UK must push forward greater use of open tech | Computer Weekly

"While the public sector has adopted open source technologies, there remains little understanding of it, the latest edition of OpenUK’s State of open report has warned.

Phase two: The open manifesto urges policymakers to build skills in open source software, enable the UK public sector to do open source software better and ensure artificial intelligence (AI) openness.

According to OpenUK, the trajectory of open source software adoption over the past decade has outpaced public sector understanding. However, the report highlights poor policies and practices that are “often unfit for purpose”.

OpenUK called on the public sector to develop skills to curate open source well. Policymakers also need to gain a greater understanding of open technologies to avoid the UK continuing to rely on multi-year contracts from what OpenUK calls “legacy IT providers and consultancies”.

To succeed in its aspirations of being a world leader in digital and AI, the UK needs to attract and retain the right tech talent. OpenUK believes this talent can be grown through the support of open source technology and offering those with such skills an opportunity to earn a living...."