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Being a Good Corporate Citizen in Open Source

Presentation by Dawn Foster

2020 CROSS Research Symposium Keynote

Thursday, October 8, 2020

9:20am-10:10am

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Abstract: Collaboration within open source projects is becoming increasingly important for companies, but it can be difficult to strike the right balance between the needs of the company and the open source project. This can create friction and put significant pressure on employees who participate on behalf of their company when the needs of the individual, the company, and the community are not aligned. This talk will focus on ways to create this alignment between individuals, companies, and the community to help all of us be successful together. 

The talk contains three major sections:

  • Dynamics of collaboration in open source projects between individuals, companies, and communities.

  • Strategies for participating in ways that will benefit your company, your employees, and the community.

  • Tips for being a good corporate citizen as you contribute to open source projects. 

 

Bio: Dawn Foster is Director of Open Source Community Strategy within VMware’s Open Source Program Office. She is on the board of OpenUK, an organization committed to developing and sustaining UK leadership in Open Technology. Dawn is on the Governing Board and is a maintainer for the Linux Foundation’s CHAOSS project and is on the Board of Advisors for Bitergia. She has 20+ years of experience at companies like Intel and Puppet with expertise in community building, strategy, open source software, metrics, and more. Dawn holds a PhD from the University of Greenwich along with an MBA and a BS in Computer Science. She has spoken at dozens of industry events, including many Linux Foundation events, OSCON, SXSW, FOSDEM and more.