Projects/KDE Research/charter

1 Introduction

1. The KDE project is run by a vibrant worldwide community that continuously develops and implements innovative technologies backed up by scientific research. In practice, research and development are integral aspects of the KDE project.
2. Like most community-driven projects, the research work within KDE is spread over a plethora of projects. Projects are often clustered around particular (key) applications, each involving a small number of key developers.
3. In this complex network of projects, it often goes unnoticed that efforts could be closely aligned with the goals of national and international funding agencies. This is mainly due to the fact that the individual developers lack the necessary knowledge, time and experience to bring the project to the funding agencies' attention, and rather do what they are good in: developing outstanding software.

2 Goals and Vision

1. The purpose of the KDE Research Working Group is to be a focus point for KDE related research.
2. The KDE Research Working Group envisions the KDE project adopting its natural position within various research programmes as open source consortium partner in the leading open innovation networks of the global IT industry.
3. In order to achieve this, KDE Research aims to develop and execute a coherent research strategy for the KDE community based on the community's core values and its core competencies.

3 Strategy

1. The KDE Research Working Group sees collaborative research as an opportunity to distinguish itself as a new type of consortium partner, and to obtain human and financial resources for the KDE project.
2. Therefore, the KDE Research Working Group strategy includes strengthening and extending the relationship of the KDE community with various industry forces.

4 Tasks

The Tasks of the KDE Research Working Group will be as follows:

• Undertaking strategy planning and helping to identify focus areas for KDE related research,
• Collecting, evaluate and plan research projects,
• Matching KDE developers with research partners who will coordinate, (partially) finance and/or participate in the project,
• Setting up and maintaining a supporting infrastructure and organisation
• Providing a supporting coordination platform that assists existing and aspiring researchers by:
  • Creating awareness of funding opportunities,
  • Assessing and tracking funding possibilities,
  • Disseminating funding opportunities within the KDE community,
  • Providing support during funding processes.

4 Organisation

1. The KDE Research Working Group is an official body of the KDE e.V.
2. In the KDE Research Group exist:
   • the KDE Research Strategic Team,
   • the KDE Research Support Team,
   • the KDE Research Project Teams.
3. The tasks of the KDE Research Strategic Team are:
   • attending funding agencies conferences presenting funding programs,
   • identifying important research topics, and topics covered by current KDE projects,
   • finding research and industry partners, e.g. through the Corporate Program
   • evaluating research proposals,
   • communicating with KDE e.V. and funding agencies
   • collaborating with other bodies of the KDE community, such as the KDE Marketing Working Group, in particular during report publication and to share information on our projects and partners,
   • strategic communication
4. The tasks of the KDE Research Support Team are:
   • day-to-day coordinating communication with KDE Research Community members
   • writing and proofreading project proposals for the funding agencies,
   • writing and publishing reports on the KDE Research activities,
   • collaborating with the Marketing Working Group, in particular during report publication and to share information on our partners,
   • collaborating with the KDE Marketing Team, in particular during report publication and to promote our projects,
   • iteratively improving the processes and tools required to perform the aformentioned tasks.
5. The tasks of the KDE Research Project Teams are:
   • project execution, research and development
   • day-to-day communication with KDE Research Support team
   • generating and working out project ideas for proposals,
   • writing and publishing reports on the KDE Research activities,
   • providing feedback on the processes and tools required for the aformentioned tasks.