APIcon UK: Open Source Fuels The API Economy

Industry leaders say open source is the backbone of the software infrastructure required to fuel the API economy. At APIcon UK, Simon Phipps, president of the Open Source Initiative, explained why open source licensing will enable the API and Internet of Things economies to grow.

Michael Skok, serial entrepreneur and venture partner at North Bridge, oversees an industry-wide open source survey each year. This year’s edition found a “huge leap in interest” in open source, with growth in levels of interest matching the growth of all the critical components necessary for open source to succeed (i.e., people, applications, services and specialization). In addition, Skok is seeing an increasing uptake of open source software among government, health care and education — verticals that tap into the everyday life of citizens around the globe.

Private businesses are also increasingly making use of open source software in the way they build out their API technology stack. APIcon UK attendee Anton Jefcoate from home delivery food service Just Eat, for example, wrote back in April, “Open source is important to us and reflects how we like to work. It’s collaborative, it’s open, it’s pragmatic — all qualities that are essential if you want to build great software and services.”...