--- title: "Open science and open source | Nexus Observatory" description: "An observing grid is as trustworthy as what anyone can inspect. The specification, the reference designs, the atlas, the methods and every dataset we may…" url: https://observatory.global/open/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-10-28 --- Open by default Open # Open means you can check it. An observing grid is as trustworthy as what anyone can inspect. The specification, the reference designs, the atlas, the methods and every dataset we may redistribute are public: read them, test them, build on them. Open science, open source, open data. Contributors keep their rights. Principle What is open Open data Open science Contribute Open and enterprise **01** Principle ## No licence, not open. Nothing is labelled open until its licence is recorded. Data whose terms bar commercial reuse or impose share-alike stays off the shared grid, and is listed here instead. **01** ### Licence first Every item names its licence. **02** ### Sources always Every record in the atlas and every network on the grid carries its source and its terms. **03** ### Reproducible Every calculation publishes its formula, its inputs and a worked example you can check by hand. **04** ### Your rights stay yours Contributions come in under an inbound licence. No copyright assignment; your commercial rights remain. **02** What is open ## The stack, item by item, with its terms. From the specification to reference designs: what each item is and where to open it. [Specification Observatory Protocol specificationFunctions, state machines, flows, objects and actors.](https://observatory.global/protocol/) [Catalogue Device classesThe catalogue of device and observatory classes, with CSV and JSON exports.](https://observatory.global/spectrum/) [Guides Templates and country guidesSite templates, country guides and planner band data.](https://observatory.global/countries/) [Methods App methodsEvery calculation with its formula and a hand-derived golden case.](https://observatory.global/learn/) [Atlas Atlas and observing gridObservatories through history and the open networks, each record with its references.](https://observatory.global/observatories/) [Data DatasetsDataset cards for map and network sources, with their upstream terms.](https://observatory.global/credits/) [Software Node agent, conformance tool and SDKsSoftware that speaks the protocol for an instrument or an application.](https://observatory.global/protocol/sdks/) [Hardware Reference designsSites, towers, racks and stations, drawn to scale.](https://observatory.global/protocol/reference-designs/) [Machine-readable Machine layerllms.txt, Markdown twins, JSON and CSV for every page.](https://observatory.global/about/) **03** Open data ## Public networks, on their own terms. The home-page grid is built from openly published station lists. A network appears on it only when its terms permit commercial reuse with no non-commercial or share-alike condition. Everything else is listed here, with the reason it was left out. **Networks listed**: 18 **On the shared grid**: 10 **Positions on the grid**: 40,942 **Data as of**: 2026-10-27 12 of 18 **04** Open science ## Every number here checks by hand. Methods publish their formula, units, assumptions and a hand-derived golden case. Data is described to FAIR and governed to CARE. Qualification states carry their evidence, and can go down as well as up. REPRODUCIBILITY ### Methods with worked examples Line of sight, coverage, link budget, power autonomy, siting cost: each method states its formula, units and assumptions, and carries a hand-derived golden case that the code is tested against. App methods EVIDENCE ### Evidence bundles A device, site or software release reaches a qualification state only with its evidence attached: the manifest, the test plan, the results and who reviewed them. States can go down as well as up. Manifests · test plans · results TRANSPARENCY ### Corrections in public When a record is wrong, the correction is published with what changed, why and when. Superseded values stay readable so anyone can follow the history. Change log ### FAIR How the data is described - **F** Findable: every dataset has a stable identifier and a metadata card. - **A** Accessible: retrievable over open protocols, with terms stated before access. - **I** Interoperable: open formats such as COG, Zarr, GeoJSON and PMTiles, described with STAC where it applies. - **R** Reusable: licence, provenance and method attached to every release. ### CARE Who the data is for - **C** Collective benefit: observing serves the communities on the ground it measures. - **A** Authority to control: communities and Indigenous Peoples decide how data about their lands is governed. - **R** Responsibility: we say how data is used and who it reaches. - **E** Ethics: the rights and wellbeing of people come before reuse. **05** Contribute ## Change the protocol in public. Anyone can propose a change. Proposals are drafted, reviewed and accepted in the open, and land only when their conformance tests pass. The Nexus Consortium stewards the process.[How stewardship works](https://observatory.global/consortium/) Proposal Review Accepted Implemented Returned for changes Withdrawn or rejected Conformance tests pass | Proposal | A written change with motivation, specification text, compatibility notes and a test plan. English and French summaries. | | --- | --- | | Inbound licence | Contributions come in under a developer certificate of origin or a licence-grant agreement, never a copyright assignment. | | Recognition | Credit in the change log and release notes. Opt-in spotlights and hackathons. | ### Enrol an instrument in a few lines. The node agent and SDKs carry the protocol for you: enrolment, TPM attestation, WIGOS description, PTP time and the data stream. enrol.ts TypeScript ``` // enrol a weather station on the grid const node = await grid.enrol({ role: "weather-environment", evidence: await tpm.quote(), describe: { standard: "WIGOS", sensors }, time: { clock: "ptp", profile: "G.8275.1" }, }); // UNENROLLED → DISCOVERED → ATTESTING → … node.on("state", (s) => log(s)); await node.observe(stream); ``` **06** Open and enterprise ## Open here. Enterprise depth on the lines. Everything on the main site is open. When a programme needs a system designed, qualified, deployed and run at scale, each enterprise line has its own site, on the same protocol and the same open records. Main site · open layer ### For everyone Hosts, builders, students, researchers, communities, cities and manufacturers reading the specification. - Protocol specification, states and flows - Atlas of observatories and the observing grid - Spectrum of technologies and reference designs - Methods, data cards and an account to start building Line sites · enterprise ### For programmes Networks, agencies and operators who need a system designed, built and kept running. - Private and federated grids - Hardware, sensors, connectivity and edge AI - Earth observation, field services and data products **—** Begin ## Read it, test it, build on it. Start with the specification, or create an account and run the open tools. [Read the protocol](https://observatory.global/protocol/) [Create account](https://observatory.global/register/) [Stewardship](https://observatory.global/consortium/) © 2026 Nexus Observatory Inc. **Open** [Protocol](https://observatory.global/protocol/) · [Atlas](https://observatory.global/observatories/) · [Open science](https://observatory.global/open/) · [Learn](https://observatory.global/learn/) **Company** [About](https://observatory.global/about/) · [Stewardship](https://observatory.global/consortium/) **Legal** [Privacy](https://observatory.global/legal/privacy/) · [Cookies](https://observatory.global/legal/cookies/) · [Terms](https://observatory.global/legal/terms/) · [Data credits](https://observatory.global/credits/)