From the Arkansas Cinema Society today comes news that Kody Ford, a Fayetteville resident, UCA/University of Arkansas graduate and founder of The Idle Class magazine, will become ACS director of statewide outreach and educational programming/NWA program director. ACS plans to open an office in the Northwest Arkansas region and to launch a variety of efforts to foster the creative community there. From the release:

LITTLE ROCKArkansas Cinema Society (ACS) will expand into Northwest Arkansas full-time in 2021. After growing roots in Central Arkansas, the organization plans to open an office and launch a variety of efforts to support filmmakers and the creative community in NWA. ACS recently hired Fayetteville resident Kody Ford as its new Director of Statewide Outreach and Educational Programming/NWA Program Director.

Our mission from the beginning has been to build a statewide network that feeds all things film in Arkansas, says Kathryn Tucker, executive director of ACS. It takes times to lay the right foundation to be able to sustainably expand our programming, and it is a dream come true to see this goal realized in NWA. ACS had planned programming in NWA in 2020 both screenings and film camps but the Covid-19 pandemic forced ACS to cancel the events. This is a solid investment in the region to better serve filmmakers in the area through consistent programming, continues Tucker. The ACS is thrilled to welcome Kody Ford his background and commitment to the arts in Arkansas has inspired us over the years, and we believe he is the perfect fit for this position and to help ACS build this much needed bridge.

A graduate of University of Central Arkansas and the University of Arkansas with more than 16 years of relevant work experience, Ford has worked for social services nonprofits in outreach and development. His media experience is extensive as well. He is the founder of The Idle Class Magazine, the states only publication solely devoted to supporting and promoting the creative community.

Ive watched ACS grow the last few years, and like many Arkansans, Ive been impressed and giddy with the programming, said Ford. ACS has brought very accomplished actors and filmmakers to our state through screenings, workshops, and Filmland. Its educational programming for the next generation of Arkansas filmmakers is very needed, and Im thrilled to help that grow. Were already planning some very intriguing programs in 2021, and Im so excited to play a part.

ACS is a non-profit committed to building a film community in Arkansas where film lovers can watch films, share ideas, connect with each other, and nurture the new and existing film talent within our state through increased exposure to filmmakers and their art. Those interested in supporting ACS can visit their website at http://www.arkansascinemasociety.org. Memberships are available to the public at large who may wish to dive into educational videos, member-only tickets, movie swag, and more.

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Arkansas Cinema Society hires NWA program director; plans to open ACS office in the region - Arkansas Times

DESPITE TEMPORARY CLOSURES, severe financial losses, widespread layoffs, and racial reckonings at art museums and cultural institutions, dozens of Black curators were appointed to a variety of new posts this year. In a field where people of color have historically had limited access and remain underrepresented, this 2020 listing of curatorial and arts leadership appointments shows some progress. From San Francisco to St. Louis, New York and London, notable new hires were announced.

After leading the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, Kevin Young was named director of the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Terri Lee Freeman departed the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis to run the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore. Meanwhile, Andrea Barnwell Brownlee, the longstanding director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art in Atlanta, now helms the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens in Jacksonville, Fla.

Black women are heading up daily museum operations at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. They are also leading the education department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and public programs at the forthcoming Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles.

Yesomi Umolu is joining The Serpentine in London as director of curatorial affairs and public practice, a newly created position. The San Francisco Art Commission hired Ralph Remington as director of cultural affairs. Courtney Willis Blair is now a partner at Mitchell-Innes & Nash in New York. A Black art dealer with a stake in a prominent White-owned commercial gallery is nearly unheard of in the United States.

Signs of the pandemic times are reflected in cancelled art fairs, postponed biennales, and open letters outlining pent up frustrations with toxic work environments at museums.

The Met is one of many American museums accused by staff in recent months of cultivating a deeply rooted culture of racism and white supremacy. The museums leadership responded with steps it planned to take to address diversity and racism issues, including hiring a chief diversity officer. Lavita McMath Turner was appointed to the position in November. Last week, the Saint Louis Art Museum announced Rene Brummell Franklin would serve as its chief diversity officer. Both are newly created positions.

Round ups of new appointments were published by Culture Type in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. A selection of 2020 curatorial and arts leader appointments follows (ordered by month, with no hirings included for May or August). The list is by no means comprehensive, but it is representative:

Zo Whitley. | Photo by James Gifford Mead

Chisenhale Gallery announced the appointment of Zo Whitley as director on Jan. 17. She had been serving as senior curator at Hayward Gallery since April 2019 and curated the British Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale (2019), presenting a solo show of Irish artist Cathy Wilkes. Previously, Whitley was curator of international art at Tate Modern, where she co-organized Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. She started at Chisenhale in March.

FIND MORE about Zoe Whitley curating the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale on Culture Type

Nicole Haas. | Photo by Ron Hester Photography

Nicole Haas was named chief of staff at Pratt Institute on Jan. 23. She works closely with Frances Bronet, president of the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based art and design school, which counts artists Nina Chanel Abney, Mickalene Thomas, and Derrick Adams among its alumni. Since 2000, Haas had worked at Brooklyn College, serving in executive positions, including chief of staff. Previously, she worked at the City University of New York (CUNY), New York Public Interest Research Group, and for a private art dealer in Canada. Haas officially joined Pratt Feb. 24.

Corey Serrant. | Courtesy Swann Auction Galleries

In January, Corey Serrant joined the African American Art department at Swann Auction Galleries as administrator, working with consignors, collectors, and institutions. The two-member department is directed by Nigel Freeman and usually conducts two sales annually. Serrant previously worked as a gallery assistant at Salon 94 and Joshua Liner Gallery, and an archival intern at Jack Shainman Gallery, all in New York.

