Monthly archives: June 2022


OpenUK “State of Open” survey is open

OpenUK’s second “State of Open Survey” #StateofOpen is live and runs until midnight BST on 12 June https://bit.ly/OpenUKStateofOpen2022.

In OpenUK’s first “State of Open : The UK in 2021” Report we began the process of bringing together data for the UK. This country specific data had not been seen before and firmly demonstrated the UK as a world leader in open source software, the biggest centre of excellence in Europe and the 5th biggest contributor globally despite its diminutive size. This year’s report will be a single report and build on the work from last year to look at both the journey organisations go on throughout consumption, to contribution and distribution and the impacts of that maturation, alongside the impact of open source software, being adopted as the spine of the UK’s digital infrastructure.  Time to consider it a public good and to fund it as such?

The 2021 report was three phases:

  • Phase one:  a Literature Review with analysis of the data available in existing reports and in particular a calculation of the economic contribution to GDP based on the Commission’s formula:
  • Phase two: looked at Adoption through the output of a survey across people based in the UK with case studies exploring UK adoption; and
  • Phase three : a shift to the Values of open source software, considering the broader contribution it makes beyond economic contribution, and an attempt to value open source software’s economic contribution looking beyond Total Cost of Ownership… and of course, more case studies, focusing on finance, health care and energy.

The Report was exceptionally well received, largely down to its pragmatic approach.  Silona Bonewald Executive Director of IEEE SA OPEN, added “Oftentimes I need to explain to government officials and those in the public sector why Open Source is so important.  OpenUK State of Open’s reports have been very valuable for bridging that gap.  Even in countries that are very different from the UK people find they can relate to the report content. I have cited these OpenUK reports in so many slide decks –  I have lost count.”

 I can’t overstate the value of this report. It’s rare to find one that delves into the business value of open source and provides numbers to back it up. As an open source strategist, a resource like this is priceless to me,” commented VM (Vicky)  Brasseur, Open Source Business Strategist and author of Forge your Future with Open Source

However, in the last 12 months , three events had a major impact on our thinking: the Log4J security vulnerability, the first Open Technology for Sustainability event at COP26, and the UK Energy Sector Digitalisation Task Force Report calling for an open source software “Spine” for our energy sector and utilities. These affected OpenUK’s 2022 focus on Security, Skills and Sustainability as the grand challenges in open source software today in the UK and the survey has been significantly adjusted in an attempt to pull this data together. 

The 2022 survey again captures UK adoption levels and data to facilitate an updated calculation of economic value, it also aligns to these challenges with a deep dive into the impacts and consequences of maturing open source software consumption, contribution and redistribution. This will help companies on the journey to open source maturity

The White House’s work with OpenSSF leading to vast sums of money being invested in securing and maintaining open source software may be a tipping point whilst the rest of the world appears to look on. No viable solution to such challenges should ever come from any one country, and it is time to see coordinated thinking across Governments to manage the challenges. 

Outputs of the survey will be used in the “State of Open : The UK in 2022” Report to be published in early July. This will be launched at face to face events across the four nations in the North of England, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, but will also feed into the work OpenUK is doing to establish Societal Value Metrics for Open Technology. The results will feed into our second Open Technology for Sustainability event which will take place in October in Wales. We’ll issue a further report on this and share the analysis and thinking led by our Chief Sustainability Officer Cristian Parrino and our new Sustainability Advisory Board.

Security, funding and investment in open source software are top of both the Enterprise and State agenda. 

 “This Report will underline that there is work to be done to communicate the importance of open source software to the UK, and specifically to support  organisations to create resilience across their supply chains”  commented FlyingBinary’s  Dr Jacqui Taylor, one of OpenUK’s Security Board Advisers. Another of these Control Plane’s Andrew Martin who is also OpenUK’s Chief Security Tech Officer added “This data gives OpenUK an insight into the prevalence of open source within the UK market, and supports our mission of ensuring the right incentives and outcomes for maintainers and end users in a safe and secure manner”.

Dr Jennifer Barth, founder, Smoothmedia and her team supported the innovative approach taken in State of Open 2021 and will again lead the survey analysis. You can also look forward to case studies and opinion pieces from key figures which were super popular in last year’s Report. 

If you have a UK case study you would like to suggest, do get in touch.

And please, if you are based in the UK, take 20 minutes to complete the survey and if you are based elsewhere please share across your networks, 

https://bit.ly/OpenUKStateofOpen2022