OpenUK

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OpenUK
Openuk-logo.png
FormationFebruary 16, 2018; 4 years ago (2018-02-16)[1]
TypePrivate company limited by guarantee
Location
  • United Kingdom
Region served
United Kingdom
Key people
Amanda Brock
Websiteopenuk.uk

OpenUK is a UK-based not-for-profit company which supports open source collaboration and open technologies within the United Kingdom. Its primary stated focus is to develop and sustain UK leadership in Open Technology, consisting of open source software, open source hardware and open data.[2] Participants of OpenUK are made up of organisational supporters as well as individual volunteers and committee members, which constitute a body of expertise. OpenUK was identified as a key strategic player in UK open source within the European Commission Open Source Software Country Intelligence Report for the United Kingdom, alongside the British Computer Society.[2] The current Chief Executive Officer and Chief Policy Officer for OpenUK is Amanda Brock.[3]

Organisation[edit]

OpenUK is run by a Leadership Team[4] covering core organizational functions, with thematic activities across its pillars being driven by workstream committees.[5][6] Broken down by pillar, these include:

  • Community: Events, Museums and Awards committees,
  • Legal & Policy: Ambassadors, Cloud and 5G,
  • Learning: Kids Competition and Universities.

The organization operates a supporter system, where individuals can sign up to a monthly membership, conferring board election rights and additional benefits. OpenUK also works with Partner organizations, on individual activities or generally, through donation and sponsorship models. The not-for-profit company is governed by an elected board of directors,[7] which are held accountable to the company as guarantors. The current board appointed in 2020 shall run for two years, due to COVID-19, before having re-elections. OpenUK is registered in England and Wales as a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee.[1]

Activity[edit]

OpenUK's activity is structured across three themes or pillars; Community, Legal & Policy and Learning.

Within the Community pillar, OpenUK runs a number of events and activities to create a voice inclusive of open technology communities across the UK. In 2020, these included the OpenUK Awards recognising achievement within the UK and contribution to UK leadership in open technologies. OpenUK also undertakes external advocacy, and ran an information stand at the European free software conference, FOSDEM in 2020. Organizational support of OpenUK is primarily through donation and sponsorship of its activities.

Under its Legal & Policy umbrella, OpenUK's activities aim to ensure an environment suitable for the use and deployment of open technology in the UK. This includes raising awareness of legal and policy developments within open technology and collaborating on the EU OSOR report on UK open source activity.[8][9]

Within the Learning pillar is promotion of open technology understanding and familiarity amongst young people and adults in the UK, including at school level and at university level.

UK Government Central Digital and Data Office signpost OpenUK as the UK organisation to assist with locating resources to support Open Document Format.[10]

Reports[edit]

Three phase report titled 'State of Open'[11] was commissioned and delivered in 2021.

The register commented on phase two "OpenUK's latest report paints a rosy picture of open source adoption".[12] 'Key Findings: 97% Of UK Organisations Use Open Source technologies and 89% run opens source software'

The third phase, reported by ZDNet [13] suggests 'Putting a value on the use of open-source technologies is challenging but important.'

OpenUK Awards[edit]

A set of awards are run by OpenUK to recognise contribution to the UK open technology environment, divided across a number of categories:

  • Young Person
  • Individual
  • Open Data: for a company, organisation or project
  • Open Hardware: for a company, organisation or project
  • Open Source Software: for a company, organisation or project
  • Open Source Software in Finance and Fintech: for a company or project

Nominations are made early in the year, from which shortlists of 2-3 nominees are created by the Judging Panel. The first awards ceremony was held online in October 2020. The second ceremony, in November 2021, took place in Glasgow following OpenUK's Open Technology for Sustainability Day at COP26 and included two new categories: Belonging and Sustainability.