Lisa E. Farrington. | Courtesy Howard University

On Jan. 28, Howard University announced the appointment of Lisa E. Farrington as associate dean of the Division of Fine Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences. She arrived as the program prepares to become an independent College of Fine Arts. Farrington is the author of several books, including African American Art: A Visual and Cultural History and Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists. A Howard alum, she holds a Ph.D., in art history from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center.

Niama Safia Sandy. | Photo by Florian Koenigsberger

Niama Safia Sandy was named director of curatorial affairs at Jenkins Johnson Gallery on Jan. 31. The Black-owned gallery was founded by Karen Jenkins Johnson in San Francisco and opened a second space in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 2017. Sandys tenure at Jenkins Johnson New York concluded in May 2020. (In March, the gallery closed both its locations due to COVID-19. The temporary closure is ongoing in Brooklyn. Since June, the San Francisco space has been open by appointment.) A curator, writer, and musician, Sandy is a visiting professor of fine arts at Pratt Institute and curator-in-residence at Fridman Gallery in New York. She is also a member of the Resistance Revival Chorus, and The Blacksmiths, a coalition of creatives that just released new open-source racial equity tools.

FIND MORE about Niama Safia Sandy on Instagram

Vivian Crockett. | Photo by Naima Green

The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) announced the appointment of Vivian Crockett as the Nancy and Tim Hanley Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art on Feb. 13. Crockett had been serving as the Joan Tisch Teaching Fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Previously, she was the Andrew W. Mellon Museum Research Consortium Fellow (2017-18) in the department of Media and Performance Art at the Museum of Modern Art. At the DMA, she co-curated To Be Determined and commissioned two paintings by artist Jammie Holmes for the exhibition. Crockett began her new role March 9.

FIND MORE about Vivian Crockett on her website

Deanna Haggag. | Courtesy Deanna Haggag

Deana Haggag was appointed artistic director of the Seattle Art Fair on Feb. 18, a role that involves overseeing the special projects and talks program and helping to select the galleries that will participate in the fair. Haggag is president and CEO of United States Artists, which provides funding support to individual artists and cultural practitioners. The Seattle Art Fair was scheduled to take place July 23-26, 2020. Two months after Haggags appointment was announced the fair was canceled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FIND MORE about Deana Haggag on her website

Adrienne L. Childs. | Courtesy Adrienne L. Childs

Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition opened Feb. 29 at the Phillips Collection. The exhibition is guest curated by Adrienne L. Childs. According to the museum, she is the first Black curator to organize an exhibition at The Phillips Collection since its founding a century ago. An independent art historian and curator, Childs is an associate of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. In Riffs and Relations, she brings together modern and contemporary works by African American artists with early 20th century works by European artists. Childs edited the exhibition catalog and is the author of the forthcoming volume, Ornamental Blackness: The Black Body in European Decorative Arts.

FIND MORE about Adrienne L. Childs on her website

Steven Nelson. | 2020 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington

On March 6, Steven Nelson was named dean of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. CASVA is a research institute that fosters study of the production, use, and cultural meaning of art, artifacts, architecture, urbanism, photography, and film worldwide from prehistoric times to the present. The appointment is historic. Nelson is the first non-white executive officer at the museum. On leave from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was a longtime professor of African and African American art history and director of the UCLA African Studies Center, Nelson was serving as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor at CASVA (20182020) when he was appointed dean. His tenure began in July.

FIND MORE about Steven Nelson on his website

Ryan N. Dennis at Marron (Tony) Park in Houston, her favorite neighborhood park (March 1, 2019). | Photo by Naima Green

The Mississippi Museum of Art named Ryan N. Dennis chief curator and artistic director of the Center for Art & Public Exchange (CAPE) on March 10. She will lead the museums curatorial team, organizing exhibitions and related public programming and overseeing acquisitions. She is also charged with initiating new ways to connect with and expand the museums audiences. Dennis joins the museum from Project Row Houses in Houston, where she had been curator and programs director since 2017. In October 2019, she was named co-curator and co-creative director with Evan Garza of the 2020 Texas Biennial, which was expected to take place in Austin. In late March, the biennial was postponed to 2021, due to COVID-19. Dennis began her new role at the Mississippi museum in June.

FIND MORE about Ryan N. Dennis on her website

Larry Ossei-Mensah. | Photo by Aaron Ramey

Independent curator Larry Ossei-Mensah was named co-curator of the 2020 Athens Biennale on March 10. Titled ECLIPSE, the biennale was scheduled for Sept. 25-Nov. 29, 2020. Artists based in North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, were expected to participate, many showing in Greece for the first time. In June, the international exhibition was postponed until spring 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ossei-Mensah is co-founder and president of ARTNOIR, a New York-based global collective that develops collaborative platforms and designs cultural experiences for a new generation of creatives. Recently, he was elevated from guest curator to curator-at-large at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Ossei-Mensahs latest project is PARALLELS AND PERIPHERIES: Fractals and Fragments, a group show he curated at Galleria Anna Marra in Rome, Italy.

FIND MORE about Larry Ossei-Mensah on Instagram

Lauren Haynes. | Courtesy Crystal Bridges Museum

On March 18, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced a promotion and added responsibilities for Lauren Haynes. She is now director of artist initiatives and curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and The Momentary, the museums satellite contemporary art space in downtown Bentonville. Her previous title was curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and curator of visual arts for The Momentary. Prior to joining Crystal Bridges, Haynes spent a decade at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

FIND MORE about Lauren Haynes on Instagram

Jaynelle Hazard. | Photo by Prathibha Polapragada

The Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE) appointed Jaynelle Hazard executive director and curator. The news was announced March 20. She started in April. Hazard joins GRACE from Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Va., where she was director of exhibitions. Previously, Hazard served as art collection administrator for the UBS art collection in New York. She has also worked at Blank Projects, an art gallery in Cape Town, South Africa.

