1. To provide an objective appraisal of the relevance and benefit of Open Source Software (OSS), and the opportunities it affords, to the European educational community.
2. To investigate and report on the context of OSS, especially in relation to open standards for software and data and to provide a platform for EU planning on the subject.
3. To investigate major issues appertaining to the use of Open Source Software for education in Europe, in particular:
• Standards and architectures for OSS
• User requirements and usability issues in the development of OSS
• Social, cultural and legal issues in OSS
• Organisation and management issues, sustainability and support infrastructural needs for OSS
4. To develop and maintain an interactive web based information point on OSS for education, fully standards compliant, incorporating web based tools for project development and offering dispersed intranet services for SIG members.
5. To study take-up of OSS in selected institutions over the lifetime of the project, in order to determine best practice in different environments. The SIG will seek partnerships with other agencies and initiatives in the field in order to facilitate dissemination and information exchange.

The SIGOSSEE / JOIN site and community is for anyone with an interest in open-source software for education in europe: educators, policy-makers, software or content developers, researchers. Participants in the SIGOSSEE and JOIN projects have a particular stake in the site, but many other participants are to be found there.

Joining the SIGOSSEE / JOIN site is easy: just fill in the form here. You will be asked for a valid email address, as well as some other information about your interest in open-source for education and the activities you might like to participate in.

The SIGOSSEE / JOIN site contains a wide range of resources on issues concerning open source software for education in europe, as well as discussions, news and activities for those interested in educational open-source. For instance, you can find updates and discussions on various open-source platforms and initiatives, and on the relationship between the open-source and interoperability-standards movements in educational software.

You can contact and engage with colleagues and other interested parties at the SIGOSSEE / JOIN site, and participate in dialogues and other knowledge-development exercises on the issues which matter to education and open-source software. The site is also increasingly becoming a useful place to look for resources and news about OS in education.

There are almost 200 members active in the SIGOSSEE / JOIN site, reflecting diverse backgrounds, many of them doing key work in areas related to OS for education. The community is growing rapidly, and we expect to see much more activity in 2005 as the importance of these issues becomes even more pronounced.

The Special Interest Group in Open Source Software for Education in Europe (SIGOSSEE) has been established to investigate, inform, and advise the education community on the uses and benefits of Open Source Software and Open Content.

Open Source is of growing interest to the education and training sectors for a number of reasons...

The activities and services for the SIG include :

• The organisation of regional ‘open door’ days providing advice and guidance on open source
• Undertaking research into key issues impacting on the development and implementation of Open Source Software in education
• The organisation of national and regional seminars
• The development of a catalogue of Open Source developments and software for education
• The development of a catalogue of examples of good practice
• The sharing of news and information about Open Source for education
• The management of a web space for discourse and exchange on Open Source and its uses in education.