Openprovider & Inclusivity

The world is changing constantly, and so is Openprovider. Some behaviors that were approved in the past are not tolerated anymore. And those behaviors may have passed unnoticed throughout the years, but they have never been okay. In the last years, we have seen many changes in the area of diversity and inclusivity. Often, these changes were based on certain movements and specific incidents around inequality and other sensitive topics. Think of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements and the move towards gender neutrality, just to mention some.

Some people find these changes difficult to deal with. Change is always difficult, but inevitable.

I think everybody has certain prejudices based on their past experiences, what you see online or on tv, cultural background, etc. We have to remind ourselves that these are generalised versions of a truth, and not the truth. And we also have to realise that we could ourselves be having racist or bigoted thoughts or behaviors.

So, how do we know what is not an acceptable behavior? A few basic guidelines:

• If you’re offensive to someone, it’s not okay.
• If you are judging people, this is not okay.
• If you have aggressive thoughts when saying something about somebody, that is not okay.
• If somebody tells you they are offended by your behavior, then your behavior might be not okay.
• If yuor behavior stereotypes people, that is not okay.
• If you bully someone, that’s not okay.

In general, it is not up to us to decide what is acceptable and what is not. Your intentions can be good. But if somebody perceives them as offensive, then you have to adjust your behavior. Empathy and looking through the eyes of somebody else, especially when they are different from you, is a crucial gift that you can develop to become a better person. I think that should be the goal of every individual: becoming the best version of yourself without hurting others in the process.

If everybody would do that, the world would be a much better place.

Inclusivity and Openprovider

What does this mean for Openprovider? We are a company of many cultures, identities, preferences, and lifestyles. Literally all research shows that diversity is key for the success of companies on a worldwide scale. So, at Openprovider embraces diversity and values inclusivity. It is key to our success and happiness.

Having said that, we do not tolerate any behavior that bullies people, that judges people on the education they have, the color of their skin, their sexual preferences, religious beliefs, or anything else that paints someone as not equal to anyone else. People who show behaviors as those described above have no place in Openprovider, and we will take every complaint we receive very seriously.

There is no such thing as race. There is only one, the human race.

In the world of domains, there are still some changes that should be made. These include terminology such as master and slave DNS, or blacklist and white list, which are terms that come from the time of trans-atlantic slavery.

On the topic of inclusivity, our core values are key as always:

• Knowledge equals power. Educate yourself on what discrimination means and how it sometimes sneaks into our lives without us being aware.
• Quality leads to quantity. Quality in our relationships with each other, customers, and suppliers define our success.
• Enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy. Everybody should be treated equally and with respect. This means we can stop doing business with customers that have unacceptable behavior. The same goes for suppliers suppliers. And of course, as colleagues, we have to respect each other.

We will think more about what we can do to help each other to behave in a correct way.

As a Dutch person, somebody who did not finish University, my last name means ‘Fish’ in Dutch, my kids are half-black, and my wife is Korean-German from Uzbekistan, I think there are a lot of possible prejudices people can have towards me and my family. And as I would defend my family, I will defend you and your family if you experience any situation as the ones described above. This is my personal commitment to you.