FIND MORE about Jaynelle Hazard on her website

Meme Omogbai. | Courtesy College Art Association

Meme Omogbai has been appointed executive director and CEO of the College Art Association (CAA). The news was announced March 30. CAA is the oldest and largest U.S. organization dedicated to professionals in the visual arts, focusing on scholarship and career development for students and art historians. Omogbai brings extensive leadership and management experience to CAA. She was the first black chair of the American Alliance of Museums, and also served as board chair of the New Jersey Historic Trust and COO of the Newark Museum in New Jersey. She studied global museum executive leadership at the J. Paul Getty Trust Museum Leadership Institute and also served on the faculty at the institute. Omogbai officially started at CAA on March 30.

Johnnetta Betsch Cole. | Photo by Boston Photography

On April 23, the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) announced Johnnetta Betsch Cole would serve as special counsel on strategic initiatives. She will provide strategic guidance to the board, director, and senior staff as the museum continues to center social equity and civic engagement in its long-term vision and all aspects of its programming. Cole has had an expansive career in higher education, the museum sector, and diversity leadership. She is national chair of the National Council of Negro Women and recently retired from Cook Ross, a firm that advises organizations on diversity and inclusion initiatives, where she served as a principal consultant. She was director of the Smithsonians National Museum of African Art from 2009-17. During her tenure, she served a term as president of the Association of Art Museum Directors (2015-16). Earlier in her career, Cole was the first Black female president of Spelman College in Atlanta (1987-1997) and later served as president of Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C. (2002-07). Both are African American womens colleges. Cole is working with BMA for three years on a pro-bono basis.

Christine Checinska. | Photo via TEDx

Christine Checinska joined the Victoria & Albert Museum in June. She is the museums first curator of African and African diaspora fashion. A womenswear designer and art historian, she works at the intersection of contemporary art, fashion, and textiles. Checinska is a research associate at the University of Johannesburgs Visual Identities in Art and Design (VIAD) Research Center and a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art in London. A few years ago, she gave a TEDx Talk about how she sees fashion as a way of pushing back against stereotypes and resisting limitations.

FIND MORE about Christine Checinska on Instagram

Yvette Mutumba. | Photo by Benjamin Renter, Courtesy Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Yvette Mutumba was named curator-at-large for the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam on June 8. An editor, curator, and educator, Mutumba is a co-founder and editor-in-chief of Contemporary And (C&) and Contemporary And Amrica Latina (C&AL), dynamic platforms focused on contemporary art throughout Africa and the global diaspora. Stedelijk described the appointment as part of the museums strategy to question its own established knowledge and engage with a multiplicity of narratives that transcend Western European modernism, and thus examine the museums own foundations.

Maya Brooks. | Courtesy North Carolina Museum of Art

Maya Brooks joined the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) as Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator in June. The newly created role was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The appointment of Brooks was shared on Dec. 15, when the museum announced seven new hires made during 2020. Brooks previously worked for the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte, N.C.; the City of Greensboro; and the North Carolina Collection Gallery in Chapel Hill. She also interned at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.

FIND MORE about Maya Brooks on her website

Janice Bond. | Photo by Collete Presley

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On the Rise: 54 Curators and Arts Leaders Who Took on New Appointments in 2020 - Culture Type

Late on Monday night, Congress approved a $900bn stimulus package which will deliver financial aid to millions of families and businesses facing economic distress from coronavirus pandemic. Though far smaller than a bill lawmakers passed at the outset of the pandemic, earlier this year, the measure is one the largest pieces of legislation in US history.

The product of frenzied negotiations, the package was paired with a $1.4tn spending bill to fund the federal government through the end of the fiscal year, 30 September 2021. In response to a deepening economic and public health crisis, the rescue bill authorizes direct payments of $600 to those who earn less than $75,000 and extends supplemental unemployment benefits to $300 for 11 weeks.

Tucked into the hulking 5,593-page bill, however, are a range of initiatives and obscure provisions that appear to have little to do with fortifying a fragile economy or keeping the government open.

The legislation authorizes the establishment of two new museums in Washington: the American Womens History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino. Such approval, however, is only the first step in a years-long process to build the museums on the National Mall.

Despite broad support for the museums, earlier this month Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah, blocked legislation that would have approved their establishment, arguing that the US doesnt need segregated, separate-but-equal museums for hyphenated identity groups.

According to the bill, the Latino museum will see visitors learn about Latino contributions to life, art, history and culture in the United States while serving as a gateway for visitors to view other Latino exhibitions, collections, and programming at institutions across the country. The womens museum will recognize diverse perspectives on womens history and contributions.

In a shot across the bow at China, the bill reaffirms the right of the Tibetan people to reincarnate the Dalai Lama. China regards the exiled spiritual leader, who continues to advocate for a degree of Tibetan self-rule, as a threat to its sovereignty.

The text of the legislation warns: Interference by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China or any other government in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama and any future Dalai Lamas would represent a clear abuse of the right to religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists and the Tibetan people. The legislation also directs the secretary of state to establish a US consulate in Tibets main city, Lhasa.

According to Reuters, the political head of Tibetans in exile welcomed the news as a victory for the Tibetan freedom struggle. China accused the US of meddling.

Lawmakers also included an end to this costly practice, which sees patients unexpectedly receive care from providers not covered by their insurers, thereby facing bills far higher than they would typically pay. As many as one in six emergency room visits or in-hospital stays resulted in at least one out-of-network bill in 2017, according to analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Consumers will be relieved to see the practice effectively banned under legislation which limits what patients can be billed for out-of-network services. Now, doctors and hospitals will have to work with insurers to settle on costs.

