Episode 7: Sustaining Open Source Projects in the International Development and Humanitarian Sector with Heath Arensen

Sponsors



Gitlab Commit




Adventures in DevOps




Cachefly


Panel



Eric Berry




Joined By Special Guest: Heath Arensen
Episode Summary

Heath Arensen is the Director of Business Planning and
Sustainability at the Digital Impact Alliance's Open Source
Center. He also supports Open Source projects with consulting and
advising in Business Models for sustainability.


The discussion opens with a discussion about a quote Heath has in
his Twitter account “Belief that the world's best software can be
built in the most unlikely places”. Heath grew up in East Africa
and talks about how developers from Africa can face prejudice
when it comes to their skills.


They then talk about how developer talent can be cultivated
around the world. Heath defines sustainability as more than just
software. He describes their "Open-Sourcify" check-list that they
go through when they are evaluating an Open Source project's
sustainability.


The panel then goes through an example where two countries
exchange digital services and list the challenges that can arise
along the way. They then talk about some of the successful cases
Heath has worked on.


Heath then talks about different Open Source revenue models that
they go through when they evaluate an Open Source projects that
benefit the community. They then invite people who are interested
in being a part of an Open Source project that with to get in
touch with them through their website.
Links



Towards a More Gender-inclusive Open Source Community




https://www.osc.dial.community/




https://forum.osc.dial.community/




Digital Impact Alliance




Heath's LinkedIn




Heath's Twitter


Picks

Eric Berry:




https://alteregoeffect.com/




https://www.playdemic.com/games/golf-clash




Richard Littauer:




Taking pics with his grandfather's Nikon camera


Special Guest: Heath Arensen.