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Dear Readers,
2026 got off to a flying start with our 6th Honours List. And what a list it is, with incredible talent across the UK’s open tech industry again being recognised. If you haven’t seen the list, do take the time to have a look.
We are already focused on the Global AI Impact Summit taking place in Delhi, India on 16-20 February. I am listed as a keynote speaker and invited to the world leaders’ summit, but where we will also be participating in and hosting events. We will produce a special newsletter sharing more information about this.
My recent trip to China has also inspired a collaboration with the Chinese open source ecosystem, and we are now working on pulling together a China AI Openness report along the lines of the one we did for the India landscape in November.
OpenUK 2026 Honours List
This year, the Honours list is broad and incorporates not only software contributors and maintainers, hardware, data, but also AI and those building community and managing governance in open source. This includes the founders of MCP who are based in London. You can see details of our full 2026 list below.
SOOCon26 On The Road
A reminder that SOOCon26 is going on the road this year, reconvening in London in February 2027. We hope to confirm all of our dates for the regional events by 31st January, and at present can confirm that we will be at Pembroke College, Cambridge, on 8th July. You can look forward to seeing us in Scotland, Belfast, Bristol and Cardiff too. If you would like to get involved, please drop a note to mailto:admin@openuk.uk
Global AI Impact Summit, Delhi, India
OpenUK will be participating in the global leaders’ sessions at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi, having been invited by the Indian Government to participate. You can look forward to a report from us, along the lines of our report from the Paris Action Summit in 2025.
With our international sister organisation OpenHQ, we will also be hosting a number of events and speaking at events hosted by others as part of the week-long activities that will see Delhi become the epicentre of AI. We will share an update with a list of open source events around Delhi in a special Summit newsletter in February.
Events OpenUK will be at
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Open Source Kigali YouTube Live, “The Future of Open Source and AI in Africa” 25 January 2026, Online |
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India–AI Impact Summit 2026, Keynote 19-20 February 2026, New Delhi |
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Events of Interest
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FOSDEM 26 31st Jan – 1st Feb || In-person || Brussels, Belgium |
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Call for Blogs
Start 2026, by boosting your profile in Open Tech, by writing a blog for OpenUK.
Event Postponed: Roundtable in Parliament,
Filling the Skills Gap with Open Source
We are sorry to share that Sarah Edwards MP, has unfortunately had to cancel this roundtable due to other commitments. We will announce a new date soon.
OpenUK in the Podcast
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Why open source matters – Amanda Brock, CEO, OpenUK on UKTN |
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OpenUK in the Press
- Amanda Brock reviews the 2025 year in this two-part Feature for Computing – Part 1
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Amanda Brock reviews the 2025 year in this two-part Feature for Computing – Part 2
We are keen to hear from anyone who wants to get more involved in our activities, so drop us a note mailto:admin@openuk.uk. Please follow us on LinkedIn to keep up with our news as it happens between newsletters.
Best wishes,
Amanda
Amanda Brock, CEO
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