Background

The EdWeb code sprints run collaboratively by IS Apps and LTW WAC are fostering a community of Drupal developers around the University and facilitating contribution to the development of the EdWeb CMS and Distribution.  In EdWeb we can build on principles of collaboration and open source development that are already embedded in the wider Drupal community.  This project will explore opportunities to take this kind of event further, extending the potential for collaboration to other services.  The Software Development Community of Practice provides us with a pool of developers with a broad range of skills around the University who might be interested in this type of event.  

For further background on our code sprints and the idea behind them, please see this blog post outlining an initial set of principles based on our first code sprint in 2016. 

The project will begin in December 2017, with planning and analysis expected to continue from the start of the project until February 2018.  The candidate selection and code sprint event will take place between March and June 2018.  Follow-up and completion of documentation arising from the project will take place in June and July, with the project expected to run until the end of July 2018.

Tasks

Below is a broad outline of the tasks for this project.  

•  Identify some generic Code Sprint 'working principles' from our experience of running the EdWeb code sprints.
• Identify a candidate service or services where there is potential for this kind of collaboration.
• For each candidate service, collaborate with service owners and developers familiar with the service to identify a short set of Code Sprint 'candidates', i.e. pieces of work that would be manageable for Code Sprint attendees to tackle.
• Gauge interest, set dates, plan and run at least one non-EdWeb Code Sprint.
• Follow-up work to progress tasks to completion, collaborating with Code Sprint attendees after the event.
• Elaborate the initial set of generic Code Sprint 'working principles' further to provide a framework for future sprints and facilitate wider use of this technique.

Deliverables

The main deliverables of this project will be:

• one or more non-EdWeb Code Sprints;
• a documented set of Code Sprint 'working principles' made available for service owners to follow as a guide for future similar events.

Goals/Benefits

Below are the main goals and benefits anticipated as outcomes of this project.

• Share our standards and processes more widely.
• Encourage open source collaboration practices for our services.
• Identify aspects of our working practices that hinder this kind of collaboration so that we can improve our processes, since processes that facilitate collaboration tend to be more streamlined and efficient as well as making it easier to apply best practices.
• Forge tighter links between the developers around the University.
• Contribute to the wider strategic goal of encouraging a common, coherent approach to addressing the needs of our Students and Staff.
• Depending on the service we identify to explore use of Code Sprints, we may be able to involve Students in the event, allowing them to learn from our processes and us to learn from their ideas about the services they use.