“Empowerment of individuals is a key part of what makes open source work, since in the end, innovations tend to come from small groups, not from large, structured efforts.” – Tim O’Reilly
The Open Water Foundation (OWF) develops open source software to help make better decisions about water. We develop software for our clients and also create our own products. We use an open source software approach that results in solutions that are publicly available. See the software.openwaterfoundation.org website for a list of software products developed by OWF.
OWF software is typically used by organizations that need to understand complex water resources systems in order to make recommendations and decisions about public resources. OWF uses our software to publish useful datasets and create information products that are available on the OWF website.
OWF software is used by staff at government agencies, consultants working for government, local and regional water providers, organizations and individuals interested in environmental issues, university researchers and educators, and others.
Software users are trying to answer questions about water supply and quality for the environment, cities, agriculture, and industry. How much? How often? What are trends? If the system is changed, what are the impacts? How will I be impacted by drought and climate change?
OWF provides the following products and services for software:
- develop new, maintain legacy software, and transition from legacy to new technologies
- software development services for many programming languages and technologies including desktop, server, cloud, and web
- implement robust software development protocols including version control, documentation, testing and build processes
- implement open source projects and advise on open source licensing (see OpenCDSS for an example of implementing open source software for the State of Colorado)
- implement solutions for time series and spatial data visualization and analysis
- evaluating and integrating open source and non-open technologies
- provide training to software development staff, including implementing an agile approach
- consulting on information technologies, especially for government and nonprofit organizations in the water sector
Example Software: SNODAS Tools Software for Tracking Snow Water Supply (open in new tab)