Michigan Open Source Support (MOSS)
About MOSS
Michigan Open Source Support (MOSS) is a pilot initiative to provide strategic support and resources to open source projects to accelerate their ability to achieve sustainable outcomes and long-term impact.
If you are interested in participating in MOSS, please email UMichOpenSourceSupport@umich.
MOSS can support your open source project in different ways depending on whether your goal is open source release or longer-term sustainability and impact:
MOSS Portfolio
We curate and promote actively maintained open source projects on our technology listing website. We also provide a quick consult on your GitHub repo or open source content to ensure that it is ready for open source release.
Resources: GitHub Garage Checklist, Content Curation Checklist
MOSS Community
Community building is a critical first step for open source projects to gain traction & attract additional funding. We provide 1:1 strategy, brainstorming and limited facilitation support to help you build & sustain a community around your open source project.
Resources: ITAV community engagement toolkit, Business model canvas, Great Lakes I-Corps
Open Source Funding
Traditional research grants don’t always fund open source maintenance and community building efforts. We can work with you to craft a tailored strategy to seek additional funding to develop & maintain open source projects. Open source projects need an initial community before being attractive for funding.
Startups
Open source & startup company creation are not mutually exclusive. Our Ventures & Licensing teams will support the launch of startups (both for- and nonprofit) based on your open source projects. We provide high-touch mentorship on open source business models, access to translational funding grants and talent resources. We also provide connections to open source hosting foundations, VCs who invest in COSS startups and nonprofit fiscal sponsors.
