New times, new solutions

by José Antonio Rey

Our world is changing every day. Drastic changes can happen really quickly. Technology is advancing at a much faster pace than it used to a hundred years ago, and humans are adapting to those changes. The way we think, the way we operate, and how even how we communicate has drastically changed in the last 15 years.

Just as humans change, the Ubuntu community is also changing. People interact in different ways. Platforms that did not exist before are now available, and the community changes as the humans in it change as well.

When we started the Local Communities project several years ago, we did it with the sole purpose of celebrating Ubuntu. The ways in which we celebrated included release parties, conferences, and gatherings in IRC. However, we have lately seen a decline in the momentum we had with regards to participation in this project. We have not done a review of the project since its inception, and inevitably, the Community Council believes that it is time to do a deep dive at how we can regain that momentum and continue getting together to celebrate Ubuntu.

As such, we are putting together the Local Communities Research Committee, an independent entity overseen by the Community Council, which will help us understand the behavior of Local Community teams, how to better adapt to their needs, and to create a model that is suitable for the world we are living in today.

We are looking for between 6 and 9 people, and we will require to have at least one person per continent. We require that you are an Ubuntu Member, are not a current Community Council member, have experience working with worldwide communities, and strongly recommend that you have participated with a Local Community team in the past. If this sounds like you, instructions on how to apply can be found here: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/local-communities-research-committee/20186/4

I am personally very excited about this project, as it will allow us to gather perspectives from people all around the world, and to better adapt the project for you, the community.

If you have any questions or want to chat with me, you can always reach out to me at jose at ubuntu dot com, or jose on irc.freenode.net.

Eager to see your nominations/applications!