FAIRSECO

The UU has developed a software search engine for the worldwide software ecosystem(SearchSECO). They have done so by mining software repositories on the method level, instead of the project or source-code level. Abstract representations of the methods are hashed and stored in a scalable distributed database that stores millions of methods from the most common programming languages. The database can be used to analyze software reuse at the method level, follow method evolution over time, and perform vulnerability detection across multiple projects.

The research software(ReSoft)ecosystem can benefit from this technology, as it enables research software engineers to rapidly find information about research software, that can improve FAIRness. Using a Github action, we try to collect data about a research software project and compile this into a clear and concise overview. In this way we make research software more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR).

The intended beneficiaries of the project are Research Software Engineers (RSEs), who benefit from the FAIRSECO dashboard, which enables them to monitor the impact and FAIRness of their software. Organizations that produce ReSoft can use the tool to report on the impact their software has made. Finally, empirical software engineering researchers can use the content in the SearchSECO DB to analyze the ReSoft ecosystem at a scale that was impossible before.