Hey everyone,
I received a request to add Doteveryone [1] to our list of supporting organizations for Public Code, however I'm not sure if they are truly an NGO like the other organisations on our list.
They are a registered charity, however I'm not sure what that entails so I wanted to ask if anyone who knows a lot about the UK could pitch in with some information (I CC'd Daniel so maybe he can forward this mail).
After I asked Catherine this:
could you write a few words about how your organisation relates to Free Software and Open Source? I'm unfamiliar with your organisation and not sure if will fit with our campaign.
She replied:
Doteveryone is a thinktank fighting for a fairer internet. We want to ensure that people and society benefit from technology in a fair and responsible way. Our Responsible Tech work is around how technology development - in public and private sectors - can be done ethically and thoughtfully, with appropriate business models which reflect the values of those involved directly or otherwise. The Public Code declaration is perfectly aligned with this. As an example, last year we worked on technologies for end of life care [2] within the UK health system, and the importance of open source (and open standards) to avoid vendor lockin and exploitative pricing in software used in the NHS was part of our commissioning recommendations. [3]
I'm concerned about their commitment to Free Software, should I still add them?
Best regards,
Jonke
[1] https://doteveryone.org.uk/ [2] https://projects.doteveryone.org.uk/improvingcare/index.html [3] https://projects.doteveryone.org.uk/improvingcare/pages/commissioning.html