OSOR is a place where the Free and Open Source software community can come together to publish news, find out about events, find relevant open source software solutions and read about the use of Free...
European PoliciesOpen Source SoftwareDigital innovation
Last update: 29/11/2023
Building and designing cooperative digital infrastructure with OS
A new report co-authored by researchers from the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), OSPO++ and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) highlights the benefits that open source can bring to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report is based on the outcomes of the “OSPOs for Good: Building & Designing Cooperative Digital Infrastructure” conference co-organised by OpenForum Europe, RISE, OSPO++, JHU, the UN Office of Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology and the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology.Both the conference and the report highlighted that…
Aleph Alpha's OS LLM might be the answer to US AI dominance
Aleph Alpha, a Heidelberg-based startup focused on open source large language models (LLM), has raised €486 million in its Series B financing round. Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck called the startup an “incredible success story.” Indeed, this was one of Europe’s largest AI rounds ever – Mistral AI, the French startup which also relies on open source for its model made a splash this June when it raised €105 million in its seed funding round. Aleph Alpha’s funding round was led by Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (Ipai), Bosch Ventures and companies operating under the…
Business and competitionTools+3 topics
Last update: 20/10/2023
New report discusses OS supply chain challenges, opportunities
Last week, Sonatype presented their annual Report on the State of the Software Supply Chain which looked at the patterns of open source (OS) maintenance, adoption and consumption. Specifically, it investigated the growth of the software supply chain, the use of software bill of materials (SBOM), the rise of OS regulations, as well as the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) by developers. The possibility to do this type of third-party scrutiny on the source code and supply chain is one of the key societal benefits of open source. Any issues discovered could also exist…
Business and competitionDigital-ready policymaking+4 topics
Last update: 02/10/2023
New, free online course in open source licences from the EU
Interoperable Europe Academy released a new, free online course entitled “Introduction to open software licences,” which covers the basics of open source licensing. The class targets IT professionals, policymakers and public servants working in the field of digitalisation and integration of public services who wish to better understand and apply OS licences in their ICT products and solutions. The lesson offers an interactive learning environment and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Overall, the course covers core topics, focusing on types and characteristics of different OS…
CollaborationEuropean Policies+7 topics
Last update: 06/04/2023
Supporting quality and maturity of digital commons
NGI Zero Review is a three year support programme offering various targeted services to free and open source projects within the Next Generation Internet initiative. Goal is to improve the quality and inclusiveness of these projects, and make them more sustainable where possible by supporting the most promising ideas to live up to high standards (sometimes called “walk the talk”) in terms of security, privacy, accessibility, open source licensing compliance, standardisation, etc. Target participants: The NGI Zero Review program is open to grantees withing the NGI initiative Available to free…
eGovernmentICT+6 topics
Last update: 06/04/2023
Funding opportunity: Open Calls on moving the Internet forward
NGI Zero Core 1st Open Call Opening date: 1st April 2023 Closing date: 1st August 12:00 CET We want a more resilient, trustworthy and open internet. We want to empower end-users. Given the speed at which the ‘twin transition’ is taking place, we need a greener internet and more sustainable services sooner rather than later. Neither will happen at global scale without protocol evolution, which — as the case of three decades of IPv6 introduction demonstrates — is extremely challenging. NGI0 Core is designed to push beyond the status quo and create a virtuous cycle of innovation through free and…
eGovernmentICT+3 topics
Last update: 29/05/2023
Funding opportunity: Open Calls on Trustworthiness and data sovere
NGI ZERO ENTRUST 5th Open Call Opening date: 1st April Closing date: 1st August 12:00 CET (noon) We need a more resilient, trustworthy and open internet, empowering the end-users. Trust is only justified and sustainable if it the technology in question is up for the job, and is secure-by-design as well as trustworthy. Much of the software, services and devices does not measure up, and it is quite unlikely this will just improve by itself. NGI0 Entrust is designed to move beyond the status quo and create a virtuous cycle of innovation through free and open source software, libre hardware and…
eGovernmentICTDigital innovation
Last update: 17/02/2022
White House meeting on security of open source software
On 13 January the White House organised a meeting on improving security of open source software with actors representing governmental agencies, private sector and open source foundations. Acknowledging that open source is in almost all software solutions used nowadays and that it brings a unique value, the US government discussed the challenges and potential related to open source with major stakeholders in the field. The meetings are said to be continued in the future to respond to the widespread usage of open source and the need for ensuring its security. The meeting took the form of a group...
Banking and financial servicesOpen Source Software+3 topics
Last update: 24/02/2021
Open Source and Space
The drone helicopter Ingenuity, landed on Mars on February 18, represents a success for the Open Source community, as it runs on a Linux operating system and is based on an Open Source Software framework, called F’ (“F Prime”). February 18 will be remembered as a historical date. For the first time, Mars is hosting the drone helicopter “Ingenuity” on its ground, as a result of the Mars Helicopter mission run by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The mission is a technology demonstration included in the broader NASA mission Mars 2020, whose main goal is to seek signs of ancient life and…
GeospatialOpen Source Software+4 topics
Last update: 10/02/2021
Government OSPOs for Europe
The final results of the European Commission Study on the Impact of Open Source Software and Hardware were presented on 5 February at the European Open Source Policy Summit, opened by Commissioner Breton. A part of this presentation was the recommendation to leverage the European Commission Open Source Programme Office (OSPO) to scale Open Source across Europe. Sachiko Muto, CEO of OpenForum Europe opened the conference by saying the study is “a big moment” for European Open Source policy and beyond. The Commission’s DG Connect tasked Fraunhofer ISI and OpenForum Europe to conduct a…
Open Source SoftwareIndustry and production+3 topics
15/11/2023
Physical event
NGI Forum 2023 - Unlocking the power of Digital Commons
The NGI Forum 2023 is the flagship event of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative. It brings together some of Europe’s top Internet innovators at work to build an Internet of Trust, empowering end-users with more choice and control over their data and digital identity.The mission of NGI is to re-imagine and re-engineer the Internet. The NGI initiative funds European innovative research projects that make it possible to develop a new Internet that is safer, more open...