Open Source In Higher Education: A Community Report

Reports of open-source software prevalence across industries are ubiquitous: "90% of IT leaders are using enterprise open source" (Red Hat); "97% of apps and 90% of businesses use open source" (GitHub); and nearly 100% of edtech software contains open source (Synopsys).Yet studies specific to higher education are limited. While open source enjoys significant growth in other sectors, campuses may not be best prepared to manage their open-source portfolios or engage with third-party providers who employ open source. In addition, government regulations (Software Bill of Materials, Cyber Resilience Act), emerging trends (open AI), openness requirements from federal and private funding/grant providers, open initiatives from Open Educational Resources to Open Science, and industry practice may compromise campus readiness and delivery. The Community Report investigates four critical dimensions: 1) Current context and perceptions of open source as reported by higher ed IT leaders; 2) Prevalence and use of open source across academic enterprises; 3) Amount of open-source software development occurring within institutions; and 4) Critical IT job skills and experience required by institutions. This session introduces the Open-Source Software in Higher Education Community Report, specifically focusing on survey results from our partnership with EDUCAUSE to identify the current context and perceptions of open-source software as reported by higher education IT leaders.