Ana Jimenez Santamaria, The Linux Foundation | Open Source Summit Europe 2022

This is texturing TV. Hey guys, we're back at the open source Summit in Dublin, Ireland. We're gonna be talking with Anna Jimenez Santa Maria who is the program manager for something called to do and we're also gonna be talking about a lot of research that they just came out with or about to launch and it's gonna be an ongoing project and then hopefully all you guys will want to participate in Anna welcome to the show.

Hi welcome. Thank you. So the research program that you guys launched does what exactly what's the goal?

What's the thought process here? And this is this going to be Global for that matter? so today We just announced that ospoken that is one of the micro conference happening here and at open source Summit the hospital survey.

So we have been conducted at the tutor group this over the past five years. So this are the results of this year survey and we are trying to get the pulse of the osbadopsyon across regions and sectors. How is this evolving in Europe?

But also and Asia Pacific time zones and regions and also in the states in Canada. So how this adoption is evolving worldwide and we're at the challenges and if organizations implementing hospitals are seen so benefits of creating this centralized place where open source is Catalyzed and instructor and and see how is this evolving? Are you seeing different patterns in different geographic regions?

I mean or I guess not all folks are the same but do they lean one way for some things and for others and what you know, what what's popping up? Yeah, so indeed, we are saying many different. So to give you some context us posts initially started.

It's All and initially started in in the states in a software organic big corporations, you know AWS Microsoft Google all of them. They have really structure and mature osbos. And in fact, the story of two group is that it started as a group of organizations having a nospo and they wanted to build this common place where they serve common resources best practices in in a transparent way to help them and also have others in their Hospital Journey those organizations that they don't know how to start the North Pole and they need this guidance.

They can go to all these public resources and even serve their learning and contribute to them. So we've seen that from this big corpse only resource that was 10 years ago. It has evolved a lot.

Now for instance in the in the recent results. We we have seen that aspers are being have critical. It's a critical key adoption for small organizations in the agent engineering teams rather than in big corporations and that it's really interesting because for instance in Europe, most of the organizations are not big corporations, there are small and medium ones and over the past years we've seen that this transition that auspice are not only for big corporations, but they can be also important for small to to medium sized companies because it's more not about the The team and building a full-time employees with 10 people, but it's more about is your organization really into open source.

Is it really putting efforts? Into funding open source and take open source. Seriously, are they adopting a strategic posture on open source to increase this continually of the program and on the open source efforts and that is one of those police.

So if an organization no matter the size really cares about open source and all the security and legal aspects and community building and they are really understand the value of giving back to the community and not just consuming. This will be a star in nospo and I think in the iteration results that is something that we are saying we are seeing this kind of mindset chain of in the mindset and the evolution of the Gospel. A lot of companies.

It seems like the spirit is willing. They just don't know how to actually go out and do something and open source and participate with these things. So is this part of the equation is you guys are just trying to figure out a way to make it easier for companies to build these programs get off the ground including all the legal paperwork that goes with that and it's not just about having a bunch of developers that are happy to contribute code.

There has to be some mechanism to make it all happen. Yeah, indeed, in fact and open source program office existed to build this policies and processes that are also so needed and many organizations. In fact, I was reading at so minutes ago the latest report of the Europe Spotlight results and they were saying in Europe that many governments and public institutions.

They have really issues and having clearance on the open source policies and processes to follow. So on usbo can be this vehicle of starring building this processes and policies and give this strategic Vision before doing open source attack. So it's it's that a step of moving from open source at Hawk like, oh my developers because organizations knows that developers are using open source.

And it's like oh, okay. Let's let's see, how can we reduce risk and that's all but we don't care about anything else. So adopting a nose place a way to move in from this open source at Hawk to become more a strategic decision-making partners and Infuse open source learning to the whole organization because it's this layer of and the vehicle to translate open source to the whole teams to all the different teams.

So the value of Open Source, it's clear and there is this Change of mindset in the in the entire organization. It's also become an issue because developers want to work for people who contribute to the open source community. And so it's not just a nice to have for the company.

It's actually becoming a little more strategic at least as I understand it because developers are voting for their feet to go work for companies that contribute to open source. So is that part of the math that goes into creating a program? Oh, yeah, and did there is a question in the in the survey results that are the states like the without the benefits of building an ospo?

So those organizations that have currently in Knoxville. I think it was number two. Benefit was to requit and attain talent.

I think also if you filter between regions, I think that was mainly for Canada and States Osborn organizations while in Europe the main top benefit was driving Innovation and digital transformation. But in fact, it's clearly one of the some one of the many benefits and also can bring to the organization. So in your research that you've done what surprised you is there anything in there that you didn't expect or that kind of left out of you well said I never would have thought that would happen.

So I was I was reading that in Europe there is I think it was 44% of the respondents. Said that they didn't invest in open source mentorship and talent. And I thought like a really a big issue and this they didn't have it didn't differentiate between they had a nest or not.

They were just saying like we know open sources important, but That they are not investing in talent and and and and mentorship and I think this is one of the main first things you need to do. If you really want to have the organization really understand open source and contribute back and engaging communities and also have the team understanding that and know how to contribute. So I see that as an issue and maybe an also can be a solution for that since the North Pole.

It's this place where the organization if they have problems or issues about open source, they can rely on them and they can also act as this mentorship ambassadors and educators of Open Source. So might be might be a potential way to is and and to to help with this issue of lack of mentorship in European regions. and part of the issue becomes if I don't know how to engage then I can't give back to the community and that results in this conversation.

We're having about the imbalance that exists between all the organizations that are consuming open source, but not helping to maintain those projects and they find themselves dependent upon three or four people who are overloaded and we just don't have the mechanisms in place to help those people through these types of programs. So it becomes kind of the almost a virtuous cycle I would think so is that part of the thought process is educating people about hey, if you keep using all this software, you're going to have more log for Jay issues because not enough people are contributing to these projects and this is the mechanism to fix that. um, so I would say aspers act as this partners of an advice organization on which open source projects matters to them which open source this will be taking care about and if they care about them they are using it how to give back to the community.

So at some point I suppose are great resource to open source sustainability in my honest opinion. I've known as that they have been creating great initiatives to help open source sustainability. For instance.

This is public Spotify usbo landed the first fund to to fund independent projects and maintainer from independent projects. And I think that is a big win for both for the organization and also for the open source ecosystem because they thanks to this centralized place inside the organization. They they have voice.

for the organization and they are helping to nurture this open source projects that maybe they they cannot be sustainable in the long term that thanks to this organizations that are given back and they keep training the organization of without what are the next steps to be open source for Citizens and build healthy relationships with the offensive Psycho System. They can they can also invest in open source sustainability. All right.

Thanks for being on the show and sharing your insights. Yeah. Thank you so much.

All right guys, you heard it here in the way to do. The right thing is set up your own little open source program office, and these guys will show you how thanks for watching and we'll be right back.