Open Source: Influencing the Future of Social Impact | Exygy

This post was written by makepath, a spatial data science firm that is heavily involved in giving back to the community through open source software contributions, particularly open source for GIS. 

Open source software development and contributions are a great avenue for technology to champion social good and help address many problems that challenge vulnerable communities.

 Three assets of open source software include:

1. Scalability: The ability to handle the exponential increase in the amount of data generated.
2. Improvements: The opportunity for many eyes on the code.
3. Innovation: A growing community of contributors who bring varied ideas and experiences.

Open source contributors, including IBM and Facebook, have dedicated entire teams to help tackle problems such as extreme poverty and disease outbreaks. Recently, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invested $4.7 million on open source software and open science projects. 

When nonprofits have access to open source tools and technology that supports the work they do, it increases their ability to impact society and humanity in positive ways.