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- Contributions. This is the REFEDS funding model where groups with a common interest club together to fund activities. REFEDS allows for both ‘pool’ contributions and targeted contributions.
- Service fees. In this model maintenance and small developments of software are funded as part of service fees charged directly to the community. These can either be fixed or variable depending on the size of the NREN / userbase.
- Project funding. Several software outputs are supported by recurrent project funding (typically GEANT funds).
- Social NREN. Some NRENS have made services they find useful openly available to the community at large to use. The overheads for the software element are subsumed by the NREN in question.
Annex 2 of this document An attached list shows how a variety of existing tools are supported.
It would be good to establish a process where a clear path - from people in the community ‘having an idea’, as celebrated at TNC2012, through to implementation of an output or service - was established within the software development space. Where as some of the steps within that process are well documented and implemented, other areas could be improved in terms of decision-making and clear routes for support – including funding models.
The attached diagram at Annex 1 shows a potential workflow from decision through to sustained output. This diagram reflects one potential ideal and does not suggest that TERENA should move forward with all areas of work needed to achieve this vision. This is an opportunity to reflect on the lifecycle and whether the one shown below matches TERENA community requirements. Areas where work could be carried out as part of a pilot are highlighted on the diagram.
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