Open Source Consortium - UK

= Free Software Trade Association for the UK

URL = http://www.opensourceconsortium.org

Description

Mark Taylor:

"The aims of the OSC are simple, and related to our status as the Free Software Trade Association:

1) Represent the interests of the emerging *Industry* around Free Software.

2) Grow the Free Software *market* in the UK and Europe.

It is very clear that there are excellent organisations representing the *community* around Free Software and Open Source, the FSF and OSI being just two examples. The OSC seeks to represent the *industry* perspective, and hence concentrate on business, economic and political issues.

You could say:

• The community position is "Free, as in 'speech'".

• The monopolist position is "Free, as in 'worthless'".

• The OSC position is "Free, as in 'markets'".

Our membership ranges from locally-focused micro businesses to globally recognised players, from specialist providers in Free Software niches to service companies covering the entire enterprise stack. We have companies in every part of the UK, and companies that cover all of it. Companies with European presence, and even some with global presence. We also have associate and individual membership for people who wish to support our campaigning activities. A complete list of OSC members can be found at www.opensourceconsortium.org" (http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=244&blogid=14)

Background

President Mark Taylor, interviewed by Glyn Moody:

"GM: Could you say a little about the background to the Open Source Consortium – when and why it was founded, what its aims are, and who are some of its members?

MT: The OSC is the trade body for Free Software companies in the UK and was publicly launched in November 2004.

The idea for the OSC came out of some advisory work I was doing at the time with Socitm. Socitm are the professional association for ICT managers working in and for the public sector. The chair of their newly formed 'Open Source' group claimed that the reason the UK Public Sector was way behind the rest of Europe, and way behind the UK Private Sector in their uptake of Free Software was that:

1) They didn't know where to find companies that specialise in Free Software.

2) Even if they did, those companies were individually very small, and Public Sector companies couldn't take the risk of doing business with them. He further claimed that if all the UK companies could be brought together as a trade body, these two problems would be solved at one stroke, and Public Sector bodies across the UK would start using Free Software.

So we kept *our* side of the deal..." (http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=244&blogid=14)