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FOSDEM 2022 Conference Report

FOSDEM took place February 5-6. The European-based event is one of the most significant gatherings worldwide focused on all things Open Source. Named the "Friends of OpenJDK", in recent years the event has added a devroom/track dedicated to Java. The effort is led by my friend and former colleague Geertjan Wielenga. Due to the pandemic, the 2022 event was virtual once again. I delivered a couple of talks on Jakarta EE as well as Diversity & Inclusion.

Fundamentals of Diversity & Inclusion for Technologists

I opened the second day of the conference with my newest talk titled "Fundamentals of Diversity and Inclusion for Technologists". I believe this is an overdue and critically important subject. I am very grateful to FOSDEM for accepting the talk. The reality for our industry remains that many people either have not yet started or are at the very beginning of their Diversity & Inclusion journey. This talk aims to start the conversation in earnest by explaining the basics. Concepts covered include unconscious bias, privilege, equity, allyship, covering, and microaggressions. I punctuate the topic with experiences from my own life and examples relevant to technologists. The slides for the talk are available on SpeakerDeck. The video for the talk is now posted on YouTube.

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3 Things Every Engineer Should Know About Inclusive Design

Fact: Over 26% of adults in the United States have some sort of disability. To ignore such a massive part of the population would be ill-advised for any company, legally, financially, and above all, ethically. How can you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to maintaining a progressive and responsive organization? 

We reached out to two experts - Alwar Pillai and Perry Trinier of Fable – on the topic of designing products that have inclusivity for people with disabilities at their core. Here are the 3 things they think every engineer, developer and product designer needs to know about inclusive design and how it will inevitably affect the future of their companies.

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Beyond Compliance: Fable’s Mission to Improve Digital Accessibility

It's time we recognize that the way we build digital products is broken. That's because the products we use today represent the people who build them more than the people who use them.

There is a digital divide between the experiences of people with disabilities and people who are able-bodied. Bridging this divide is about more than compliance or checking a box.

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Avoid Groupthink and Herd Mentality At Work

When you are part of a group, do you speak up and voice your opinion or avoid criticism and choose a path of fewer conflicts. When popularity takes priority over individual responsibility, people develop a tendency to conform to ideas and beliefs that lead to conservative thinking, ignore potential signs of failure, and make decisions with incomplete and biased information leading to groupthink.

When such behavior becomes part of an organization's culture, it gives rise to collective blindness to unethical ways, regressive thinking that ignores the future demands of your business and a propensity to ignore truth especially if it requires taking a hard stance.

Without the environment that encourages fresh perspectives, constructive conflict with a desire to learn new information, and a clear process for making decisions, it's easy to succumb to groupthink where herd mentality drives decisions instead of utilizing the collective power of group intelligence.