Although members of both parties have long denounced the practice, efforts to ban it had been thwarted by lobbying from insurers and healthcare providers.

The bill repeals a provision of federal law criminalizing unauthorized use of Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl, famous mascots of a US Forest Service public safety campaign concerning wildfires and pollution. Previously, illegally reproducing images of Smokey Bear was punishable by up to six months in prison.

The bill corrects a 25-year-old drafting error that denied thousands of islanders access to federal health benefits they were promised after resettling in the US.

Lawmakers agreed to allow Marshall Islanders and other islanders covered by the Compact of Free Association to sign up for Medicaid, after a 1996 welfare reform changed the categories qualifying for federal aid and effectively barred them.

Democrats led by members from Hawaii have fought for nearly two decades to restore Medicaid eligibility for islanders, without Republican support. They argued that the US broke its commitment to provide medical coverage to islanders who moved to the US after the military used their homeland to test nuclear bombs.

This is a shining moment at a time of darkness for our country, Hawaii senator Mazie Hirono said after the bill passed. Lets savor it.

There were plenty of other surprises, including $2bn for the new US space force and a tax break for corporate meal expenses, panned as the three-martini lunch but a priority for Donald Trump. Senator Bernie Sanders, who pushed for bigger direct payments, called the inclusion of the provisions pathetic.

Racehorse owners also received a tax break, while $35m was allotted for groups which implement education in sexual risk avoidance, which the legislation defines as voluntarily refraining from non-marital sexual activity.

This is why Congress needs time to actually read this package before voting on it, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter, responding to a report that the bill makes illegal streaming a felony.

Members of Congress have not read this bill. Its over 5,000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in two hours. This isnt governance. Its hostage-taking.

Excerpt from:
New museums and Smokey Bear: what's in the $900bn US stimulus package? - The Guardian

Commentary: Red Hat has been in hot water about changing the way CentOS operates, but that model looks like the exact right way for open source entrepreneurs to operate.

Image: iStock

Red Hat switched up CentOS to make it less of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) clone and more of a feeder project into RHEL (as Fedora was always supposed to be, yet wasn't). Some people are mad, as Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has writtenon sister site ZDNet. Some people, like former Disney employee Justin Garrison, think it sounds perfect (the hipper, slightly edgier version of RHEL). If you're a billion-dollar company upset that Red Hat appears to be trying to charge for something you value, the founder of CentOS has a new way for you to get something for nothing: Rocky Linux.

But if you're an open source entrepreneur wondering what this means for you, well, Chef cofounder and System Initiative CEO Adam Jacob has you covered. In a series of tweets, he walks through how Red Hat's CentOS strategy can play out for you. (He should know, as the company he co-founded, Chef, last year open sourced everything.)

Let's observe.

Jacob's first rule? Open it up. Completely. "If I do an open source strategy for a company ever again, I will own the upstream, it will be fully open source, and I'll happily collaborate with anyone downstream." But not just an open upstream--it's also important to, "Produce a commercial distribution [and c]ollaborate on downstream non-commercial ones, in the open," he argued.

SEE:Top 6 Linux server distributions for your data center(TechRepublic Premium)

What does he mean by "upstream" and "downstream"? In open source, think of the upstream as the parent, the head, the initial open source project. Downstream might be forks or distributions (packaging up of a particular build of the upstream code) of the upstream.

What Red Hat announced was basically that CentOS would move from being downstream to upstream. It becomes a place, as Jacob noted, that others like Facebook can collaborate with Red Hat in a way they simply couldn't before (as Fedora wasn't closely enough aligned with RHEL). CentOS as a downstream RHEL community was mostly one of users, of consumers, not of collaborators. It was somewhere to get RHEL, but rebranded CentOS, for free.

As such, Jacob pointed out, "They weren't invested in it beyond using it." And when someone removes the downstream they get mad "because it's like someone threatened the water supply," he argued. It's therefore far better to condition people to participate as collaborators with an open source project, and through the commercial distribution to also condition users to become customers, if they want the certified distribution.

SEE:Clearing up the CentOS Stream confusion(TechRepublic)

One way that open source companies are doing this model to fantastic effect is by open sourcing their upstream and creating a cloud distribution (read: managed service). A variety of companies have embraced this model to greater or lesser extents.

Yugabyte, for example, ditched its Open Core model a year ago and open sourced 100% of its database code. A year later, CTO Karthik Ranganathan told me in an interview, "It increased our adoption like crazy," growing the number of Yugabyte clusters 10x, but it also has dramatically accelerated their business without them losing any known pipeline. Could someone take that upstream and create a competitive downstream competitor? Of course. But no one should be able to out-Yugabyte on their home turf.

SEE:Meet the hackers who earn millions for saving the web, one bug at a time (cover story PDF)(TechRepublic)

Or take Redis Labs. The company has fiddled with licensing over the last few years, but has kept core Redis completely open while encouraging a growing community (which includes downstream competitors) to lend a hand to improving the code. While Redis Labs doesn't publish results, its business is booming, even as 10 or so other companies have created competitive downstream managed service offerings.

Which brings us back to Jacob: "Run an open upstream from the jump. Produce a commercial distribution. Collaborate on downstream non-commercial ones, in the open."

That's the strategy. That's the magic. You don't need to go Open Core or any other permutation of kind-of, sort-of open source. You can open source everything and just ensure you have a rock-solid managed cloud service. This reliance on cloud is what's driving MongoDB, Confluent, DataStax, Redis Labs, and others to great success. It can be your model, too.

