First 'Open Source Center' established at a government-funded research institute
Promoting linkage with open source-based R&D innovation platforms

The first dedicated Open Source software organization at a government-funded research institute has been launched. Open Source software refers to software whose source code is publicly available, allowing anyone to modify or adapt it. With the establishment of this new organization, the institute plans to oversee the formulation of open source policies and responses, which are becoming increasingly important in the future.

ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute) announced that it has established the 'Open Source Center,' a dedicated organization capable of responding to and supporting open source activities.

Recently, along with the paradigm of openness, the influence of open source is growing significantly, and its application is spreading across all sectors of ICT. Representative open source software includes Linux and Android.

The government is also actively encouraging the open-sourcing of research results to improve the low technology utilization and commercialization success rates relative to budget investment in national R&D projects. In the actual market, strategies utilizing open source are also becoming a prominent trend. Particularly in fields such as the Internet of Things (IoT), open source and standards are being developed together and utilized as a global business strategy to accelerate their widespread adoption.



Currently, the utilization rate of open source is increasing at government-funded research institutes, including ETRI. Open source has the advantage of enabling the creation of excellent and stable software in a short period of time, as users can use publicly available code to become developers themselves and add their own ideas.

However, the level of response to open source in the execution of research projects is insufficient, and a governance response system covering open source activities as a whole has not been established.

ETRI explained that it established this center because, even though open source can be used, copied, distributed, and modified, licenses exist, so copyright infringement situations may occur, making it very important to prepare a dedicated response system.

ETRI has established a dedicated organization, the Open Source Center, to strengthen its internal capabilities regarding open source activities, while aiming to achieve technological innovation and secure technological leadership through open R&D innovation.

As detailed implementation plans, the following are carried out: ▲ development of open source policies and strategies ▲ analysis of open source licenses and support for legal and institutional responses ▲ support for various open source community activities and education and promotion.

With this, the plan is to improve the quality of the results developed by the research team and enhance the efficiency of open-source-based R&D.

In addition, the plan is to use this opportunity to renew the perception of open source and develop a new research organizational culture that aims for a research and development environment based on more open communication.

In the long term, ETRI plans to open source major research results developed by its researchers, enabling domestic corporate developers and industries to utilize them freely.

Furthermore, the research institute announced plans to establish an open R&D ecosystem in the long term that allows external developers to participate in research and development, while simultaneously pursuing technological advancement and social contribution through the external sharing of its results.

This organizational restructuringAccordingly, the Open Source Center was newly established under the Standards Research Division of the Future Strategy Research Institute.

Kim Bong-tae, Director of the Future Strategy Research Institute, stated, “Through the establishment of this Open Source Center, ETRI will create an opportunity to be reborn as a specialized open source organization, and we will make it an opportunity for R&D innovation that can drive the SW-centered Fourth Industrial Revolution.”