Speakers
Whether you're deeply involved in technology or just an everyday, average, normal guy, we all feel the negative impacts of "enshittification"—where platforms degrade user experience to maximize profit—and the seemingly endless pursuit by some actors to centralize power and control the cloud and digital landscapes. Think about your favorite shows disappearing from streaming platforms, your inability to play games you "bought" once servers become unsupported, photos you’ve previously deleted being resurrected, ads replacing friends’ posts and useful search results, or being forced to accept that EULA that says everything you create will be used as training data for AI—the list goes on. In this presentation, I want to talk about how open source—as a development approach, a guiding philosophy, and a community—offers a path to addressing these challenges, reclaiming our digital sovereignty, and fostering fair, free, and respectful cloud ecosystems and digital experiences.
Ben Hur Pintor
Proprietor, BNHR
Co-Founder, SmartCT
Ben is a problem-solver who has a wealth of experience as an advocate, educator, and leader in the open source, open data, and open geospatial spaces—equally adept at developing technical solutions, leading capacity building initiatives, or developing communities of practice. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geodetic Engineering and Master of Science in Geomatics Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is the proprietor of BNHR—a leading open data and open geospatial consultancy in the Philippines; co-founder of SmartCT—a tech non-profit working to advance digital transformation for the common good in the Asia Pacific; and co-founder of the Civic Literacy Initiative—an international organization leveraging open solutions to build the next big thing in capacity building. Ben is a big believer in digital autonomy and your right to own your technology. You can find him at:
- https://learn-qgis.bnhr.xyz
- https://fb.com/bnhr.xyz
- https://fosstodon.org/@bnhrdotxyz
- https://smartct.org
- https://civicliteraci.es
