When Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) are becoming more broadly deployed(sometimes as part of proprietary systems) amongst organisations who havelimited pre-understanding of the philosophy underlying FOSS there are a numberof challenges which need to be successfully addressed. Such challenges includelicensing obligations for FOSS and a number of associated legal issues, suchas patents, trademarks, procurement law, and various conditions (e.g. FRAND-terms) for use of standards. Many companies and public sector organisationsstruggle with these challenges and there are sometimes tensions and legaldisputes between different interests, which may involve organisations andindividuals contributing to specific open source projects.
This panel seeks to address the following overarching question: Which are thecontemporary legal and policy challenges needed to be better understoodthrough systematic research studies, and what relevant studies should bedesigned and conducted in order to produce relevant research results as wellas practical outcomes in order to shed light on these challenges?
The (45 minutes) panel will start with short position statements by thepanellists and a dialogue between them. Significant time will be allocated toan open discussion on the issues with the audience, and those attending areinvited to raise their own concerns and share their own experiences.
When Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) are becoming more broadly deployed(sometimes as part of proprietary systems) amongst organisations who havelimited pre-understanding of the philosophy underlying FOSS there are a numberof challenges which need to be successfully addressed. Such challenges includelicensing obligations for FOSS and a number of associated legal issues, suchas patents, trademarks, procurement law, and various conditions (e.g. FRAND-terms) for use of standards. Many companies and public sector organisationsstruggle with these challenges and there are sometimes tensions and legaldisputes between different interests, which may involve organisations andindividuals contributing to specific open source projects.
This panel seeks to address the following overarching question: Which are thecontemporary legal and policy challenges needed to be better understoodthrough systematic research studies, and what relevant studies should bedesigned and conducted in order to produce relevant research results as wellas practical outcomes in order to shed light on these challenges?
The (45 minutes) panel will start with short position statements by thepanellists and a dialogue between them. Significant time will be allocated toan open discussion on the issues with the audience, and those attending areinvited to raise their own concerns and share their own experiences.
About the panellists:
Björn Lundell (Ph.D.) is a senior researcher at the University of Skövde,Sweden.
Associate Professor Björn Lundell (Ph.D.) is a senior researcher at theUniversity of Skövde, Sweden. He leads the Software Systems Research Group,has conducted research related to free and open source software for a numberof years and participated in a number of research projects in differentleading roles. His research is reported in over 100 publications in a varietyof international journals and conferences. He was the program co-chair for the8th and 12th International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS 2012 and OSS2016) and is the project leader for the collaborative research project LIM-IT(www.his.se/lim-it), which address fundamental FOSS challenges incollaboration with several industrial partners.
Dr. Matthias Stürmer is head of the Research Center for Digital Sustainabilityat the Institute of Information Systems at University of Bern since 2013. As apost-doc he is researching, teaching, and consulting on digitalsustainability, open source software, open data, open government and ICTprocurement. Previously he worked as IT advisory manager at EY (Ernst & Young)and as project leader at Liip AG, a Swiss software company creating agileInternet solutions based on open source technologies. In 2009 Matthiasfinished his doctoral dissertation at the Chair of Strategic Management andInnovation at ETH Zürich focussing on open source communities and firminvolvement. He studied business administration and computer science atUniversity of Bern until 2005 (lic.rer.pol) and wrote his master thesis onOpen Source Community Building. Currently Matthias Stürmer is president oftcbe.ch ICT Cluster Bern, member of the board of the open source associationCH Open, co-founder and member of the board of Opendata.ch, and secretary ofthe Swiss Parliamentarian Group for Digital Sustainability. Since 2011 he ismember of the city parliament of Bern having initiated the increased use ofand contribution to open source software in public administration and schools.
Andrew Katz is a UK-based lawyer specialising… |
