Abby Mitchell - Effective Open Source Community Management in Quantum Computing | SciPy 2023

Learn how to effectively manage an open source community in the quantum computing space, as Abby Mitchell shares her expertise on Qiskit, covering community spaces, automated testing, code reviews, and more.

Key takeaways
  • The Qiskit ecosystem is an open source platform for quantum computing, and managing its community is crucial for its success.
  • Clearly defined spaces (e.g. Slack channels, GitHub issues) help direct people to the right place and reduce noise in the community.
  • Automated tests and reviews can speed up development and improve code quality.
  • Performance is an important aspect of quantum computing, and the ecosystem must be optimized for it.
  • Merging research code into Qiskit can be challenging, and a new process is being developed to integrate code more efficiently.
  • The community needs to be treated with empathy and understanding, and contributors should be recognized and appreciated.
  • Documentation is essential for maintaining the community and making it easy for others to contribute.
  • The Qiskit ecosystem is a unique and complex space that requires careful management to ensure its success.
  • Qiskit has a dedicated space for research code, which is reviewed and integrated into the platform.
  • The ecosystem is still evolving and requires continuous improvement.
  • The community needs to be supported and encouraged to contribute to the ecosystem.
  • Qiskit has a developer advocate who works with the community to resolve issues and provide support.
  • The community is diverse and global, and requires inclusive and respectful communication.
  • Qiskit uses GitHub projects and wikis to organize and document its code and research.
  • The ecosystem has a dedicated space for documentation and provides clear guidelines for contributors.
  • The community is constantly evolving, and requires flexible and adaptable management.
  • Qiskit has a contributor monitoring dashboard to track the progress of contributors and identify areas for improvement.