Disclosure: I work for AWS, but the views expressed herein are mine.

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Chef cofounder on CentOS: It's time to open source everything - TechRepublic

As companies look to replace their fleet they need a provider that has a large shelf space, not just individual vehicles. Auterion is the only viable choice for enterprise customers looking to replace an entire fleet.

Nobody gets fired for buying IBM, is a common phrase in the IT industry. By choosing the solution perceived to be the most well-known and utilized in the market, you avoid negative fallout if something goes wrong. In the drone industry, that should have applied to DJI. The 14-year-old Chinese company has dominated the drone category, thanks to an aggressive pricing strategy for its hardware.

But with DJI being added to the US Commerce Department Entity list the whole industry is changing fundamentally: This move does not only bar DJI from being able to continue to source critical U.S. components, it also means thatany enterprisewanting to do business with DJI (even just using the DJI SDK) has to now review whether that activity is in compliance with U.S. regulations. Every transaction becomes a legal risk.

This makes any enterprise adoption of DJI products as risky as using Huawei hardware, the Chinese company which is on the same list for several years now and has been all but removed from U.S. enterprise usage.

But DJI has been offering an unprecedented choice of different airframes and payloads that no single manufacturer in the U.S. is able to provide. This is not a new problem in the IT industry: It has been solved by adopting open standards and open source software like Linux in the cloud and server industry. This enables the enterprise to invest into a single open platform on the software and integration side, but still enables it to work with a range of equipment manufacturers: The power of choice.

Auterion is the only viable choice for the drone industry. Our open and growing ecosystem of vehicles, payloads, and apps, bring the best from manufacturers across the industry to provide customers with the flexibility and extensibility needed to meet all their different needs.

The open source ecosystem will prevail as the de facto industry standard in the battle for market share. Since its founding in 2011, PX4 has become the most used open-source flight control and autopilot system for autonomous aircraft. While Auterion is the leading contributor, an outside community of 600+ contributors and 10,000+ developers are using it, including leading drone and aerospace companies, and enterprises, all united around advancing the software and hardware.

Drone manufacturers partnering with Auterion to power their drones withAuterion Enterprise PX4, significantly reduce their cost and time to market while benefiting from community lead innovation at scale. Payload providers offering a variety of sensors and cameras are easily integrating into the platform with access to a larger variety of vehicles. Application developers have the ability to leverage tried and true open source code to create apps, such as mapping or AI object identifying software, that run on the platform.

With this ecosystem of partners, customers can create drone solutions with off-the-shelf products and applications that operate from the same, unified standard, to meet a diverse set of use cases. Auterion empowers the customer with the power of choice. To choose whatever vehicle, payload, or app that best suits the job, while maintaining a common user experience within a single operating platform. This power of choice simply does not exist with any other proprietary drone company.

As customers move to sever dependence on Chinese drones, Auterion is the only option to help facilitate a full replacement of their fleets. Existing and future fleets often need to be a mixed portfolio of small drones, medium drones, heavy lift drones, and a growing variety of specialized payloads which Auterion provides.

TheFreefly Systems Astro, a U.S. made alternative to DJIs M200 line, is powered by Auterion and establishing itself as the best multi use enterprise drone. The Astro provides enterprise and government customers a highly capable workhorse drone for mapping, inspection and first responders to capture media, automate processes, and streamline data flows through Auterions enterprise-ready software platform.

The Astro is but one example of the Auterion ecosystem delivering the best from the best. Only on a single open source platform, can there be a combination of the Freefly Astro, the Sony A7R4, and Esri Site Scan for ArcGIS, to provide customers with the most comprehensiveenterprise workflow for mapping.

The same is true inVantage Robotics Vesper, a vehicle available on the Auterion platform that provides enterprise customers with a U.S. made Mavic-sized alternative. Vesper is light, rugged, and portable, has a 50 minute flight time, 45 mph top speed, is inaudible at 50 m. The Vesper incorporates dual IR/EO (EO with 18x zoom) image sensors for 3840 x 2160 px 8 MP still images, which is well suited for SAR, public safety and inspection of assets that require an IR camera.

Both the Astro and the Vesper, drones built by two separate providers are available to Auterion customers within the same software platform. From VTOLs to different sizes of multicopters, the ability for Auterion users to add vehicles to their fleet to meet changing use cases while maintaining the same user experience is a powerful proposition.

A wide range of selection and freedom of choice, can only be delivered by an ecosystem of partners working together on open standards. The Auterion platform enable customers to replace an entire fleet, with a growing selection of vehicles, payloads, and integrations.

DJIs inclusion in the US Commerce Department Entity list is disrupting the whole industry. Companies need to move towards an alternative that offers flexibility, choice, and the ability to adapt their systems over time without being locked to a single vehicle or vendor.

The drone industry has long relied on a single company, to the detriment of the whole industry. Vendor lock-in has left companies vulnerable. Today it is because of Government concerns, but tomorrow may be manufacturing issues of another proprietary provider or their ultimate failure.

The market dynamics are set to drastically change, and Auterion is the solution the industry needs. Everyone wins when choosing an open ecosystem, everyone wins when choosing Auterion.

Need to replace your fleet and want to learn more about the Auterion ecosystem?

Contact us on[emailprotected]

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As the industry looks for alternatives to DJI, when it comes to enterprise, open beats closed - sUAS News

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Open Mainframe Project (OMP), an open source initiative that enables collaboration across the mainframe community to develop shared tool sets and resources, today welcomes Tessia, atool that automates and simplifies the installation, configuration and testing of Linux systems running on the Z platform, to its ecosystem. Additionally, HCL Technologies and Red Hat join the project to strengthen their commitment to open source mainframe technologies.

