State of Open: The UK in 2023 Report
In our third year of reporting on Open Source Software and the UK we have a four phase report.
You can see this and our past years of reporting below.
Thanks to everyone who has inspired and participated in #stateofopen
Phase 1: “A Year in Review” – Published March 2023
Phase 2: “Show us the Money” – A 2-part report focusing on Economics, Business and AI – Publishing 13 July 2023, launching with an analyst briefing
Phase 3: “Skills or Bust” – focus on Skills, the Future of Work and Software Security – Publishing 6 September 2023, launching at Civo Navigate
Phase 4: “Sustainability and Green Software” – Publishing November during COP28
State of Open: The UK in 2023 Report Launch
State of Open: The UK in 2023, Phase Two “Show us the Money”
State of Open: The UK in 2023 Phase One
2022 A Year in Review, Scene Setter
The UK hits 3million GitHub accounts, number one in Europe, and with 4.5% of the population more per capita than any country in world.
State of Open: The UK in 2023, Phase One
Released: 20 April 2023
Phase One of 4 Phases of State of Open:The UK in 2023 Reporting
State of Open: The UK in 2022 Report
State of Open: The UK in 2022 – Report Launch Videos
State of Open: The UK in 2021
State of Open Phase One
Literature overview of the State of Open, using existing materials including the soon to be published European Commission report, Harvard and Linux Foundation, CNCF, IBM and Red Hat Cloud reports and Tidelift report along with interviews.
Key Findings: The UK is a centre of excellence in open source software; open source software contributes up to £43.1billions to the UK economy; and the UK is Europe’s number one contributor and one of the biggest contributors to open source software in the world.
Phase One was sponsored by GitHub, Open Invention Network and SUSE.
State of Open Phase Two
Survey undertaken across UK Business and Industry in Q2, 2021, with output and case studies.
Key Findings:97% Of UK Organisations Use Open Source technologies and 89% run opens source software, According To OpenUK Survey; 53% of non-tech organisations contribute to open source software projects; 77% of UK public sector looks to open source for skills development; and Just over half (54%) have written policies and processes for open source contributions
According to the report’s research, the vast majority of respondents (89%) run open source software internally in their business, while approximately two thirds (65%) contribute to open source software projects. This demonstrates the commitment that the UK has to contributing to open source, either through leading projects that are used internationally or by helping international projects to improve.
The main reasons for adopting open source were cited as saving on costs (75%), more collaboration (72%), skill development (64%), the quality of code (61%) and security (52%).
Phase Two has been sponsored by GitHub.
State of Open: The UK in 2021, Phase 2 and Survey interview of Dr Jennifer Barth by OpenUK CEO, Amanda Brock
State of Open: The UK in 2021, Phase 2
Case Studies
State of Open Phase Three
Key findings:
This Report has been produced on behalf of OpenUK by Smoothmedia.
Jennifer Barth Research Director, Smoothmedia.
State of Open: Phase 3 interview with Rob McQueen, Board Director, OpenUK and Jennifer Barth, Director of Research, Smoothmedia
State of Open: Phase 3 Case Studies
About Symmetry
Symmetry is OpenUK’s Report Partner and works closely with the team at OpenUK led by CEO and Chief Policy Officer, Amanda Brock. Its mission is to share and grow knowledge about everyday lives. We want to understand the past, present, and future of human interaction with emerging technologies and socioeconomic changes—from behaviour to context, nature to nurture, origin to experiences—so we can help our clients engage their clients and the public imagination.
Symmetry looks beyond the surface and behind the curtain of the fundamental innovations and trends shaping our society, markets, culture, and values. We are academics and researchers looking at the intersections of emerging technology and socioeconomic impact, producing independent research for thought leadership and business solutions.
Symmetry’s mission is to share and grow knowledge about everyday lives. We want to understand the past, present, and future of human interaction with emerging technologies and socioeconomic changes—from behaviour to context, nature to nurture, origin to experiences—helping our clients engage their clients and public imagination.
Dr. Jennifer Barth
Dr Jennifer Barth, founder of Symmetry and OpenUK’s Chief Research Officer, is an experienced ethnographer and social researcher, with a DPhil from the University of Oxford. Her work is informed by empirical research on the intersections of emerging technologies and socioeconomic change. She provides companies with thought leadership and media engagement opportunities on global issues impacting and shaping our current and future socio-cultural lives.