An open world: Why Red Hat supports the United Nations Open Source Principles

At Red Hat, we have always believed that the best technology comes from open collaboration. It’s no secret that the components of Red Hat’s products, from the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform to the latest AI innovations of Red Hat AI Inference Server, are created in the upstream, in the open, with communities and projects that make them possible.  For three decades, open source has been a core tenet for Red Hat. While the broader technology world was slower to embrace it, more and more organizations are turning to open source-first approaches each year. 

This is why Red Hat, as a champion of open source technologies and practices, is pleased to formally endorse the United Nations (UN) Open Source Principles. These principles echo how we have always worked by building in the open, contributing back, and nurturing communities that thrive because of inclusion and collaboration.

These guidelines aim to drive collaboration and open source adoption within the UN and globally, and were produced by the Open Source United Community as part of the UN Chief Executive Board’s Digital Technology Network. The principles encompass:

1. Open by default: Making open source the standard approach for projects.

2. Contribute back: Encouraging active participation in the open source ecosystem.

3. Secure by design: Making security a priority in all software projects.

4. Foster inclusive participation and community building: Enabling and facilitating diverse and inclusive contributions.

5. Design for reusability: Designing projects to be interoperable across various platforms and ecosystems.

6. Provide documentation: Providing thorough documentation for end-users, integrators and developers.

7. Recognize, incentivize, support and empower: Empowering individuals and communities to actively participate.

8. Sustain and scale: Supporting the development of solutions that meet the evolving needs of the UN system and beyond.

These principles are incredibly similar, if not identical, to how Red Hat already approaches building, nurturing, adopting, and innovating with open source technologies. The global nature of the UN and the vast reach of its influence can only be a positive when it comes to driving the expansion of open source participation and innovation across the world. They recognize that open source is more than code. It is about building systems people can trust and providing ways for governments and global institutions to demonstrate transparency, sustainability, and accountability. This is why we are excited to join the UN on efforts such as these, and supporting annual events like UN Open Source Week. 

Red Hat is proud to endorse and support this effort, joining with other industry leaders including the Open Source Initiative, in encouraging a world that advances collaboration, inclusion and innovation by truly defaulting to open.