Nominations have opened for the seventh New Zealand Open source Awards.

The awards began in 2007 as a way to formally celebrate New Zealand's contribution and advocacy for free and open source software and to raise the awareness of its very broad and deep benefits.

The events are sponsored and organised by open source solutions provider Catalyst, a Kiwi owned and operated company with a strong commitment to a culture of collaboration.

In the 11 years since the awards began, the NZ open source landscape has changed in some significant ways.

There are more projects, businesses and individuals creating and using open source software and the ideals behind free and open source software have begun to flow through into other areas of life.

This even extends into political leadership where it has become mainstream to promote the broader use of open source software, data and standards.

In order to make a splash in the open source world and have the best chance of taking home an award, passion is the key ingredient, says Catalyst.

“There are lots of open source projects and contributors that have huge impacts both in NZ and beyond but what sets winners apart is their passion for community, collaboration and sharing. We often see that this also magnifies the impact their work can have.

Previous years winners have included Massey University's internationally renowned Make/Use project, and the Koha project - a library system that was developed in Levin in 1999 and is now used by thousands.

Thanks to the internet, the NZ community has overcome issues of distance and become a real player on the global stage.

It was a New Zealander, Ben Goodger, who was the lead developer on the mould-breaking browser Firefox.

Dr Ross Ihaka is the brains behind the widely used statistical programming package, R, and his work has transformed the ability of researchers across the globe to analyse data in a cost-effective and meaningful way.

We contribute significantly to Moodle, the most widely used learning platform in the world and lead the Mahara electronic student portfolio project.

Catalyst asks that if know about any open source projects, contributors, or significant users, that you nominate them, or yourself, through the NZOSA website.

Nominations close on June 18 and winners will be announced in October during a gala dinner at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington.