Open Source Summit North America 2017

There is much discussion about systemic actions and attitudes that have been the basis for so much homogeneity and exclusiveness in large corporations. Patriarchy. Ageism. Cultural Biases.

But according to a recent​ ​McKinsey & Company study​, companies in the top quarter for racial diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns higher than the national median in their industry, while gender diversity boosts performance by an additional 15%.

So what if we take the mathematical processes that built up those systemic attitudes as the norm, and break them down to their theoretical origins, in order to recalculate a sustainable procedure that would intentionally include diversity, equity and inclusion in its make-up?

And then make that the new norm? And actually positively affect the bottom-line of the organization?

Takeaways include:

• How mathematical theory shows up in human relationships 
• What natural pattern-making can be re-worked for team wellness 
• Diagramming a defined approach for an inclusive corporate environment for all cultures, disciplines, genders and generations

Join Munira in this discussion about how technology plays a vital role in bringing magical worlds to the silver screen.  In this talk, Munira will discuss her journey from growing up as a minority in a small town to becoming a senior technology manager at a major Hollywood studio. She will talk about her experience in finding her voice in a male dominated field and share what she has done to encourage more women into the tech community.

This paper describes various social innovations that can help people around the world embrace open source solutions for social causes. Social innovation from environment and energy conservation to health and education for the development of the community and the world at large is the call of the day.

Societies today are rattled by crisis in various areas: finance, environment, energy, commute, agriculture, healthcare, sanitation, and many more. We see many social innovations getting churned out in these areas with companies and individuals creating apps and solutions for mobile or computer to tackle the crisis. Individuals and communities are uniting to bring in innovative sustainable solutions, and experimenting with novel ideas to communicate, think, work, and live together. This brings us to the next question - How do we help the society in different geographies learn from each other and help each other and finally the world at large. How do we transfer that abundant knowledge - Open Source of course!!

This presentation is intended to bring in social innovation solutions for various areas like environment, energy, education, health, agriculture, fisheries, commuting, working conditions, weather and many more. Some of these ideas are described here.

Case study 1: Agriculture (age/economic status related diversity)
Kishan is an old farmer in rural India. His crops sometimes fail and do not give the expected harvest. See how an app can solve all this problems.

Case study 2: Sanitation (gender/economic status/disability related diversity)
Anamika is in a remote village which lacks sanitation. See how social innovation can change her life.

Have you ever been told that you aren't a *real* software engineer? This is a story about resilience, self-care, and why qualifications are overrated. Join Amy on her personal journey from pre-med cellular biology and neuroscience major, to tech Youtuber, to founder of an 8.5K online community, to working at an open source container startup. She will discuss depression, burn out, self care, putting women on pedestals, and being authentic. This is a talk about pursuing your aspirations in spite of fear.

For all kids to learn coding, schools and communities need to get involved. For that to happen, the solution is free resources running on open source platforms. Keith Wilson continues to design and implement videos and pdfs while delivering workshops to teachers and administrators who are encouraged to plan content where coding is 'instead of' not 'in addition to'. Coding sessions in classrooms and other venues quite often use donated laptops refurbished with Linux distros including Mint and Ubuntu running, among other things, Scratch, GIMP, Pinta, Bluefish, Chromium and Spyder. Keith's most recent venture, using W3CSS website design for major upgrades to his own websites, have produced videos explaining the process. Learning to code is a right not a privilege and should be free. Keith is looking forward to sharing his experiences and learning from others doing similar good things.

We often talk about getting more people into tech and that way is coding. However that is only a sliver of tech. In my talk, I will show how we need diversity in education, training, hackathons, meet ups, mobile conferences, and mentoring.

The technology industry has been a major source of innovation and economic growth, but its ability to encourage diversity among its ranks lags. In 2016, women and underrepresented minorities accounted for 30% of the larger tech industry, while comprising roughly 10% of the Linux and OpenStack communities. To harness the full power of technology to tackle a broader set of societal challenges will depend, in part, on our ability to encourage a diversity of ideas, experiences and talent. Join us for an interactive discussion as we explore the numbers and what they mean, and in turn, discuss concrete, actionable steps that we can collectively take to foster a diverse, inclusive environment within our larger open source community.

Enough is enough! It’s time for action and collaboration on diversity & inclusion in open source. We’re missing out on perspectives, and experiences that can drive innovation for a better world. It’s not enough to count who makes it through the gauntlet of challenges in open source projects; and it's not enough measure event by diversity on stage. We have a long way to go - and innovation is key.

This year Mozilla is investing in action by developing a D&I strategy for communities based on findings in a long series of focus groups, 1:1 interviews and data analysis. In this session you’ll hear about key themes, challenges and opportunities Mozilla is investing in through innovative action - prototyping and learning - and how we intend to build bridges between our work and other open source communities... starting now!

The last few years has seen an explosion in news articles and media focusing on the Diversity and Inclusion issues in the tech world, specifically, Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. Millions of dollars have been spent by tech companies and organizations on touting their diversity numbers and portraying their unflinching commitment to increasing diversity and inclusion. The recent trend to staff up engineers to work on open source projects is gaining steam and bringing to light an even harsher climate for diversity efforts in the open source world.

