Associate Dean for Digital Infrastructure Sayeed Choudhury and Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the University Libraries Keith Webster published an op-ed in The Hill on July 20. The piece explores the ways that open source software can create digital infrastructure that is transparent, inclusive, and secure — and stresses the importance of collaboration between universities, government, and industry to address emerging challenges.
The internet was built on open source software — it’s more important today than ever
As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, there remains a feeling that the ground beneath us is not yet stable. Ongoing effects such as the inflation crisis and longstanding concerns such as climate change continue to affect our everyday lives.
As one response, the U.S. government has committed billions of dollars toward infrastructure through recent bills such as the CHIPS and Science; Inflation Reduction; and Build Back Better acts. Our infrastructure is increasingly built upon software, particularly open source, which describes software that can be viewed, shared and modified openly. Physical devices such as TVs and cars are increasingly software platforms. Manufacturing processes for semiconductors depend on software.
As AI becomes more prevalent, this software underpinning will become even more important.