The OW2 Consortium and the Open Solutions Alliance (OSA) representing developers, vendors, consumers and communities, plan to merge to constitute a global platform for supporting research, development, distribution, and adoption of open source software at all levels of the information systems stack.
The OW2 Consortium was founded to develop a code base of open source middleware. It host some technology projects, including ASM, Bonita, eXo Platorm, Funambol, JOnAS, Joram, Orbeon Forms, PEtALS, SpagoBI and XWiki.
The Open Solutions Alliance (OSA) was created to drive the adoption of open source applications in enterprises and the collaboration between commercial open source vendors to enhance and increase the interoperability of open source applications.
The groups said that the combined organisation will use the global reach, market penetration, and technical skills of its members to develop a code base and portfolio of open source components, advocate for open source software, and promote collaboration and the open source model for development in enterprises, academia, and government.
Cedric Thomas, CEO of OW2, said: “When you look at each organisation’s strengths in technology and market presence, as well as the global positioning of our members, OSA and OW2 look like two puzzle pieces waiting to be put together. We can do much more together than apart, and a combined entity will provide a single voice for open source worldwide and a unique global pool of open source resources.”
