FEATURE: OPEN TECHNOLOGY
counterintuitive to the global collaboration at the heart of our open-source ecosystem.
Your background combines law and technology. How has that shaped the way that you, as a person, lead and influence OpenUK?
It means that I straddle a couple of things. I found my tribe when I started working in open source – I love that side of technology. My legal background has allowed me to do policy work because I have spent 25 + years honing my skills. I started working on internet law 25 years ago and learned a lot about how to create laws that work for technology. The ability to take my skills into an open project and then collaborate around that with other legal and technical experts has really shaped our outputs. What we’ ve done is become an industry and a policy organisation, where in other countries those are split into two.
I think this combination is critical because you have to give the community a voice. That was also part of our understanding that we should focus on people, not local companies. Had I not come through that open-source company and community background, I wouldn’ t understand the patterns, the policy and direction of travel, in the way that I do. This has really shaped our work and allowed us to be one of the organisations that shape the direction of travel.
What advice would you give to tech leaders who are willing to embrace open technology?
The starting point is to get a basic understanding. For example, understanding the legal definition of open source is important because it really matters. Open source is dependent on the free flow of code without licensing restrictions. Understanding how commercial restrictions are being added to licences
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