“Software and source codes” College: Minutes from the work session, November 30th 2023
Authors:   UPCité - Université Paris Cité, Di Cosmo Roberto ,   Software Heritage,   Inria, Pellegrini François ,   LaBRI - Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique,   TADAAM - Topology-Aware System-Scale Data Management for High-Performance Computing,   UB - Université de Bordeaux, Giraud Mathieu ,   Algomus,   BONSAI - Bioinformatics and Sequence Analysis,   CRIStAL - Centre de Recherche en Informatique, Signal et Automatique de Lille - UMR 9189, Gruenpeter Morane ,   Inria,   Software Heritage, Le Berre Daniel ,   CRIL - Centre de Recherche en Informatique de Lens, Louvet Violaine ,   LJK - Laboratoire Jean Kuntzmann, Granger Sabrina ,   Software Heritage
Published: December 2024

Academia has increasingly recognized software as an essential tool, product, and subject of study. In this regard, the "Software, Pillar of Open Science" (SPOS) workshop, held on November 29th, 2023, was a significant event organized by the French Committee for Open Science. This workshop brought together a large array of diverse high-level stakeholders, including public and private funders and infrastructure representatives, along with researchers and software engineers. The event was structured to facilitate a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between software and open science. The SPOS 2023 workshop addressed several pivotal themes:  Recognizing and Supporting Software Dissemination: This session, chaired by Mathieu Giraud (CNRS, University of Lille) and Violaine Louvet (CNRS, Grenoble Alpes University), delved into the importance of career recognition and making research software contributions visible. The panellists explored methodologies for cataloguing research software, monitoring its evolution, and recognizing software contributions in academic careers.  Software's Role in Research Reproducibility: Chaired by Nicolas Rougier (Inria, University of Bordeaux, CNRS), this panel focused on the crucial contribution of scientific software to research reproducibility, discussing challenges, opportunities, and best practices in the field.  Social Impact and Sustainability of Publicly Funded Research Software: Led by Daniel Le Berre (University of Artois, CNRS), this session explored the broader impact and sustainability of research software from financial, organisational, and technical perspectives. All along the workshop, the distinguished speakers and panellists from various sectors contributed to rich insights, sharing experiences and viewpoints on the multiple dimensions of research software in open science. Following the impactful discussions of the SPOS 2023 workshop, a private meeting was convened the day after, on November 30th, to tackle these issues more deeply. Held at the Ministry of Higher Education Research and Innovation in Paris, this meeting was structured around four breakout sessions focusing on key areas:  Catalogues of research software  Sustainability  Software forges  Recognition of software production in academic careers. These sessions enabled an extensive exploration of the stakes raised during the workshop. The more informal format eased nuanced discussions and collaborative brainstorming among experts in the field. This report, focusing on the private meeting, aims to capture the essence and outcomes of these breakout sessions, providing insights into the future direction of software in open science.