News / Events

October 2012 

Introduction

This Memorandum of Understanding describes the relationship between the ESUP-Portail consortium, Jasig, the Sakai Foundation, and their successors. It represents a reciprocal agreement between equal partners, and has the primary aim, over time, of developing a closer practical working relationship between the signatory organisations.

Principles

The relationship the signatories seek to build focuses around the development of shared -

• Practical collaboration, producing tangible results for our respective communities
• Understanding of our respective operational and strategic contexts
• Understanding of the strategic position of open and community source software in the service of higher education

We believe that the early exchange of information, both strategic and tactical, is essential to improving the strategic alignment between our respective organizations, and maximizing the benefit of our collective endeavor.

Practicals

The parties agree to –

• Collaborate on the further development of the Jasig incubation process, as a means of nurturing and sustaining innovation in support of higher education
• Exchange information, at an early stage, regarding strategic software development or other initiatives that may be of mutual interest
• Share background briefings on changes in national or other contexts which may be of mutual interest
• Encourage joint membership in their respective organizations
• Encourage direct participation in software communities and communities of interest (“projects”)
• Invite representatives of ESUP into advisory positions
• Work jointly to make Sakai and Jasig events more hospitable to the non-anglophone world
• Align events wherever possible (for example, the Sakai European event and the ESUP Days)

About Sakai

The Sakai Foundation is a membership organization of 86 higher educational institutions and commercial entities that work together to produce software to support learning, teaching and research collaboration. Founded in 2006, the Sakai Foundation has members across twenty countries on five continents.

About Jasig

Jasig is a global consortium of 47 educational institutions and commercial affiliates sponsoring open source software projects which benefit higher education. As a non-profit, 501(c)(3) membership group, we organize events promoting open source software planning, design, development, and implementation.  Our activities and resources foster collaboration and sharing of best practices within and among communities of practice.

About ESUP-Portail

Consortium ESUP-Portail is a French non-profit organization of 73 educational institutions which develop solutions and projects for digital access to academic services for both students and establishment staff. Esup-Portail follow the principles of collaboration within its community (participation, cooperation, sharing, discussion..) and promotes open source solutions that benefit higher education.