Thanks @ludwig.huelk for the intervention, and @robbie.morrison and @akanudia for the respectful and thoughtful discussion.
In short, our take as organisers of this year’s openmod is not to exclude anyone who wants to engage with the open-source community. We are happy to include Amit’s breakout into the programme and provide the space and opportunity to engage with the openmod community.
A broader reflection, perhaps with a short anecdote, if you will permit me!
Between 2009 and 2012, I worked as a Research Associate at the nascent UCL Energy Institute on the UK MARKAL model and the TIAM-UCL model. I attended several ETSAP meetings. In one meeting, I presented some insights which had used the internal workings of the Microsoft Access database that sat behind VEDA, much to the horror of some attendees! I had “hacked” the database, by guessing the password to it (or perhaps I found the password in the code). Needless to say, the database connection was secured in later iterations of the software. So the ETSAP group were well aware of the “benefits” of a community that probed and experimented with code, although this conflicted with intellectual property and commercial interests, which were designed into the way that IEA-ETSAP operated.
Anyhow, as @robbie.morrison points out, it is the funding model which often influences whether the code or data is open or closed. I do not think it is useful for openmod to exclude individuals or groups because they have worked within the incentive structure they find themselves. Of course, openmod began and continues with a spirit which rejects the status quo and strongly promotes openness of data, models and source code. I think this is good and should continue. But we should also recognise that achieving “full openness” is also difficult in many different contexts. Perhaps we can discuss this further in Stockholm.
I will also point out that within the ETSAP members, there exists a huge amount of energy system modelling experience, knowledge and skill. openmod members could learn from these individuals (including Amit), just as ETSAP could learn from the practices and experiences of openmod. Let’s start this exchange with the hope that it continues, and we can break down a few more silo walls…
It would be great to get Juha (Spine Toolbox developer [open-source]), Vedran (OSeMOSYS User Interface developer [open-source]), Charlie Heap (LEAP developer [freemium]), Transition Zero (Scenario builder [open-source, with paid commercial offering?]) and more in the room at the same time, for example, to discuss the challenges and concepts of user-interfaces for energy system models.