Sachiko Muto

Sachiko Muto
Sachiko Muto in 2021
Born	May 1975[1]
Nationality	Swedish
Education	University of Toronto, London School of Economics
Occupations	academic open source advocate

Sachiko Muto (born in 1975) is a Swedish academic and open source advocate.

Education and early career

Muto completed a bachelor's degree in international relations and political science at the University of Toronto in 2000. In 2002, she completed a master's degree in European politics and policy at the London School of Economics.[2]

Muto started her career in European affairs as an intern at Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.[3]

Subsequently, she worked for ten years in policy making in Brussels before moving to California.[2]

Academic research

Muto's area of research is social and political implications of technological change.[4] More specifically her ingoing research at the Delft University is focusing on the role of standards from this perspective. She was previously a researcher with UC Berkeley, from 2012 to 2014.[2][5]

Muto is also a senior researcher at RISE in Sweden.[6] She is a frequent commentator on the question of impact of standards on the environment.[7]

Advocacy work

Muto joined OpenForum Europe in 2007.[5][6] She was advocating for open standards in the context of the Microsoft antitrust case in 2008.[8]

In 2016, Muto became the CEO of OpenForum Europe, replacing the founder Graham Taylor.[9][7]

In her role, she argued for focusing investment in Europe on open source software to preserve the competitiveness of the continent.[10]

In 2022, Muto welcomed the creation of Linux Foundation Europe, to reinforce the advocates of open source in the EU.[11] She put forward the importance of open source in fostering a culture of collaboration in Europe.[11] According to Muto, investment in open source software would contribute to more growth and could put Europe in a leadership position.[12] Muto in particular called on the European Commission to assume a more assertive role in coordinating the efforts to develop open source.[13] From the perspective of users Muto, expressed concerns about privacy that would be best ensured through open source, because it offers the potential to mitigate the power of Big Tech.[14]

Personal life

Muto lived in Belgium and the UK. She lived for five years in Cupertino, US before returning to Belgium in 2016 together with her family.[15]

References

1. "Sachiko Muto". GOV.UK. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
2. "Sachiko Muto". Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society. UC Berkeley. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
3. Directorate-General for Research (January 2003). International Terrorism and European Security (PDF) (Report). European Commission. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
4. "Sachiko Muto". OpenForum Europe. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
5. "Linux Foundation Europe Advisory Board". linuxfoundation. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
6. "Measuring Contribution to Open Source". SWForum.eu. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
7. "Sachiko Muto, Chief Executive Officer of OpenForum Europe". JoinUp. European Commission. February 9, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
8. Igra, Daniel (June 11, 2008). "Kroes issues software standards warning". Politico. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
9. Sharma, Mayank (September 6, 2021). "Open source software could be the EU's secret weapon". Techradar. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
10. Bertuzzi, Luca (September 8, 2021). "Open source software boosted the EU economy by 'between €65 to €95 bn' - report". EURACTIV. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
11. Whiting, Dan; Lustak, Andi (September 14, 2022). "Linux Foundation Europe Launches to Foster European Open Source Collaboration and Innovation". PR NewsWire. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
12. "Open Source ecosystem could drive massive economic growth". Services & Solutions Hungary. September 7, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
13. le calme, Stéphane (February 9, 2021). "L'open source contribue à hauteur de 95 Mds € à la puissance économique de l'UE" [Open Source contributes to the tune of €95 billion to the economic strength of the EU]. Developpez.com (in French). Retrieved July 19, 2023.
14. "Open source software boosted the EU economy by 'between €65 to €95 bn' report". Technology for you. September 8, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
15. "Open Source Innovation in Universities". StayHappening. Trinity College Dublin. March 24, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.