A closer look at the numbers reveals that this specific needle is either not moving at all or moving in the wrong direction. The numbers are particularly disconcerting if one looks at the technical side of things. While some of the numbers have moved positively, we seem to have reached a plateau regardless of funding and awareness. What are the reasons for this? Shouldn’t we be seeing continued positive movement regarding this issue after all the hoopla? After all, open source is for everyone, not just the select, appointed few, right?

This talk will present some factual stories, statistics and real-world reasons on why all the talk and funding from companies and organizations towards diversity and inclusion is missing the mark. Rupa will, also, propose some solutions to address some of the issues.

The OpenStack Gender Diversity Report published earlier this year [1] provided an initial view of the gender diversity within this community. The report studied both leadership and technical contributions, revealing that women occupy 20% of leadership positions, while accounting for 10% of technical contributions. This talk aims to apply this experience—quantitative analysis, open discussion, and community feedback—to strengthen diversity and inclusion within the Linux community.

This interactive discussion is organized into two parts, with specific focuses—a session, and a BoF discussion. The session (Part I) focuses on the tool that was used to capture the data for the OpenStack Gender Diversity report—its dashboard, widgets, queries and capabilities—with emphasis on how this tool can be applied to diversity research across other open source communities. Attendees will have the opportunity to play with the tool, and explore how it can be deployed to help further diverse, inclusive teams.

The BoF discussion (Part II) focuses on lessons learned from the earlier OpenStack Gender Diversity research, and aims to collect real-time feedback from attendees about what additional parameters and aspects they’d like to see us capture and analyze in future OpenStack Gender Diversity reports. The goal is to continually evolve and enhance this research based on community input, and to explore its application to the Linux community

[1] http://superuser.openstack.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/OpenStack-Gender-Diversity-Report_Apr2017.pdf

While the volume on the industry-wide ‘women in tech’ narrative has never been higher, it lacks an intimate understanding of what it’s like for women in tech today, right now. Until we really understand their stories, we’ll be unable to harness the visibility this topic is receiving for real impact or change. The result so far is clear: stagnation or decline in the number of women in CS programs or in tech overall. Cloer is in production on a documentary film titled “Chasing Grace’ that seeks to address the obstacles women face and share stories of how these women are navigating alternative paths, sometimes redefining what it means to be successful. The film aims to provide the blueprint for other women in tech to navigate their own journeys. You can’t be what you can’t see. The stories from the film are unique because they’re all too rare, but they’re also so compelling that they can inspire other girls and women to seek their own pathways to building technology, leading companies, earning more and changing the world around them. Women represent more than 50 percent of the population but aren’t given the same opportunities to succeed. This inequality impacts each woman individually but its impact is much bigger than that. In a world where all jobs are increasingly tech jobs, if women can’t access the same opportunities in tech or choose not to pursue them, the very fabric of our economy is at risk.

This panel will include 2-3 women from the film, who will share their stories. Cloer will moderate. The trailer for the film and its Kickstarter campaign will launch during this time, so the topic will be timely and relevant. The Summit attendees will be among the first to see the trailer.

Good things happen when we come together to create something new. Connections are formed. Discoveries are made. Fresh ideas emerge. And obstacles are overcome. That's why Red Hat believes that creative collaboration is the best way to make the world a better place — and to forge lasting friendships.

Enter CO.LAB – a program designed to introduce middle school girls from underserved areas to the principles of open source -- and to a world of technology and collaboration that they may not have otherwise considered.

Collaboration is a powerful driver of innovation and discovery, and open source methodology is a key part of STEAM education. John will talk about the details of the CO.LAB program and how through the program, Red Hat is empowering young girls with collaborative skills that will help them succeed in their pursuit of science, technology, engineering and math careers.

Open source overall remains remarkably undiverse, with the latest GitHub survey finding about 3% women contributors, but communities that are making an effort to improve diversity are seeing results. Learn about several major efforts over the last seven years that have had an impact: Outreachy, the Ada Initiative, Python community outreach, the Women in Open Source Award sponsored by Red Hat, and the Open Source Day and Track at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Hear about emerging trends, such as efforts being made to reach people from a broader set of underrepresented backgrounds and the establishment of paid positions and consulting opportunities for people working to improve diversity and inclusion in open source. You will leave with a good grasp of the history of diversity efforts in open source and inspiration to connect with at least one of them!

Let's admit it, if we are not actively inclusive, then we are excluding. A successful team (and hence the organization) can achieve success by encouraging diversity in thought, opinion, background, creativity, and gender, among many other factors. In this session, I will share my story about how I started as a little caterpillar in South India and metamorphosed to a Product Marketer in South Bay Area with a strong community around me. I will share the aspects that have worked well along with the ones that haven't worked for me and in my community.

The SUSI AI project is inspired by personal assistants like Alexa Echo or Siri. However, the Open Source AI is programmed with Skills (AI Conversational Rules) by women in Vietnam and across Asia. Our goal is to make young women self-aware of their abilities, to encourage them to take part in technological development and take control of technology and their lives as artists, engineers, and developers or any way they like.

SUSI is capable of chat and voice interaction and by using APIS to perform actions such as music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, and other real time information. Additional functionalities can be added as console services using external APIs. Susi AI is able to answer questions and depending on the context will ask for additional information in order to perform the desired outcome. The core of the assistant is the Susi AI server that holds the "intelligence" and "personality" of Susi AI.