Awards Judges[edit]

2020

  • Jeni Tennison, CEO - Open Data Institute
  • Henry Nash, CTO Advocacy - Hybrid Cloud
  • Katie Gamanji, Cloud Platform Engineer - American Express

2021

  • Head Judge: Katie Gamanji, Cloud Platform Engineer - American Express
  • Judge: Mauricio Salatino, Principle Software Engineer - Camunda
  • Judge: Blessed Tabvirwa, Lead Software Architect - MEDITECH

List of Winners[edit]

2020

  • Young Person: Josh Lowe
  • Individual: Liz Rice
  • Open Data: National Library of Wales
  • Open Hardware: lowRISC
  • Open Source Software: HospitalRun
  • Financial Services and Fintech in Open Source: Parity

2021

  • Young Person: Samuel Von Stroud
  • Individual: Kevin Mayfield
  • Open Data: Open Knowledge Foundation
  • Open Hardware: DevTank, HILTOP
  • Open Source Software: The Herald Proximity Project
  • Financial Services and Fintech in Open Source: Wise (company)
  • Belonging: Endless Compute
  • Sustainability: Icebreaker One

Kids Competition[edit]

In 2020, the Learning pillar included a Kids' Competition, producing online lessons and distributing interactive kits for teams to show creative use of open technology. Kits consisted of a Micro Bit embedded system and MiniMU glove kits split across teams. Materials were produced including animations and explanations of open source concepts by a number of educationalists and technologists, including Imogen Heap. School and community teams organized at a regional level for heats, through a video submission competition for a range of prizes.[14]

COP26[edit]

Open Technology for Sustainability Day

As part of their Sustainability Strategy and Environmental Policy, OpenUK hosted their Open Technology for Sustainability Day at COP26 in Glasgow as reported by ComputerWeekly.[15]

The day included 5 panels discussing different ways that Open Technology can help in the global fight for more sustainable practices and also included a keynote speech from The Right Honourable Lord Francis Maude of Horsham.

Panels[edit]

Opening Session – Who Cares?

Moderator: Cristian Parrino, Chief Sustainability Officer OpenUK

  • Amanda Brock, CEO OpenUK
  • Faith Boal
  • Ronan Fernandes
  • Femi Owolade-Coombes

Launch of the OpenUK Consortium Carbon Negative Data Centre Blueprint

Introduction by Moderator: Cristian Parrino, Chief Sustainability Officer OpenUK

  • Amanda Brock, CEO, OpenUK
  • Leanne Kemp, CEO, Everledger
  • Lucy Yu, Director, Octopus Energy Centre for Net Zero
  • Max Schulze, Executive Chairman, Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance

Open Collaboration Opening Sustainability led by Red Hat

Introduction by Moderator: Grainne Hamilton, Co-Founder, InterChange

  • Catherine Stihler, CEO, Creative Commons
  • Salem Avan, Director, United Nations
  • Chris Baynham-Hughes, Customer Innovation Advocate, Red Hat

Opening Up the Energy Sector

Moderator: Gavin Starks, CEO, Icebreaker one

  • Helen Crooks, Head of Data, OFGEM
  • Lonneke Driessen, Director of Standardisation, ElaadNL (Open Charge Alliance)
  • Dr Richard Dobson, Practice Manager – Data Systems, Energy Systems Catapult

OpenUK – building the Sustainable Open Future for the UK

Introduction by Moderator: Matthew Barker, President and Founder JetStack and OpenUK Entrepreneur in Residence

  • Liz Rice, Chief Open Source Officer, Isovalent and Chair CNCF Technical Oversight Committee
  • Lowena Hull, OpenUK Kids Course Creative Director
  • Amanda Brock, CEO, OpenUK
  • Will Page, Economist and Author

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Companies House: OPENUK".
  2. ^ a b "OSOR Open Source Software Country Report 2020: UK" (PDF).
  3. ^ "We are Tech Women: Amanda Brock".
  4. ^ "Leadership Team". openuk.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Leadership Team".
  6. ^ "WorkStreams and Activities".
  7. ^ "OpenUK Board". openuk.uk. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  8. ^ "OpenUK collaborating with the European Commission OSOR report enriching content covering UK open source".
  9. ^ "Linux desktop org GNOME Foundation settles lawsuit with patent troll".
  10. ^ "Using Open Document Formats (ODF) in your organisation".
  11. ^ "OpenUK Report State of Open: The UK in 2021".
  12. ^ ""OpenUK's latest report paints a rosy picture of open source adoption"".
  13. ^ ""Open-source software: Nine out of 10 companies use it, but how much is it really worth?"".
  14. ^ "OpenUK schools competition uses MiniMU Glove, Red Hat also lends a hand".
  15. ^ ""OpenUK widens open path to carbon-neutral future"".
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