Keynote: Call for Code With the Linux Foundation and Tech for Good

Open-source software is the epitome of tech for good. With the profit motive out of the way and the communal  ownership, open-source software simply serves humanity. But it can even go further than that. Call for Code with the Linux Foundation is a collection of open-source projects that take on the world's most significant humanitarian challenges. Included are over a dozen hosted solutions that address racial injustice, disaster risk reduction, and the social and business impacts of the pandemic. But this mission of positive change is not just expressed in terms of code. Community and culture are also critical to ensure the technology delivers on its promise. For a  project to succeed, it will need a diverse set of skills - and not just technical skills. 

Demi Ajayi and Daniel Krook will discuss the framework Call for Code uses to initiate, incubate, and deliver impact through its projects and an ecosystem of stakeholders at this year's All Day DevOps (ADDO). ADDO is the world's largest DevOps conference, which will be streaming live for 24 hours starting at 3 a.m. ET on October 28, 2021. The virtual event gathers more than 25,000 DevOps professionals for free, hands-on education from 180+ speakers, along with peer-to-peer insights and networking with professionals worldwide. 

About the speakers 

Demi Ajayi is the Open Source Community Manager for Call for Code for Racial Justice, where she works to increase contribution to our open source solutions and participation in the community by developers and non-developers alike. She previously worked at Columbia Technology Ventures, supporting technology licensing of the university's intellectual property. She also worked at Resolute.AI, an AI startup for technology scouts and most recently worked as lead product manager for IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding.

Daniel Krook is a Software Engineer and Developer Advocate at IBM. He was an original catalyst behind Call for Code, a multi-year initiative that inspires developers to create sustainable software solutions to the world's most pressing problems. As CTO, he ensures that those ideas are delivered where they can make the greatest impact.

Fourteen open source projects for good

The Call for Code program currently includes 14 open source projects that tackle various social issues with a commitment toward positive change. Some of the issues include racial justice, police and judicial reform, diverse representation, empowering citizens to impact their communities, voting rights, and childcare resources, among others.

The talk will first provide a high-level view of why this initiative is as interesting as it is important before giving an overview of the 14 open-source projects currently under development. The speakers will highlight the technical backgrounds, goals, methods, and ecosystems of those projects. The talk will also articulate the skills that would be beneficial to the projects and explain how technical and non-technical people can get involved right now.

As Krook says, "This is critical to the program. We're not just looking for developers. There are a lot of non-technical folks that can make significant contributions, whether they're designers, legal experts, translators, tech writers, testers, etc. We need a diverse set of skills - again, not just technical skills - to lead projects forward."

Ajayi and Krook will also address how DevOps underpins  each of the 14 projects. Within a DevOps framework, there is transparent collaboration between operations and development roles. This integration promotes a cooperative environment where information and skills are shared throughout the project communities. And this is the approach favored by Call for Code because each project is relatively small, and those involved are regularly called upon to wear different hats as projects are improved, tested, and deployed.

Anyone can make an impact 

This talk isn't exclusively for a technical or non-technical audience but rather for a general audience. Anyone interested in getting more involved in the open-source community or tech projects for good should attend. Those looking to engage communities around projects that they are developing - regardless of technical proficiency - will also benefit from the talk.

The big takeaway from this talk would be a better understanding of the impact that open source software and tech for good initiatives can have and how people from all walks of life can get involved on one level or another.

(Watch the Call for Code program video to learn more and get involved.)

Open source tools like GitHub are now a fundamental part of digital literacy. These tools are becoming more and more important and making a difference in the world. And not just for developers but for everyone around the globe. Whether they're beneficiaries of the technology or want to contribute back to the tech or build some skills around the tech to use in various ways, Call for Code wants them to know that they can get involved and that their contributions are valuable.

As Ajayi says, "It's a collaborative effort between both technical and non-technical people - we need both. And while a lot of tech work is needed to be sure, if you're in the community, if you want to make a difference, if building tech for good inspires you, there is room for you to participate."

Register for All Day DevOps (ADDO)

All Day DevOps (ADDO), the world's largest DevOps conference, will be streaming live for 24 hours starting at 3 a.m. ET on October 28, 2021. Founded in 2016, the virtual event gathers more than 25,000 DevOps professionals for free, hands-on education. The All-Day DevOps is a global community of more than 75,000 DevOps practitioners and thought leaders offering free learning, peer-to-peer insights, and networking with professionals worldwide. Founded in 2016, the community hosts an annual conference, live forums, and ongoing educational experiences online. The 2021 event will feature a lineup of 180+ speakers in six separate tracks, including CI/CD Continuous Everything, Cultural Transformation, DevSecOps, Government, Modern Infrastructure, and Site Reliability Engineering.

Register online to participate in the 24-hour live, global event on October 28.