OpenUK strengthens world leading Board with six new appointments

OpenUK, the not for profit organisation representing the UK’s Open Technology sector, has announced the appointment of a new Chair and Board Members that will strengthen its already impressive Board. The new appointments include:

• Andrew Wafaa, Senior Director and Fellow, Arm - Chair

• Emma Thwaites, Director Corporate Affairs, Open Data Institute - Director

• Hiren Parekh, Director, WIT Consulting - Director

• Liz Rice, Head of Open Source, Isovalent - Director

• Lorna Mitchell, Vice President Developer Experience, Redocly - Director

• Martin Woodward, Vice President Developer Relations, GitHub - Director

• Rebecca Rumbul, Executive Director and CEO, Rust Foundation - Director

The new appointments bring depth of experience and leadership in global open source software and open data to OpenUK, with UK based leaders from across global projects and communities joining to support the organisation representing the UK’s open technology sector internationally.

“The additions to our Board are globally recognisable names in the Open Technology world and reflect the UK’s strength in this space. Today, as we watch governments grapple with open source software, AI and security, we see open source underlie the vast majority of technology innovation. While the UK is a hotbed of development around open source, many companies that need investment still head to the Bay Area as they scale. We want to make the UK a viable alternative for companies to build their operations with more investment support and opportunities to complement the skilled individuals and community developments already in place. We continue to work with the UK Government and the private sector around these objectives, and our new Board Members will accelerate that work,” said Amanda Brock, CEO of OpenUK.

The new Board members’ demonstrable expertise brings further deep skills to the heart of OpenUK’s purpose - “UK leadership and global collaboration in Open Technology”.

These appointments will be accompanied by an increased focus on the UK marketplace to influence increased investment in open source skills across the whole of the UK, encouraging contribution to global open source projects by individuals, with the potential impact in the long-term of stemming talent migration from the UK.

An additional local focus will be enhancing understanding of technology and open source within the Government. This is particularly relevant to the UK as a centre of excellence in open source software, as the Political Parties look to draft their manifestos, with a significant digital component, for next year’s election.

“A thriving open source software ecosystem is critical to the continued innovation in our industry, and the UK has a significant role to play in driving policy and best practices around all aspects of open source with both Government and industry. As such I’m honoured and grateful to be able to play my part in delivering OpenUK’s aim of having open software, data and standards adopted as the default within the UK,” said Andrew Wafaa, Arm.

“OpenUK is the voice of Open Source in the UK, and a prominent and influential international advocate for UK Open Source talent and expertise. I am delighted to be joining a Board composed of global leaders and innovators to champion our OSS communities in the UK, that contribute billions in value to this vital industry,” said Rebecca Rumbul, Rust Foundation.

“The UK has the opportunity and the talent to punch above its weight in the global technology industry, and we have a great track record of innovation and engineering capability. OpenUK plays a key role in coalescing our community around open source” said Liz Rice, Isovalent.

With these appointments, OpenUK will have a Board of twelve people, six of whom are women. The organisation is committed to reflecting the diversity of the open source technology community and increasing opportunities for all members to get involved in Open Technology. At the organisation’s first annual conference, State of Open Con, in February 2023, 44% of speakers identified as women or non-binary, while almost 40% of delegates that attended the event were women or non-nary as well. At the event, 49.3% of delegates classed themselves as not white caucasian.