Award Abstract # 2135757
EAGER: Measuring the Impact and Diffusion of Open Source Software Innovation on Contributor and Project Networks

NSF Org: SES
Division of Social and Economic Sciences
Recipient: RECTOR & VISITORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Initial Amendment Date: July 28, 2021
Latest Amendment Date: July 28, 2021
Award Number: 2135757
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Mary Feeney
SES
 Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE
 Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Start Date: November 15, 2021
End Date: June 30, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $298,416.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $298,416.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2021 = $0.00
History of Investigator:
  • Gizem Korkmaz (Principal Investigator)
    gizem.korkmaz@gmail.com
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Virginia Main Campus
1001 EMMET ST N
CHARLOTTESVILLE
VA  US  22903-4833
(434)924-4270
Sponsor Congressional District: 05
Primary Place of Performance: University of Virginia Main Campus
P.O. BOX 400195
CHARLOTTESVILLE
VA  US  22904-4195
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
05
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): JJG6HU8PA4S5
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Science of Science
Primary Program Source: 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 7916, 9179
Program Element Code(s): 125Y00
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.075

ABSTRACT

Open-Source Software (OSS) is developed, maintained, and extended through the contribution of independent developers as well as individuals and groups from universities, government research institutions, businesses, and nonprofits. Many OSS projects are developed in free repositories, and the information embedded in these repositories - including the code, contributors, and development activity - is publicly available. However, the extent and impacts of OSS on the economy and innovation are currently unknown, and the creation and use of OSS highlight an aspect of technology diffusion and flow not captured in science and technology indicators. The goals of this project are to discover, collect, and use publicly available non-survey data sources on OSS and to test the feasibility of developing methods to measure the impact and diffusion of OSS innovation. The project will evaluate OSS through development of rigorous, repeatable, and scalable methods and metrics. The outputs of this effort ? unique data sets, code, and the resulting analyses of the interactions among contributors and projects ? advance our nascent knowledge about OSS, including the patterns and dynamics of collaborations, influential actors, prevailing topics, and diffusion. Developed measures will complement existing indicators on peer-reviewed publications and patents. Our framework could apply to other aspects of open science, such as shared data available in public repositories.

To address our core questions, we propose (i) to characterize the OSS ecosystem by analyzing available information on OSS projects (creation and use), and developers (institutions, sectors, and countries); (ii) to represent the interactions using networks of contributors (through collaborations between developers) and networks of OSS projects (through reuses across projects and shared contributors) and to analyze their structural features; (iii) to develop methods to measure the impact of projects and developers using network-based and OSS-based measures (e.g., downloads); (iv) to study the diffusion of OSS innovation within and across institutions, sectors and countries; and (v) to bring forward a unique and novel data product combining various data sources on OSS.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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