"Open Mainframe Project has experienced record growth this year in terms of membership and projects," said John Mertic, Director of Program Management at the Linux Foundation. "We look forward to strengthening our role as the number one resource for programs that advance the technology and training for the mainframe, especially with new members HCL and Red Hat who will expand our leadership and expertise."

OMP Projects Increase by 1500 Percent Since LaunchWhen Open Mainframe Project was launched in 2015 by The Linux Foundation, there was one open source project under its wing that helped advance mainframe technology. Today, OMP has become an umbrella project that is home to 16 different open source projects including a COBOL Working Group and a Zowe Conformance Program. This is a 1500 percent increase over time.

Today, Tessia joins ADE, Ambitus, ATOM, CBT Tape, COBOL Training Program, Feilong, GenevaERS, Mainframe Open Education, Mentorship, Polycephaly, Software Discovery Tool, TerseDecompress, Zowe and Zorow as projects led by the Open Mainframe community.

Tessia, an open source project for Z resource management and automated installation of Linux distribution, manages relationships between Z datacenter resources and allocates them to specific projects and users according to a role-based schema. Using these resources, Tessia canbe included into existing pipelines and with pre-release distributions and drive faster release cycles and adoption of new technologies. Additionally, it enables developers to effortlessly bring up their environments or try out new releases before migration. In general, the mission of the new project improves experience with Linux on Z, which in turn facilitates faster adoption of open source on Z platform.

The OMP Ecosystem Increases by 225 PercentThe Open Mainframe Project, which launched with 12 founding members, is now comprised of 41 business and academic organizations including the newest members HCL Technologies and Red Hat. HCL is a leading global technology company with three main businesses including IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) and HCL Software.

Red Hat, which is now a subsidiary of OMP Platinum member IBM, has a long history of building and supporting products and solutions from open source projects and giving back to those communities.

The new members will collaborate on vendor-neutral open source projects with the mission of building community and adoption of open source on the mainframe. The project strives to build an inclusive community through investment in open source projects and programs, career development, and events that provide opportunities for the mainframe community to collaborate and create sustainability.

To celebrate its 5th anniversary, Open Mainframe Project hosted its inaugural Open Mainframe Summit event in September. More than 385 seasoned professionals, developers, students and leaders from 175 companies attended the virtual conference to share best practices, discuss hot topics, and network with like-minded individuals who are passionate about the mainframe industry. Learn more about the event and the audience statistics in this blog.

Momentum for Open Mainframe ProjectsAs an umbrella, the Open Mainframe Project hosts projects that expand training the next generation of mainframers or how modern mainframe technology integrates with existing systems. Through the vendor-neutral governance structure, OMP invites developers and members worldwide to participate in the open source community. The community's passionate and talent has helped move several of the Open Mainframe Projects to important milestones including:

Zowe, an open source software framework for the mainframe that strengthens integration with modern enterprise applications, has released version 1.17 with some notable features and enhancements. Learn more in the release notes.

Polycephaly, a set of Java and Groovy classes that enables building z/OS source code files with Jenkins and Git, now offers developers an opportunity to choose their IDEs to use, including the popular Open Source Eclipse. Learn more in this blog.

The annual Open Mainframe Project Mentorship program, which has helped more than 40 students learn more and gain experience with Linux, open source, and mainframes, welcomed 11 new mentees in May. These mentees were paired with mentors from OMP member organizations such as IBM, Rocket Software, SUSE, Vicom Infinity, and Zoss Team LLC for four months and delivered a presentation at the Linux Foundation's Open Source Summit Europe. The videos can be foundhere.

Students interested in participating in the 2021 Open Mainframe Project mentorship program can join a webinar on January 12th, 2021 at 10:00 am US Eastern Time to learn more about the program and projects participating. Register here for this webinar.

About the Open Mainframe ProjectThe Open Mainframe Project is intended to serve as a focal point for deployment and use of Linux and Open Source in a mainframe computing environment. With a vision of Open Source on the Mainframe as the standard for enterprise class systems and applications, the project's mission is to build community and adoption of Open Source on the mainframe by eliminating barriers to Open Source adoption on the mainframe, demonstrating value of the mainframe on technical and business levels, and strengthening collaboration points and resources for the community to thrive. Learn more about the project at https://www.openmainframeproject.org.

About The Linux FoundationThe Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies to build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at http://www.linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Maemalynn MeanorThe Linux FoundationOpen Mainframe Project[emailprotected]

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Open Mainframe Project Welcomes New Project Tessia, HCL Technologies and Red Hat to its Ecosystem - PRNewswire

Global survey of 1,500 IT professionals finds that 40% of respondents worldwide had delivery schedules disrupted to address open source vulnerabilities

MOUNTAIN VIEW,Calif.,Dec. 8, 2020/PRNewswire/ Synopsys, Inc.(Nasdaq: SNPS) today releasedthe report,DevSecOps Practices and Open Source Management in 2020. Produced by theSynopsys Cybersecurity Research Center(CyRC), the report highlights the findings from a survey of 1,500 IT professionals working in cyber security, software development, software engineering, and web development. The report explores the strategies that organizations around the world are using to address open source vulnerability management as well as the growing problem of outdated or abandoned open source components in commercial code.

Open source plays a critical role in todays software ecosystem. The overwhelming majority of modern codebases contain open source components, with open source often comprising 70% or more of the overall code. Yet paralleling the growth of open source use is the mounting security risk posed by unmanaged open source. In fact, according to the2020 OSSRA report, 75% of the codebases audited by Synopsys contain open source components with known security vulnerabilities. To combat this situation, respondents to the survey cite identification of known security vulnerabilities as the number one criterion when vetting new open source components.

