Online / 6 & 7 February 2021

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Why we should use Free and Open Source Software for safety applications


The advantages of Free and Open Source Software are numerous, benefiting industry partners, individual contributors and the wider community who collaborate to advance state of the art. More than ever companies choose FOSS, however the world of safety is behind the curve. Software developed for safety applications often use old development practices and are closed source. Too commonly this code is seen as a competitive advantage, and having spent vast sums developing and analysing for safety, companies are reluctant to share their code. Ultimately this is to the detriment of everyone, and leaves us all vulnerable to unsafe software.

This talk will outline the problems with software in safety currently, detail how using FOSS practices could benefit not just the wider community but the leading industry suppliers, and talk about what we need to do as FOSS creators to convince industry that this is the way forward and make the software we use safer for all.

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