Wellington hosts NZ Open Source Conference

Wellington will be on the world stage on the 16th and 17th of April when it plays host to a collaboration between open source developers, democracy activists, government officials and digital tech heavyweights at the Open Source // Open Society (OS//OS) conference.

Building on the success of open source software in powering the growth of the internet OS//OS will explore developments in open government, open education, open data, and open business.

Alongside key international tech player, Github, the Wellington City Council is a major sponsor behind the event. Grow Wellington is another key backer and has played a crucial role in galvanising support for the conference.

The Enspiral based event organisers have been successful in bringing the worlds biggest repository of open source code to Wellington to co-host the event with Wellington based startups Loomio and Chalkle.

The world leading line up of speakers, from Brandon Keepers, head of open source at GitHub, Sascha Meinrath Founder at the Open Technology Institute, to Keitha Booth from the NZ Open Government Data Programme will shine new light on the question What is Open?"

"To have GitHub co-host their first conference outside of the US in Wellington is a strong endorsement of our tech capability. Open source approaches align well with the collaborative nature of the tech community here. Wellington companies like Catalyst IT, Silverstripe and Loomio have achieved international success using innovative open source models," says Gerard Quinn, Grow Wellingtons CEO.

Nicole Williams from Silverstripe New Zealand, based in Wellington and a sponsor of the event, says "Im keen to know what is possible when public and private sector teams view web development as open by default."

Open source development is based on the ideas of mass collaboration, transparency and meaningful participation and its principles are becoming increasingly important in all spheres of society.

Founder of Wiki New Zealand, Lillian Grace says, "Wiki New Zealand has benefited greatly from open source tools and so we are keen to be a part of and contribute back to the community that enabled us.

She adds, "Data is a language that empowers and emboldens, it allows people to participate in conversations and decision-making processes."

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Wellington hosts NZ Open Source Conference