Organization:R Foundation for Statistical Computing

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R Foundation for Statistical Computing
FormationApril 2003; 22 years ago (2003-04)
TypeNon-profit organization
Legal statusActive
PurposeSupport for the R Project and innovations in statistical computing
HeadquartersVienna, Austria
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 48°13′57″N 16°21′26″E / 48.2325°N 16.3571°E / 48.2325; 16.3571
President
Simon Urbanek
Key people
AffiliationsR Core Team
Websitewww.r-project.org/foundation/
RemarksFounded by members of the R Development Core Team

The R Foundation for Statistical Computing is a non-profit organization based in Vienna, Austria, that provides legal and financial support for the R Project.[1] Established in April 2003, it serves as the primary body for holding the intellectual property of the R software environment and for coordinating its global community.[2]

Purpose and activities

The Foundation was created to provide a stable, long-term framework for the development of R, a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. Its primary goals include safeguarding the project's independence and ensuring the software remains available under open-source licenses.[3]

The Foundation's core activities include:

  • Intellectual property management: holding and administering the copyright for the R software and documentation, typically under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
  • Community coordination: organizing the annual useR! conference, the premier international gathering for R users and developers.[4]
  • Scientific communication: publishing The R Journal, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that features research on the development and application of R software.[5]
  • Financial stewardship: receiving and managing donations and membership fees from individuals and corporate sponsors to fund development tasks and infrastructure.

History

The R language was first developed by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at the University of Auckland in the early 1990s. As the user base grew globally, the R Development Core Team was formed in 1997 to maintain the source code.[6]

In 2003, the Core Team members established the R Foundation as a formal legal entity in Austria to provide a centralized point of contact for commercial entities and to manage the project's growing financial needs.[4]

Governance

The Foundation is governed by a board of directors, which has historically consisted of members of the R Core Team. As of 2025, the board includes notable statisticians such as Peter Dalgaard, Kurt Hornik, and Martyn Plummer.[2]

In 2015, the R Foundation became a founding member of the R Consortium, a separate project under the Linux Foundation designed to provide a mechanism for corporate entities to support the R ecosystem through funding for infrastructure and technical projects.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The R Foundation". https://www.r-project.org/foundation/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Board and Auditors". https://www.r-project.org/foundation/board.html. 
  3. ↑ "R: What is R?". https://www.r-project.org/about.html. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Smith, David (2020-07-27). "The History of R (updated for 2020)". https://www.r-bloggers.com/2020/07/the-history-of-r-updated-for-2020/. 
  5. ↑ Dimitrov, Mitko A. (2020-02-15). "R software: unfriendly but probably the best". Croatian Medical Journal 61 (1): 66-68. doi:10.3325/cmj.2020.61.66. PMC 7063554. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7063554/. Retrieved 2025-12-29. 
  6. ↑ Ihaka, Ross (1998). "R : Past and Future History". https://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~ihaka/downloads/Interface98.pdf. 

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