Open source developer skills remain a hidden resource in the UK economy yet if support is formalised by the government, it could see rurally based workers earning Silicon Valley salaries, a new report claims. Commissioned by the not-for-profit organisation OpenUK, the report demonstrates the potential for country to capitalise further on the benefits of open […]
Open source developer skills remain a hidden resource in the UK economy yet if support is formalised by the government, it could see rurally based workers earning Silicon Valley salaries, a new report claims.
Commissioned by the not-for-profit organisation OpenUK, the report demonstrates the potential for country to capitalise further on the benefits of open source technology — which contributed 27% of the UK tech sector’s Gross Value Added in 2022.
Open source software has become ubiquitous in enterprise, allowing developers to innovate quicker. According to OpenUK, around 96% of all software has dependencies on open source and three quarters (76%) of all software stacks are now OS.
Consequently, it’s become central to many firms’ IT strategies, used across the NHS while challenger banks such as Starling and Monzo are built entirely on OS systems.
And yet the code and the people who work on it remain largely hidden from the UK economy, claimed Amanda Brock, CEO, OpenUK, the reports launch at the BFI in London this week.
Amanda Brock, CEO, OpenUK
“I describe open source as the pizza dough. Everyone likes to talk about the toppings, but they are a gooey mess without the foundation,” she added.
Commits
Open source code is usually stored in a public repository such as GitHub, and shared. Anyone can access the code or contribute improvements to the design and functionality of the overall project.
Brock points out that developers are now gaining jobs not through CVs but through the code they contribute to in GitHub, where they can showcase their practical capabilities to potential employers.
Contributions that have been accepted into a code base are known as “commits”. As a yardstick to how valuable these commits are, Linux kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman has said that if you make five commits then the next kernel is likely to result well paid job.
OpenUK makes the point that, because most of these positions are remote, these hires could come from anywhere in the world, including under invested regions of the UK.
At the report’s launch, Alex Davies Jones, Welsh Labour MP for Pontypridd, and Shadow Tech and Digital Economy minister said that open source had the potential to “Really give the phrase ‘levelling up’ some meaning.
“When we talk about levelling up in places like Scotland, South Wales, the Valleys, I want them to have these opportunities.
“Open source enables us to harness that be agile move quickly and catch up with the innovation that is happening around us, so we need that government push and drive into this area. It’s my job to bang that drum now in parliament,” Davies-Jones added.
OpenUK’s Skills or Bust report reveals that there are 3.2m GitHub accounts in the UK, with 8,200 contributors to OS projects made in the last 12 months.
This, claimed Brock, meant that the UK is sitting on an untapped resource of programming skills and OS talent, that, if supported correctly could bring “Bay Area salaries into the UK”.
For this dream become a reality the report identifies three key areas of policy essential for supporting UK tech sector growth.
The report argues for an increased investment in business skills among tech workers, which have become depleted in recent years following a period of consolidation and acquisition.
The government also needs to create incentives for businesses to stay in the UK by supporting the development of these skills in the UK and encouraging skilled worker immigration.
As a case in point, Brock mentioned OS champ Guy Podjarny, the Israeli Canadian founder of developer security unicorn Snyk.
Podjarny said he was drawn to the UK initially because of its reputation for producing some of world’s best infrastructure engineers.
However, Open UK argues that engineers aren’t always trained in the right developer skills, and so need support if they are to attract further outside investment.
“Although the Open Source Software submarine powers our digital economy it’s been overlooked by the UK for a decade,” said Brock.
“It’s time to surface the submarine and show that, with the right focus and investment, we can build this sector out and use the contribution to Open Source projects to develop more skilled workers whilst keeping that talent here in the UK, across our cities and rural areas.”
