2026-02-03, 12:30–12:35, D.Aud
We love to do Agile and have DevOps and implement tools and frameworks and processes, but are we really any better off than we were fifteen or more years ago? What is the basis for how we go forward as engineers?
Despite all of our tools and processes and our advances in engineering, sometimes we just need to remember we're working with humans and that engineering isn't just about productivity and solutions. Richard talks (quickly!) about his experiences with software engineering and how we can connect, and what drove him to write a novel, "Human Software", about putting human engineers above profits.
Richard Bown has worked in the software industry since the mid-90s, witnessing the boom and bust of telecoms, the dot-com bubble, Y2K, the iPhone revolution, Internet of Things, Big Data and now, of course, the spectre of AI, come to take all our jobs. He’s contributed to the world of Open-Source Software for the last thirty years and also worked as a technology journalist for Linux and music tech magazines. Professionally, he's been a developer, administrator, and after flirting with management, is now safely back in the land of DevOps and YAML. Human Software is his debut novel.