At Open Source Summit North America, community strength lit up Vancouver as much as the sun

From May 8 to May 12, over 2000 people from the open source community and over 1400 virtual attendees gathered in the beautiful Pacific Northwest city of Vancouver, British Columbia, for the Linux Foundation’s premier annual conference, Open Source Summit North America (OSSNA), and related community events. And what a week it was!

Image: Vancouver’s beautiful harborside

Community events such as Linux Security Summit, OpenSSF Day North America, Linux Storage, Filesystem, MM & BPF Summit, CD Con / GitOps Con, Spinnaker Summit, and Open JS Collaborator Summit occurred early in the week. 

Over a dozen micro-conferences covered the most critical technologies, topics, and issues affecting open source today and were featured as tracks during OSSNA. Several of these were firsts, such as SustainabilityCon, which covers technological solutions to decarbonize the global economy, mitigate and address the impacts of climate change, and build a more sustainable future, and also the first Open Metaverse Summit, which brought together industry leaders to explore the Metaverse with open technologies.

New Initiatives and AI Innovation

• New LF initiatives were launched, including digital trust and sustainability. LF Europe ED Gabriele Columbro took to the stage to encourage participation in LF Europe projects such as Sylva and OpenWallet Foundation, presenting the LF Europe Advisory Board, and more.
• At OSSNA, the keynotes highlighted the remarkable growth and impact of open source initiatives, particularly within the AI domain. Many discussions and presentations revolved around the future of open source AI, with Stella Biderman from EleutherAI delivering an engaging keynote.
• Linux Foundation Research and LF Training and Certification released the 2023 State of Tech Talent Report, which sheds light on the priorities, challenges, and changes this year brings to the tech workforce.
• The Open AI + Data Forum delved into various AI topics, including deep learning with PyTorch, the risks associated with contributing generative AI content to open source projects, creating high-performance AI models on Kubernetes in the cloud, big data with Delta Lake and Egeria, and AI/ML data pipeline processing. The LF AI & Data Foundation also made significant announcements, introducing OpenFL and DeepRec as new Incubation and Sandbox projects alongside the release of DocArray version 2. These developments showcased the ongoing advancements and innovation within the AI and data communities.

Community

Image: OSSNA 2023 attendees gather at the Vancouver Convention Centre for a morning run.

• At OpenJS World, Meta made a significant move by joining the OpenJS Foundation. This collaboration aims to strengthen the open source JavaScript ecosystem and promote the growth and adoption of JavaScript technologies. By becoming a member of the OpenJS Foundation, Meta signifies its commitment to fostering open collaboration within the JavaScript community.
• Another noteworthy development at OpenJS World was the announcement of the second annual JavaScriptLandia Individual Supporter Program Awards. This initiative recognizes the JavaScript community's creativity, diversity, and energy. By showcasing the exceptional contributions of individual supporters, the program celebrates the vibrant and collaborative nature of the JavaScript ecosystem.
• The Linux Foundation aims to drive positive change and create opportunities for underrepresented groups in software development. At the Diversity Empowerment Summit, the Linux Foundation spotlighted the Software Developer Diversity and Inclusion (SDDI) Project, an initiative to promote diversity and inclusivity within the software development community. The project seeks to identify best practices that create an inclusive environment within open source projects. SDDI shared several milestones at the conference. 
• The Open 3D Foundation made headlines by announcing the newest Open 3D Engine release. In addition to usability and stability improvements, the 23.05 Release introduces capabilities for game creators and robotics simulation developers to level up their authoring experience. This release also brings a new Multiplayer Sample Game to help game developers jumpstart new projects.

• During the Open Metaverse Summit, community members presented on topics spanning AI, Cloud, Edge, Networking, Digital Trust & Identity, FinTech, and more.

• Hyperledger Foundation launched its 2023 Brand Study survey. By taking this survey, you’ll contribute to shaping the future of enterprise blockchain and provide crucial information about the Hyperledger brand within the industry. Take the survey now and make your voice count! Influence the refinement of Hyperledger's brand strategy and strengthen its position as a trusted authority in enterprise blockchain.

Software Supply Chain Security

Image: Brian Behlendorf, Chief Technology Officer, OpenSSF 

• At OpenSSF Day on Wednesday, The Open Source Security Foundation announced that Omkhar Arasaratnam joined as the new General Manager, bringing over 25 years of cybersecurity and technical risk management experience to the role. Brian Behlendorf, the founding GM of the OpenSSF, has transitioned to Chief Technical Officer (CTO). 

• OpenSSF welcomed four new general members: Hitachi, Lockheed Martin, Salesforce, and SAP, and the Alpha-Omega Project, which seeks to improve security in the most popular open source packages, received $5 million in funding, with contributions from Microsoft and Google.

• During SupplyChainSecurityCon, community members presented on topics like SLSA, coordinating vulnerability disclosures, Scorecard, Sigstore, Best Practices Badge, developer tooling for better security, and more.

• The Software Package Data Exchange (SPDX) project unveiled SPDX 3.0 release candidate, a significant milestone in evolving this open standard to encompass a broader set of use cases. SPDX 3.0 introduces support for improving the transparency of AI/ML applications and training datasets and secure supply chain infrastructure. This release marks an important step in simplifying software licensing compliance and improving the modularity of the specification. 

• At cdCon + GitOpsCon, the Continuous Delivery Foundation announced its 2023 State of CD report and the addition of four new members, F5 NGINX, Prodvana, Salesforce, and Testkube. Additionally, it made several announcements that showcase its ongoing efforts to bring interoperability into the CD ecosystem and improve software delivery with speed and security. These updates reinforce the foundation's mission to drive industry standards and facilitate the adoption of cutting-edge CD tools.

Sustainability

Image: Amak, the 930+ kg (2000 lb) Steller sea lion, greets OSSNA attendees at the event reception at Vancouver Aquarium on May 11, 2023.

• At SustainabilityCon, the OS-Climate project launched the Sustainable Africa Initiative in collaboration with The Climate Risk Research Foundation and Generation Humanity. This initiative addresses climate risks and fosters sustainable development in Africa through open source technologies and research. By leveraging the power of open source, OS-Climate and its partners seek to drive positive change and mitigate climate challenges in the region.

• Also at SustainabilityCon, AgStack announced a global scientific collaboration to develop a digital open-source field-level model for carbon accounting in agriculture. The initiative is set to harness the latest advancements in scientific research and open-source technologies to create a comprehensive and accurate carbon accounting model. By utilizing remote and in-field sensing for carbon measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV), this project aims to promote sustainable practices and enhance carbon accounting in the agricultural sector.

Open Source Summit North America was a big splash

Image: “Digital Orca” by iconic Canadian artist Douglas Coupland on display outside the Vancouver Convention Centre keynote hall. 

As we bid farewell to Vancouver, we reflect on the beautiful weather (experience it from a different perspective with OpenChain's seaplane video and Behan Webster's helicopter video) and the joy of reconnecting with friends and colleagues. The open source community remains dedicated to driving positive change and fostering a world of endless possibilities. Open Source Summit North America 2023 brought together a diverse range of foundations, projects, and individuals to celebrate the collaborative and innovative spirit of the open source community. 

The event showcased remarkable announcements (see video coverage by The Cube), such as Meta's integration with the OpenJS Foundation and the introduction of sustainability initiatives. Although the event has ended, our journey continues as we look ahead to Open Source Summit Europe in Bilbao this September. Through our collective efforts and ongoing community leadership, we shape a brighter future by creating essential shared technology investments. To those who joined us in person and online and our numerous sponsors, we thank you for a successful week!