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Open Bioinformatics Foundation
open-in-new
<p> The Open Bioinformatics Foundation is a <a href="/facts/Non-profit/AmXu2c85">non-profit</a>, volunteer-run organization focused on supporting <a href="/facts/Open_source_programming/HzTaB8E9">open source programming</a> in <a href="/facts/Bioinformatics/D5x2L8ee">bioinformatics</a>. The mission of the foundation is to support the development of open source toolkits for bioinformatics, organise developer-centric <a href="/facts/Hackathon/BqwMoH8j">hackathon</a> events and generally assist in the development and promotion of open source software development in the life sciences. The foundation also organises and runs the annual <a href="/facts/Bioinformatics_Open_Source_Conference/WMeQWH9L">Bioinformatics Open Source Conference</a>, a satellite meeting of the <a href="/facts/Intelligent_Systems_for_Molecular_Biology/VHeJzLGX">Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology</a> conference. The foundation participates in the <a href="/facts/Google_Summer_of_Code/M8rDIn6W">Google Summer of Code</a>, acting as an umbrella organisation for individual bioinformatics-related projects. </p><p>The Open Bioinformatics Foundation was started in 2001, arising from the <a href="/facts/BioJava/337yp2fF">BioJava</a>, <a href="/facts/BioPerl/WXlJn3W1">BioPerl</a> and <a href="/facts/BioPython/G0BjqB51">BioPython</a> projects. A formal membership for the foundation was created in 2005. In October 2012, the foundation began an association with <a href="/facts/Software_in_the_Public_Interest/yoEPomot">Software in the Public Interest</a> (SPI), a US-based non-profit which aids other organizations in the creation and distribution of <a href="/facts/Free_software/IaoVtJXn">free</a> and <a href="/facts/Open-source_software/HzTaB8E9">open-source software</a>. The association with SPI allows financial donations to the foundation (these are 501(c)3 tax-exempt in the US). </p><p>The foundation is governed by a board of directors, representing various Bio* projects. As of 2019, the OBF President is Peter Cock (<a href="/facts/BioPython/G0BjqB51">BioPython</a>). Previous OBF presidents include <a href="/facts/Ewan_Birney/0rQu4F60">Ewan Birney</a> and Hilmar Lapp (<a href="/facts/National_Evolutionary_Synthesis_Center/AL2s1RoY">NESCent</a>), previous Board members include <a href="/facts/Steven_E._Brenner/uok8I0As">Steven E. Brenner</a>. </p>