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# IEEE Standards Association Launches an Open Source Collaboration Platform
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/ieee-open-source-collaboration-platform/
- Published: 2020-03-31T11:29:29.000Z
- Updated: 2020-03-31T11:29:29.000Z
- Author: Ankush Das
- Tags: #Import 2022-12-26 08:27

***Brief: IEEE Standards Association has announced a GitLab-based open source collaboration platform. Read how is it different and what advantages it has.***

[IEEE](https://www.ieee.org/about/index.html?ref=itsfoss.com) is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology. The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) is an organization within IEEE that develops global standards in a broad range of industries.

The IEEE Standards Association (SA) has come up with an open-source collaboration platform i.e [IEEE SA Open](https://standards.ieee.org/content/ieee-standards/en/initiatives/opensource/?ref=itsfoss.com).

It is technically a self-hosted GitLab instance combined with [Mattermost](https://mattermost.com/?ref=itsfoss.com) (a [slack alternative](https://itsfoss.com/open-source-slack-alternative/)) and [GitLab Pages](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/pages/?ref=itsfoss.com). To describe it further, the [official blog post](https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-products-services/ieee-standards-association-launches-a-platform-for-open-source-collaboration?ref=itsfoss.com) mentioned: 

> The platform enables independent software developers, startups, industry, academic institutions, and others to create, test, manage, and deploy innovative projects in a collaborative, safe, and responsible environment.

## How is it different or useful?

The main key attraction for this platform would be IEEE’s members’ network, technical expertise, and resources. 

IEEE President, [Robert Fish](https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsfish/?ref=itsfoss.com), also mentions in brief (during an interview with Radio Kan) how it’s different and why IEEE wanted to go with it:

> Today, much of the world’s infrastructure is run by software, and that software needs to comply with standards in communications networking, electrical grids, agriculture, and the like.

It makes sense – if we want to improve standardizing technologies, it highly depends on the software. So, this definitely sounds like something to standardize innovative open-source projects to gear them up for potential capital opportunities as well.

IEEE also clarified that:

> As software becomes increasingly prevalent in the world today, ethical alignment, reliability, transparency, and democratic governance become must-haves. IEEE is uniquely positioned to endow open-source projects with these attributes.

While this sounds good, what exactly the open-source platform by the IEEE offer? Let’s take a look at that:

## IEEE SA Open: Quick overview

![Ieee Opensource](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2020/03/ieee-opensource.jpg)

To start with, it is open to all and completely free to use. You just need to create an [IEEE account](https://www.ieee.org/profile/public/createwebaccount/showRegister.html?ref=itsfoss.com) and then [sign in to the open-source platform](https://opensource.ieee.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) to get started.

Along with the benefits associated with IEEE’s extensive network of Members, you can also expect guidance support from their open-source community managers or community members.

![Ieee Gitlab](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2020/03/ieee-gitlab.jpg)

Ieee Gitlab

The platform presents use cases for both standard and non-standard projects, so you can give it a try.

For its choice to go with GitLab combined with Mattermost and Pages, you get a couple of useful features, they are:

- Project planning and management features
- Source code management
- Testing, code quality, and continuous integration features
- Docker container registry and Kubernetes integration
- Application release and delivery features
- Integrated Mattermost chat forum w/slash commands; (Android and iPhone apps are fully supported)
- Capable of bridging the gap between Standards development and open source communities to allow for the advancement of nimble and creative technical solutions at a faster pace
- A safe open space with an enforced code of conduct

## Wrapping Up

It’s obviously a good thing to have more platforms to potentially amplify the exposure of open-source projects – hence, IEEE’s initiative sounds promising to start with.

What do you think about it? Let me know your thoughts!