Xerte Project Joins Open Source Initiative

PALO ALTO, Calif. - July 15, 2015 - PRLog -- The Open Source Initiative® (OSI) has announced the Affiliate Membership of The Xerte Project, an initiative to provide high-quality free software to educators all over the world, and to build a global community of users and developers around the tools.The partnership highlights the OSI's continued efforts within the higher education sector.

The Xerte Project began in 2004, and released its first tools under an open license in 2006. Since then the project has gone on to develop the award-winning Xerte Online Toolkits software, cultivated an enthusiastic community of users and developers and has continued to innovate in the development of authoring tools. The Xerte Project places three values above all else: ease of use for non-technical content authors, providing best-of-breed accessibility, and nurturing a positive and friendly community of users and developers. Xerte Online Toolkits is used in hundreds of institutions around the world.

Recognizing the benefits of reduced costs, increased pace of innovation, community-driven development and shared services, colleges and universities are increasingly moving to open source software solutions like The Xerte Project. The OSI has recently expanded efforts to support open source in education across the globe and help institutions maximize opportunities through participation in both the development of open source software as well as the technical and educational communities of practice which support those projects.

Julian Tenney, who leads developments on The Xerte Project, said of the membership, “The OSI will help us grow our communities of users and developers, and clearly demonstrates that we are a robust and sustainable project.” The OSI's General Manager, Patrick Masson offered, "The Xerte Project exemplifies exactly what the OSI hopes to foster across the higher education and open source communities. The project and community have collaborated with several organizations to grow and mature, including with another OSI Affiliate, The Apereo Foundation. It is exactly these relationships and benefits between communities that the OSI is working to create and promote." Tenney add, “The OSI establishes very high standards for affiliate projects, and we’re really proud to be accepted as an OSI affiliate member.”

Affiliate Membership allows any non-profit community, organization or institution—unequivocally independent groups with a clear commitment to open source—to join the OSI in support of it’s mission to educate about and advocate for the benefits of open source software and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open source community. The current OSI affiliate membership is a who's-who of the world of open source software. The Affiliate Member Program is available to non-profits, educational institutions and government agencies. For more information about the OSI Affiliate Member Program and how your organization can join, see: http://opensource.org/affiliates

About The Xerte Project
Begun in 2004 at the University of Nottingham, The Xerte Project produces free, open-source tools for the production of interactive learning materials. The project emphasizes ease-of-use for non-technical users, whilst at the same time providing powerful tools for developers, and providing best in class accessibility. Developments are based on real world use cases identified by the user community. The project fosters a positive, supportive and friendly community of users and developers. You can learn more at: http://xerte.org.uk/index.php?lang=en

About The Open Source Initiative
Founded in 1998, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) protects and promotes open source by providing a foundation for community success. It champions open source in society through education, infrastructure and collaboration. The OSI is a California public benefit corporation, with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. For more information about the OSI, please visit: http://opensource.org