Linux Foundation Europe Launches Advisory Board To Accelerate Impact of Pan-European Open Collaboration

Brussels, Belgium– Linux Foundation Europe is excited to announce the members of the Linux Foundation Europe Advisory Board (LFEAB), which includes representatives from a cross-section of 20 leading European organizations within the EU, the UK, and beyond. Members of the Board represent a range of organizations by size and industry, each with a shared vision for open source collaboration. The Advisory Board will play an important role in stewarding Linux Foundation Europe's growing community, which now spans 100 member organizations from across the European region.

"Open source in this time and age is not only critical to the success of technology companies, but to the very business of traditional industries undergoing digital transformation. That’s why I’m thrilled the LF Europe Advisory Board includes such a broad representation from different verticals, companies of all sizes, and from over 10 countries in Europe. Their collective vision and active commitment will maximize the impact and alignment of our open collaborations with European values and priorities," said Gabriele Columbro, General Manager of Linux Foundation Europe.

The broad representation of Linux Foundation Europe’s participants across the European Union, UK and United States is crucial, helping drive forward LF Europe's mission of enabling regional collaboration on shared priorities, without fostering increased fragmentation and techno nationalism. Additionally, to ensure strong community representation, Linux Foundation Europe's projects will be able to appoint a representative as Advisory Board observer. 

"The Linux Foundation has played a critical role in advancing open source, and I am honored to have the opportunity to contribute to its efforts in Europe. As a long-time contributor to the Linux kernel, I understand the power of collaborative development and the importance of open standards. I look forward to helping shape the future of open source in Europe and beyond," said Greg Kroah-Hartman, Linux Foundation Fellow and maintainer of the Linux Foundation stable kernel branch.

The Advisory Board, which hosted its inaugural meeting in April during Kubecon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2023, will have a broad set of responsibilities, which includes providing guidance for LF Europe to engage with the public sector regarding project participation, as well as in response to critical legislation impacting the technology ecosystem – a current example being the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), AI Act, Digital Services and Digital Markets Act. 

The inaugural advisors on the LF Europe Advisory Board are:

• Philipp Ahmann, Bosch
• Lucian Balea, RTE
• Debora Comparin, Thales/Secure Identity Alliance
• Philippe Ensarguet, Orange
• Felix Faassen, TomTom
• Peter Giese, SAP
• Samuel Iglesias Gonsálvez, Igalia
• Max Körbächer, Liquid Reply
• Anni Lai, Futurewei
• Gerardo Lisboa, ESOP
• Paolo Mainardi, Sparkfabrik
• Sachiko Muto, OpenForum Europe/RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
• Jacopo Nardiello, SIGHUP
• Cosmin Oprea, London Stock Exchange Group
• Timo Perala, Nokia
• Alois Reitbauer, Dynatrace
• Alan Richards, GitLab
• Phil Robb, Ericsson
• Sebastian Scheele, Kubermatic
• Csilla Zsigri, BTP

Additionally the following observers will be representing open source projects on the LFEAB:

• Daniel Goldscheider, OpenWallet Foundation
• Greg Kroah Hartman, Kernel.org 
• Guillaume Nevicato, Sylva

Beyond this initial composition, Linux Foundation Europe is expected to hold elections over time to evolve the Advisory Board with democratic representation of its Participants across the European region and beyond. Organizations interested in participating in the Advisory Board should consider becoming a Linux Foundation Europe Participant. For more information about Linux Foundation Europe and how to participate, please visit linuxfoundation.eu.

View quotes from the Advisory Board

About Linux Foundation Europe
The Linux Foundation and Linux Foundation Europe together are supported by more than 3000 members internationally. This expansion highlights the Linux Foundation’s commitment towards growing a truly global, diverse and inclusive institution to continue transparently advancing Open Source growth and to facilitate regional—global collaboration. The Linux Foundation is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world’s infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, Hyperledger Foundation, PyTorch, RISC-V, and more. Linux Foundation Europe methodology focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.eu.