Open Source Hardware 2020 Survey Results Published #OpenSource @OSHdata
In 2020, OSHWA conducted the third OSHW Community Survey, which collected 441 responses. A few highlights from this year’s survey compared to the 2013 survey:
The portion of people coming to open source hardware from open source software increased from 14.6% to 23.9%
In 2013, 42.8% of respondents indicated they have worked on or contributed to an open hardware project. This jumped to 85.6% in 2020.
While 2013 showed a plurality of people using blogs to publish design files, this year’s survey shows public repositories as the most popular option. The increase in people with open source software experience and improvement in repository collaboration offerings may be contributing factors.
This year’s survey shows a large increase in attendees for the 2020 Open Hardware Summit. This is likely due to 2020 being the first virtual summit. Although it was moved online due to unfortunate circumstances, the virtual platform offered the upside of greatly expanding the audience.
A small gain in the community’s gender diversity was seen, with those identifying as either female or other making up 18% of respondents, compared to 7% in 2013.
Finally, October is Open Hardware Month – Learn More.
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