'I had an epiphany': OpenUK's Amanda Brock on her open source journey
Amanda Brock certainly didn't set out to be one of the most recognised faces in UK open source, rubbing shoulders with government ministers and delivering keynotes to packed halls.
Indeed, she told delegates at least week's Women in Tech Festival, she still finds it "a little bit embarrassing and awkward."
As a young Law graduate, Brock's presumed path was to become a high street legal practitioner, but then she was offered a scholarship to New York University and set her sights on becoming an entertainment lawyer in the movie industry. Returning to the UK, she said she accidentally became a technology lawyer after "a horrible mistake" confusing IP with IT. But this led to her taking the first internet law course in the country and thus becoming an expert in a burgeoning sector.
"My career gradually evolved from happenstance, one mistake or choice that came along after another," said Brock. "But what I did was take every opportunity that was offered to me."
Eventually she arrived at Ubuntu Linux maker Canonical, then a promising startup, as employee number 165 on a three-month contract, to work out what the legal team should look like and help them employ people.
"Within six weeks they offered me a job because I had skills from having worked in Dixon's the retailer because of their ISP Freeserve, which allowed me to understand the OEM, HP and Intel marketplace, and they asked me to stay."
I met all these software engineers who shared my values. I met people like me
Stay she did, and fortunately she found she really enjoyed it. In fact, she felt profoundly at home.
"I had a bit of an epiphany. I met all these software engineers who shared my values. I met people like me."
Brock was recently diagnosed with ADHD and ASD, which in retrospect may have contributed to this feeling of belonging since many talented technologists share similar conditions, but there was more too it than that, she said.
"These people were super-smart engineers, but it wasn't just them being on the spectrum that meant I fitted, it was their values. They were choosing to do stuff in their spare time that was collaborative and innovative. They were bucking the management system that was stopping them evolving and doing what they thought needed to be done."
Now CEO of OpenUK, a non-profit she founded to advance open technology and promote open technology in the UK, Brock has become a passionate and consistent voice for the power of open source and open standards, and for the people-centric approach embodied by that model. The night before the Women in Tech Festival, she found herself seated next to digital minister Michelle Donelan MP at a government event.
And while she still finds it a little awkward, Brock says the only way to drive change is to thrust yourself into the limelight.
"If you want to do things in the tech sector you have to have a personal brand. People expect it of you."
This means being available to speak at events, talking to journalists, writing articles and putting yourself forward for "power lists" like Computing's Top 100 IT Leaders.
"I'm number 37. Fortunately, I like both the numbers three and seven, I think they're both lucky. And Michelle Donelan, came in at 19. So I'm not that far behind her either."
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