Its clear that unpatched vulnerabilities are a major source of developer pain, and ultimately business risk. saidTim Mackey, principal security strategist of the Synopsys Cybersecurity Research Center. The DevSecOps Practices and Open Source Management in 2020 report highlights how organizations are struggling to effectively track and manage their open source risk.

Over half51%say it takes two to three weeks for them to apply an open source patch, Mackey continued. This is likely tied to the fact that only 38% are using an automated software composition analysis (SCA) tool to identify which open source components are in use and when updates are released. The remaining organizations are probably employing manual processes to manage open sourceprocesses that can slow down development and operations teams, forcing them to play catch-up on security in a climate where, on average, dozens of new security disclosures are published daily.

Other noteworthy findings in the DevSecOps Practices and Open Source Management in 2020report include:

To learn more, download a copy of theDevSecOps Practices and Open Source Management in 2020report.

About the Synopsys Software Integrity Group

Synopsys Software Integrity Group helps development teams build secure, high-quality software, minimizing risks while maximizing speed and productivity. Synopsys, a recognized leader in application security, provides static analysis, software composition analysis, and dynamic analysis solutions that enable teams to quickly find and fix vulnerabilities and defects in proprietary code, open source components, and application behavior. With a combination of industry-leading tools, services, and expertise, only Synopsys helps organizations optimize security and quality in DevSecOps and throughout the software development life cycle. Learn more atwww.synopsys.com/software.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is the Silicon to Software partner for innovative companies developing the electronic products and software applications we rely on every day. As the worlds 15th largest software company, Synopsys has a long history of being a global leader in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IP and is also growing its leadership in software security and quality solutions. Whether youre a system-on-chip (SoC) designer creating advanced semiconductors, or a software developer writing applications that require the highest security and quality, Synopsys has the solutions needed to deliver innovative, high-quality, secure products. Learn more atwww.synopsys.com.

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Synopsys Study Shows Open Source Security Top-of-Mind but Patching Too Slow - EE Journal

We previously wrote about Ebyte E180-ZG120B-TB an inexpensive ($9.90) Zigbee 3.0 evaluation board based on Silabs EFR32MG1B Arm Cortex-M4 wireless MCU and the equally cheap ($7.78) WT32-ETH01 ESP32 Ethernet board. What do they have in common? Absolutely nothing!

But GitHub user tube0013 decided to connect both boards over UART to create a Zigbee to Ethernet DIY coordinator/bridge running open-source firmware.

The hardware also includes a Micro USB adapter for power, several 10cm jumper wires, and he/she also designed a 3D printed case.

EZSP-Firmware is used for the Ebyte Zigbee 3.0 board, and ESPHome open-source home automation firmware for the ESP32 board. Youll also need serial to IP code and ESPHome config. Note that flashing firmware to the Ebyte requires a programmer, and the developer used a J-link EDU Mini together with Silicon Labs Simplicity Commander.

As mentioned above, a 3D printed case has also been designed, so everything is neatly packed together. The total cost assembled should be around $20.

The Zigbee to Ethernet bridge can then be added Home Assistant using socket://IP:6638. You can also change the port in the serial to IP source code.

This type of solution can be more stable and reliable than WiFi to Zigbee bridges as both wireless protocols operate in the same 2.4GHz frequency and may interfere with each other. Weve also been told most serial protocol; connections are not resilient enough to handle serial packet loss or loss of sync. The project could easily be adapted to other serial wireless modules as well.

The discussion also mentioned SM-011, a tiny EFR32MG21 Zigbee 3.0 module that could be integrated into a smaller gateway, or make the base for a compact, single board based on ESP32 for Ethernet and EFR32MG21 for Zigbee.

Thanks to Andreas for the tip.

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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DIY project creates Zigbee to Ethernet bridge with WT32-ETH01 - CNX Software

Using the contactless thermometer, like this one installed at a UWMadison residence hall, requires just one person paying attention to the proximity sensor to position their forehead. Credit: University Housing

When Lennon Rodgers visited the dentist in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had a moment of inspiration. The receptionist awkwardly reached around the plexiglass barrier to take his temperature, which seemed to negate some of the safety precautions.

An automated, contactless thermometer, he thought, would be a much better solution.

I knew there had to be a way to develop a low-cost solution to take forehead temperatures hands-free, says Rodgers, who already has played a role in several COVID-19 protective equipment innovations. I looked online and found some existing products, but they were all pretty expensive and/or looked poor-quality.

So, Rodgers, director of the University of WisconsinMadisons Grainger Engineering Design Innovation Laboratory, created a prototype contactless thermometer himself by borrowing the sensor from a commercially available thermometer and adding a microcontroller and distance sensor controlled by open-source code.

Now, devices based on that initial design are helping UWMadison students monitor their COVID-19 symptoms. Theyve been deployed in residence halls on campus set aside for students isolating for at least 10 days after a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. Few of those students own thermometers, and thats why the contactless thermometers, which cost approximately $100 each, are important.

Rodgers passed his initial idea to Nathan Strachen, a UWMadison electrical and computer engineering graduate student and a Fab Fellow at the innovation lab. Strachen has made his own set of tweaks.

The prototype was something Lennon put together very quickly, says Strachen. I improved the mechanical design quite a bit and added a different microcontroller that has the ability to connect to the internet.

Now based on a small, single-board computer called a Raspberry Pi, the machines have additional computer power that could support more functionality. Strachen, who researches active transistor-based circuits that drive small antennas in the lab of UWMadison electrical and computer engineering professor Nader Behdad, would also like to shift future designs away from using components from commercially available handheld thermometers toward off-the-shelf parts, including thermal imaging cameras.

