BSA launches Software.org to connect the dots between software and society

NEW DELHI, INDIA: BSA, The Software Alliance launched Software.org to help policymakers and the public better understand software’s impact on our lives, our economy, and our society.

"Software is everywhere, and it's indispensable to a thriving economy and essential to our modern lives," Software.org: the BSA Foundation Executive Director Chris Hopfensperger said. "It's also so seamlessly woven through our lives that it can be easy to take for granted. The foundation aims to bridge that gap – to connect the dots between software and society so that we can continue to grow the economy and positively impact people’s lives.”

The foundation is an independent and nonpartisan international research organization, and it will strive to inform policies that stay ahead of cutting-edge technologies, empower the workforce of the future by supporting STEM education efforts, and help policymakers, stakeholders, and the industry prepare for tomorrow. Software.org will rely on an Advisory Committee for input and expertise.

“Software isn’t just transforming the phone in your pocket and the TV on your wall. It is powering the US economy,” said Victoria Espinel, President of Software.org: the BSA Foundation and President and CEO of BSA, The Software Alliance. “To make sure that continues, we need to focus on two things: having conversations about how evolving technologies enable growth and fostering the right educational environment in our schools to build the tech workforce of the future. Software.org will be focused on both.”

Software.org will focus its efforts on three pillars of work:

• Think Deeply: Publishing reports and studies, and engaging with governments and stakeholders in a dialogue about innovation-enabling policies and groundbreaking technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things.
• Give Back: Collaborating with leading organizations to enable and expand the software workforce of tomorrow by increasing opportunities for cutting-edge training and skills.
• Look Forward: Preparing for the future by supporting diversity, inclusion, and economic opportunity for all.

Software.org plans to release several reports in 2017 focused on the intersection of software and policy. The first report will highlight the benefits software brings to critical infrastructure. Primers on the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence will explain these new and complex technologies in plain language to help policymakers and other stakeholders in their discussions.