User:MarkT
From Schoolforge-UK
I'm Mark Taylor, Founder and current Executive Director of the Open Source Consortium.
The OSC has been described in the press as "The independent voice of the Open Source Community in Europe"
We, somewhat more modestly, state our purpose as two-fold:
- To do business with the UK government and public sector.
- To engage in a two-way conversation with the UK Government and Public Sector, representing the views of the emerging industry around F/L/OSS.
Of course, the synergy with Schoolforge is obvious. We already work with the UK Government via numerous Government departments and Public Sector organisations, including the eGU (eGovernment Unit), OGC (Office of Government Commerce), ODPM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister), source.htm Socitm (The Society of Information Technology Management - the professional association for ICT managers working in and for the public sector), etc. We are now partnering with Schoolforge to bring F/L/OSS to the Educational arena of the Public Sector by working with Becta.
In addition to my activities with the OSC:
I represent the Open Standards Alliance in Europe.
I sit on both the 'Open Source' Special Interest Groups of the eGovernment Unit and source.htm Socitm as an advisor.
I am the CEO of Sirius.
I have been asked to mention the skills and interests I am bringing to the Education Working Group.
My intention is to ensure that this latest connection between the UK Government and the community and emerging industry around F/L/OSS is managed in the widest possible context - in terms of co-ordination with other Government departments, faithfull representation of F/L/OSS community, emerging F/L/OSS industry and wider industry, academic, and professional interests. My 'skills' are that I make things happen. My 'interest' in the group is to ensure that it meets BECTA's requirements, and does that in a way that meets the needs of all interest groups who have a legitimate reason for being involved.
I am reachable at my OSC email address - mark(dot)taylor(another dot) at opensourceconsortium(dot)org
