Open Source: Advancing Our Digital Commons Q&A in Campus Technology
In a recent Campus Technology Q&A (Mar. 9, 2026), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) VP of IT and CIO, Jack Suess, emphasized that the era of open source that was once driven almost entirely by higher ed is now “growing more and more diverse.” Suess notes that governments and big tech firms (Google, Microsoft, Amazon) rely heavily on open source to avoid vendor lock-in, and he urges the higher-ed community to seize similar opportunities.
“Open source is going to be a long-term staple in the world,” he says, but asks: “how is higher ed going to participate in this open world in a way that it will be able to leverage the capabilities that open source can provide, and really grow those capabilities… to the benefit of society?” In other words, colleges and universities must actively determine and strategize around how they engage with open infrastructure if they want to shape their own “digital destiny” and amplify their educational and research impact.
Suess identifies those poised to lead the charge: large research universities’ tech units and innovative online universities are already integrating advanced tech (like AI) into curriculum and operations. He stresses that organizations like Apereo, EDUCAUSE, and Internet2 play a critical role by “engag[ing] people… bringing technology leaders together” around open source initiatives.
Importantly, Suess highlights Apereo’s own leadership: the Open Letter launched during Open Education Week 2026 (linked below) is a mechanism to “organize, promote, and lead change” toward shared stewardship of the digital commons.
Suess also underscores the need to invest in education and collaboration. He calls on faculty, IT staff, and students to share success stories and best practices so that the community can tackle unsolved challenges together. He is confident that if higher ed mobilizes not just large tech and government, the broader “digital commons, the open source world that we live in, is going to be successful, and more recognized as such.”
In practice, many universities are already weaving open source into teaching: as Suess notes, some computer science programs make active open source contributions a course requirement. He’s especially excited about new open AI coding tools: these will empower students to download, modify, and even contribute code, creating “a whole new population of students…adding their own new functionality and capabilities” to the shared code base. Such training will prepare graduates to be true open source contributors who “advance our digital commons.”
“I expect that higher education won’t have a problem with the fact that open source is going to be a long-term staple… The question is how is higher ed going to participate in this open world in a way that will leverage open source… to the benefit of society?”
“We’ll also see mechanisms to organize and lead change, such as the open letter that was distributed by the Apereo Foundation…calling for higher education’s stewardship of the open digital infrastructure.”
These insights from Jack Suess underscore the themes of the Open Renaissance movement and Open Letter initiative. To read the full interview and learn more about open strategies in higher ed, see the Campus Technology article linked below. And if you agree that it’s time for our community to step up, please sign the Apereo Open Letter (also linked below), which calls on institutions to invest in and shape our shared digital infrastructure.
Campus Technology’s Open Source: Advancing Our Digital Commons by Mary Grush
Read the Open Letter to Higher Education PDF
Join the Open Renaissance Group