While the thermometers solve a very specific challenge right now, Strachen says if they are sophisticated enough, yet quick and easy to manufacture, they could play a bigger role in keeping the university community healthy. If an entire network of the machines were deployed across campus in residence halls and other buildings, for example, they might be a good way to track infections or mitigate the virus spread. Rodgers says future versions of the machines could also monitor more than temperature, tracking skin discoloration, runny noses and other symptoms.

Open-source plans for the low-cost, hands-free thermometers are available online at https://making.engr.wisc.edu/hands-free-thermometer/.

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Contactless thermometer helps monitor student health - University of Wisconsin-Madison

In an effort to stem the unprecedented spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, many Sub-Saharan African countries locked down at the start of the epidemic along with governments around the world. Amid a spike in cases now, new lockdown measures have been imposed in many countries. While such measures helped to substantially slow the spread, we need to think about how lockdowns can be better planned to ensure that they limit damage to households and economies. This blog shows one way, examining mobile phone data and using Agent Based Modeling to inform a smarter response.

The context

In March 2020, as cases started to appear in Sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank team collaborated with a local Mobile Network Operator (MNO) in one country with the goal of producing useful analytics for COVID-19 policies. The MNO aggregated their mobile phone data (Call Detail Records) into indicators using one of the models for privacy-conscientious use of mobile phone data where individual level data is not shared. Instead, data is provided at the administrative unit level and small aggregated values are masked. These indicators showed how mobility patterns have been changing in response to government policies around the lockdown.

How can mobile phone data help?

On an average day, people may leave their homes to go to work, school, or shop. Such journeys entail traveling within the neighborhood, crossing district borders, or even traveling across the country. As people travel, those that are sick could infect others. Understanding mobility can provide insights into how a disease might spread. Cell phone data can be used to measure this mobility based on changes in the towers from which calls are made.

As part of the broader work of the World Bank COVID-19 Mobility Analytics Task Force, the team worked to develop open source code that (1) produces the set of mobility indicators; (2) cleans the indicators to ensure high quality; and (3) visualizes them on a dashboard. We calculate a baseline of mobility prior to the lockdown, based on the typical movement in February and early March 2020, and measure how mitigation measures affect this mobility.

Mobile phone data shows impact of nationwide lockdown on population movement

The first thing we learned from analysis of the mobile phone data is that the imposition of a nationwide lockdown led to large changes in mobility across the country.

Figure 1: Percentage Change in Number of Trips Between Wards

There is an initial jump in movement after the announcement of the lockdown, followed by a drastic decrease of 40% once the lockdown was imposed (Figure 2). The initial jump reflects patterns that were reported around the world, where subsistence workers in urban centers, fearful of their income sources dwindling, travelled back in large numbers to their hometowns and villages in rural districts.

Mobility changes differ greatly from one district to another

However, there is tremendous geographic heterogeneity. The largest decrease of over 80% is seen in a district with a busy land border crossing. Other districts experiencing the greatest decline in mobility were urban centers, where we saw a reduction of about 65%. Rural areas saw much smaller changes in mobility compared to urban areas, as measured by the cell phone data (Figure 4 compares an urban district containing the capital with a rural district).

Knowledge on mobility is critical for modeling and can inform the governments policy response

Information on mobility dynamics can feed into decision making around how to control the spread of the virus. We developed an Agent Based Model (ABM) which simulates how the virus could spread across and between districts using census and DHS data to characterize individuals. ABM is a computational approach that focuses on modelling dynamic interactions between individuals and their environment, which helps to capture the heterogeneity in risk based on many different factors. Detailed mobility data is essential to inform the model simulation of how those populations move and to where.

The ABM produces likely trajectories of how the virus could spread under different scenarios and policies, and how respective levels of movement restrictions could limit the spread of the virus (Figure 6). By combining data on mobility, demographics and risk, the model tells us which districts could potentially display the highest risk of transmission, and how this might change depending on the policies implemented. To produce these analyses, the World Bank team worked in conjunction with the national governments COVID-19 Research Group and Imperial College London.

These analyses can help to inform the governments approach to easing lockdown, in particular, around a more localized approach where possible. Given the large economic costs of a nationwide lockdown, these data provide useful insights into how restrictions could be lifted carefully in a spatially disaggregated way that could help reduce the economic costs while still maintaining measures in the highest risk areas. This is only one strategy in the arsenal needed to effectively fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Future work with Mobility Data

We are further refining the work, building on broader consultations across sector Ministries and strengthening collaboration with the inclusion of a second telecom provider. Once the data and models are in place, it becomes possible to apply them in new ways as the situation changes, such as to now consider vaccine prioritization.

One of the most powerful aspects of this type of research is that with the right data, it can be replicated in other contexts. This work is part of a larger initiative under the World Bank COVID-19 Mobility Analytics Task Force, which is working with telecom partners to scale use of aggregated mobility analytics and modeling in Sub-Saharan African countries. The indicators produced by the task force were already used by a team in The Gambia to study the impacts of restrictions on mobility, and they are also being applied in other countries. We are still far from the end of this crisis, and we must leverage all available data in an ethical and responsible way, especially in contexts with limited resources, to support efforts to protect peoples health as well as the long period of economic recovery ahead.

The research has been funded with UK aid from the UK government through the ieConnect for Impact program; with support from the Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building III (TFSCB-III), which is funded by the United Kingdoms Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland, and the Governments of Canada and Korea; as well as support from the Research Support Budget in the Development Economics Vice-Presidency. We thank Mukami Kariuki and her team for support with this project and Yi Rong Hoo, Leonardo Viotti, Robert Marty, Sebastian Wolf and Andrea Quevedo for research assistance.

Originally posted here:

Using agent based modeling and telecom data to inform COVID-19 response - World Bank Group