users. [top]

All non-profit organizations face many of the same issues and problems in using technology to manage their activities. The management of volunteers, fund raising campaigns, and events are common issues that each organization is attempting to resolve, and pay for, on their own. The OSI Project presents an opportunity to extend the cooperative effort beyond the Scouting Community. The participation of volunteers aligned with other organizations will result in a greater level of productivity and more robust products. Through cooperative effort, the Boy Scouts and other organizations can maximize the use of the funds that they allocate to technology spending. [top]

The Open Source Community has shown an eagerness to embrace new entries into the Open Source movement. The Open Source Community calls these new entries converts and will generally speculate on the motivational factors related to a convert. Sometimes a convert will generate a great deal of discussion within the community as to the "real" reasons for the conversion. The motivational factors of the Boy Scouts of America would be accepted by the Open Source Community without question. The Open Source Community will embrace the entrance of the Boy Scouts of America as a member of the community and provide an immediate support base.

Advocates of Open Source Software and Free Software will see the Boy Scouts of America OSS Website as an opportunity "to spread the word". Open Source advocates will view the entry of a non technology oriented organization dedicated to the user community as a major event. This enthusiasm will draw Open Source Subject Matter Experts as contributors and generate public endorsements of support. [top]

The process of managing OSS projects is not well defined within the Open Source Community and OSS projects do not fit well into the Project Management models that have recently been gaining acceptance among technology managers and development teams. The Open Source Community has developed a mature infrastructure to manage the communications and repositories that revolve around OSS projects. But, Project Management as a discipline, applied to OSS projects, remains mostly an afterthought to project leaders.

Through the OSI Project, the Boy Scouts of America has an opportunity to contribute to the advancement of the Project Management discipline while improving the process of creating Open Source Software. By leading a combined effort that brings Open Source Software and Project Management Subject Matter Experts together, the benefits from the effort will extend well beyond the OSS Website. [top]

Beyond the opportunity to coordinate the financial support generated by the Scouting Community and the cooperative effort shared by other non-profit organizations, the OSI Project represents an opportunity to capitalize on corporate support and sponsorship. Major corporations such as IBM, Novell, Apple, and HP have committed to supporting Open Source Software financially, as well as technologically. The OSI Project will have the opportunity to draw a significant amount of exposure and funding from the business community, especially technology related organizations. Technology companies recognize that the Open Source Community is a significant factor that they must continue to address in their long term strategic planning. [top]

The OSI Project will provide a proving ground for future project management and software development methodologies employed by the Information System Division at Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters. ISD managers and staff can take a proactive role in the maturing of the processes employed by the OSS Website with the goal of creating an ideal environment where future projects can be managed and developed. Once the system has reached a maturity level that meets the requirements of the organization, an "inward" facing system can be deployed. ISD projects can then be migrated to the new environment without disrupting current working processes or operating budgets. [top]