Sustainability and the Future

Sustainability and the Future#

Building an Open Source Program Office is one thing; sustaining it is another. From the outset, we knew that VERSO could not survive on short-term enthusiasm or a single grant. Sustainability had to be baked into our strategy—not just for the office itself, but for the projects we supported. This chapter explores how we approached long-term viability, the funding models we considered, and the evolving role of OSPOs in academia.

Funding Models#

The first challenge was financial sustainability. Our initial funding came from the Sloan Foundation, which gave us the runway to launch VERSO and experiment with different approaches. But grants are temporary by nature, and we needed a plan for what came next.

We explored several models:

  • Institutional Support: Embedding VERSO into UVM’s core research infrastructure was critical. We worked to demonstrate how open source aligned with the university’s strategic priorities—research impact, compliance with federal mandates, and community engagement—making the case for recurring budget support.

  • Grant Integration: We encouraged faculty to include open-source sustainability in their grant proposals. By positioning VERSO as a resource for compliance and best practices, we became a value-add for researchers seeking competitive funding.

  • External Partnerships: We began building relationships with industry and nonprofit organizations interested in open science. These partnerships opened doors for co-funded projects, internships, and shared infrastructure.

Our goal was to diversify funding streams so that VERSO would not depend on a single source. Sustainability, we learned, is as much about relationships as it is about revenue.

Evolving Role of OSPOs in Academia#

As open science policies gain momentum, the role of OSPOs in universities is expanding. Initially, VERSO focused on software, but the boundaries between code, data, and publications are increasingly blurred. Future OSPOs will likely:

  • Support FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).

  • Integrate with reproducibility initiatives and research integrity programs.

  • Serve as bridges between academia and industry, facilitating technology transfer through open collaboration.

  • Advocate for policy changes that recognize software and data as scholarly outputs in tenure and promotion.

In short, OSPOs are becoming central to the infrastructure of open science, and VERSO is positioning itself to lead in this space.

The Road Ahead#

Looking forward, our priorities include:

  • Expanding Training: Developing curricula for students and early-career researchers to make open-source literacy a core competency.

  • Shared Infrastructure: Building platforms for collaborative development, reproducible workflows, and long-term archiving.

  • Cultural Change: Continuing to advocate for open source as a core academic value, not an optional add-on.

Sustainability is not a destination—it’s an ongoing process of adaptation. By staying agile and responsive to the needs of researchers, funders, and the broader open-source ecosystem, VERSO aims to remain a catalyst for openness at UVM and beyond.

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