AB Open is an open source and technical communities consultancy that specialises in embedded and wireless systems.
Our clients include semiconductor companies, component distributors, equipment vendors and service providers.
About
Who
Andrew Back
Andrew Back is managing director. He has in excess of 20 years industry experience that spans IT infrastructure, telecommunications and electronics, and covering R&D through to architecture, strategy and governance.
Andrew previously acted as BT’s Open Source Strategist, establishing company-wide open source policy and process and representing them at a number of bodies including The Linux Foundation and ATIS.
Rob Blake
Rob Blake is a long time advocate of open source and open standards, Rob has used open source technology to deliver effective websites, apps and e-commerce sites for major brands. He has spent the last five years as an advocate for WordPress and Roots.io, which power sites such as this one.
Gareth Halfacree
Gareth Halfacree is a technology journalist and technical author best known for his work on the Raspberry Pi User Guide and an upcoming book covering the BBC’s micro:bit project.
A keen open source advocate and RISC-V fan, Gareth is responsible for curating our fortnightly community round-up posts.
Advisors
Jeremy Ruston
Jeremy has over 30 years experience creating software products, and building the teams to deliver them in startups and the enterprise. He is the founder and leader of TiddlyWiki, a popular open source personal organiser, and was Head of Open Source Innovation at BT after the acquisition of his company Osmosoft.
Joe Halliwell
Joe is an artificial intelligence researcher turned entrepreneur and co-founder of Winterwell Associates, a mathematics and AI consultancy. Joe studied Mathematics and Philosophy at Oxford University, and has a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence from the University of Edinburgh. He’s keen on open source software, short stories and big data.
Partners
Boldport
Boldport create circuits that are both beautiful and functional using their own open-source printed circuit board design software, PCBmodE. Their breadth of electronics design experience allows them to create unique and innovative products that stand out.
Memberships
NMI
NMI is the trade association representing the Semiconductor, Microelectronics and Electronic Systems communities in the UK and Ireland.
Calderdale and Kirklees Manufacturing Alliance
CKMA are a group of manufacturing companies and businesses working with business support organisations, education, skills councils, local and national government to promote manufacturing.