Veteran Open Source Technologist to Keynote AstriCon 2010
Julie August 24th, 2010
Mark Summer explores this year’s conference theme, “Asterisk: The World is Calling,” by sharing his experiences using the telephony platform to help improve local economies and quality of life around the world
Asterisk is changing the world, not just in the limited confines of business-oriented UC communications, but in real, tangible, and life changing ways. Our featured AstriCon keynote is Mark Summer from Inveneo, whose work in bringing Open-Source to under-served areas is literally changing lives.
The ability to communicate via voice is something we take for granted, but in many areas of the world that basic technology has remained out of reach due to cost, complexity, and implementation difficulty with traditional telecommunications infrastructure. The good news is that in the last several years, Open-Source software and hardware has made inroads into these previously unreachable areas, and we’re seeing how Asterisk is actually changing the quality of life in areas where it has enabled people to talk with each other at a distance.
Mark brings to this keynote address his real-world experiences with Open Source communications in developing areas, and has concrete examples of how free software and methods are not only creating economic opportunity, but uplifting whole communities with communication. His work in Sub-Saharan Africa, Haiti, and elsewhere focus on the implementation of Open-Source telecommunications, and the changes he has witnessed when people are given the tools to exchange ideas and create opportunity. Asterisk is a component in this change, bringing not only the ability to connect people together, but the ability to allow local administration and innovation in what was once a centrally-managed, monolithic, and slow-changing telecom world.
About the Author
Julie Webb is the Marketing Communications (MARCOM) Director at Digium. She joined the company in January 2005 after spending many years in the telecommunications industry. Julie and her team are responsible for trade shows and events (most notably AstriCon) as well as corporate branding. Julie has a bachelor of science degree from Ball State Unive… more about Julie
