Forus

🌐 Visit the Forus Website | ✉️ info@forus.io

Forus provides an open-source platform that allows governments and charitable organizations to issue and manage social benefit policies. The platform supports collaboration between key stakeholders: sponsors, validators, requestors, and providers through a complete set of functionalities that facilitate the entire benefit issuing process.

With Forus, individuals can easily find and apply for available innitiatives (funds). Once eligible, they receive digital vouchers or direct monetary support. These vouchers can then be spent at validated providers, ensuring funds are used as intended. Payments are securely facilitated through the platform, and sponsors benefit from detailed management information to monitor usage and impact effectively.

Four-Role Model

• Requestors: Individuals who apply for social benefits such as subsidies, vouchers, or financial support.
• Sponsors: Organizations, such as municipalities or charities, that create and fund social benefit programs.
• Providers: Vendors or service providers that accept vouchers or benefits as payment for their goods or services.
• Validators: Organizations responsible for reviewing and approving applications to ensure eligibility and compliance.

Our Goals

• Encourage collaboration: Build a platform where social initiatives can connect and complement each other to maximize their impact.
• Streamline access to support: Offer a centralized overview of all available benefits to make it easier for people to find and apply for assistance.
• Simplify the application process: Reduce repetitive data entry by utilizing existing information, improving the user experience for applicants.
• Support local initiatives: Enable organizations to create their own customized websites through a personalized front-end, preserving their unique identity.
• Promote transparency: Provide open access to the platform's code and develop tools that enhance clarity in the fund issuance process.

About Forus

Forus operates as a collaboration between the Forus Foundation (Stichting Forus) and Forus Operations B.V. Together, they form a collective that values transparency and aims to provide the platform as an alternative to closed traditional IT systems used by governmental and charitable organizations. We believe that software used by governments should be transparent, so citizens have the opportunity to understand how these systems work.

The Forus Foundation

The Forus Foundation is dedicated to developing transparent software for social good. It is the steward of the source code for the Forus platform and the mobile application Me. The foundation guards the open-source values and fosters an open community. All code is publicly available for anyone to review and contribute.

Forus Operations B.V.

Forus Operations B.V. offers the platform as a SaaS solution for those who cannot deploy the code themselves. This commercial branch ensures independence and continuity by providing surrounding services such as support, updates, integrations, and security maintenance.

The Me App

The Me app is a companion to the Forus platform, providing a digital wallet and login solution for citizens. With the Me app, citizens can manage their social benefits, track transactions, and use QR codes for payments, all from their mobile devices. Providers can also use the app to accept QR code payments, making transactions efficient and secure.

Key Repositories

• forus
  The core of the Forus platform, an open-source SaaS solution for managing and issuing social benefits. It facilitates collaboration between municipalities, charities, citizens, and providers, streamlining budget allocation, resource distribution, and eligibility validation.

• forus-backend
  The backend of the Forus platform, developed with PHP (Laravel). It handles the core logic, data exchange, and integrations, supporting functionalities like fund management, validation, and payments.

• forus-frontend-react
  The frontend of the Forus platform, built using TypeScript, providing the user interface for managing and interacting with the platform.

• me
  The Me app, a mobile application with wallet functionalities, allows users to manage accounts, access vouchers, make payments, and track transactions.

• me-android
  An Android-specific implementation of the Me app, enabling users to manage accounts, vouchers, and payments through mobile wallet functionalities.

• me-ios
  An iOS-specific implementation of the Me app, enabling users to manage accounts, vouchers, and payments through mobile wallet functionalities.

Open-Source License

The Forus platform and Me app are licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPLv3), allowing users to freely use, modify, and distribute the software. This license ensures transparency, encourages collaboration, and protects the freedom of software for public benefit.

License Terms

1. About the Forus Foundation
   The Forus Foundation aims to provide its software as open-source, preventing vendor lock-in and encouraging improvements through community contributions.

2. License Terms
   The Forus software is free to distribute and modify under AGPLv3. The Forus Foundation retains copyright. The software is distributed without any warranty. For full terms, see AGPLv3.

3. Additional Terms
   Additional terms include requirements to credit the original creators and limitations on using the Forus brand in derivative works. See the LICENSE file for details.

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Contact

For inquiries, please reach out to us at info@forus.io or visit our website at forus.io.