Linux Foundation Europe Newsletter - December 2024

As we close out an exciting year—from participating at the UN OSPOs for Good to the LF Member Summit and many local events—we want to take a moment to wish you a joyful holiday season! Thank you for your continued support and for being part of our  open source community.

Looking ahead to the new year, we’re excited to continue collaborating, innovating, and growing together. Here’s to 2025, filled with even more of what makes open source special: passionate communities, meaningful connections, and a friendly spirit that drives progress.

We can’t wait to see what we’ll achieve together in the coming year. For now, we leave you to enjoy the last newsletter of the year.

Table of Contents

• News & announcements
• Updates from Linux Foundation Europe projects
• Top picks for reading/watching
• New publications and surveys from LF Research
• Training & certification deals
• Upcoming events
• Partner with Linux Foundation Europe for your next open source event
• Say “Hi!” to the LF Europe Team 👋
  
  

News & announcements 🗞️

Next Steps After the LF Europe & OpenSSF CRA Workshop

How to Get Involved in the Global Cyber Policy Working Group

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the 2024 LF Europe and OpenSSF Stewards and Manufacturers Workshop in Amsterdam! We’ve received great feedback, and it’s clear that there's strong energy to continue working together.

To keep things moving forward, LF Europe and OpenSSF have launched a new public Working Group:

Global Cyber Policy Working Group (WG):

• GitHub repo
• Mailing list
• Slack channel

This WG will include three Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that focus on the key topics from the workshop:

• CRA Readiness & Awareness: Mailing list
• CRA Tooling, Processes & Formats: Mailing list
• CRA Specification Standardization: Mailing list

We’ll be scheduling regular meetings soon—keep an eye out for a doodle poll to help us find the best time. Be sure to join the mailing lists and Slack channel to stay up to date. The first steps will include finalizing the working group’s charter and selecting chairs for the SIGs.

This group is open to everyone, including LF members and the wider community. Feel free to spread the word and get more people involved. We’re excited to work together to meet the upcoming EU requirements and strengthen the open source ecosystem.

The Linux Foundation @FOSDEM

Discover Our Projects and Communities

At our shared booth with CNCF, we’ll be showcasing the incredible open source projects and communities that are driving innovation across Europe and beyond. Whether you’re interested in security, AI, cloud-native technologies, or energy systems, stop by to learn about the work we’re doing and how you can get involved.

Here are some key projects to check out:

• Keycloak (CNCF): Secure user authentication for modern applications.
• LF Energy: Leading the way in open source for the energy transition.
• TODO Group Europe Chapter: Best practices for open source programs.
• OpenSSF: Focused on open source software security for everyone.
• GraphQL Foundation: Bringing developers together to collaborate on open APIs.

Join Us for a Special Side Event

We’re hosting a side event during FOSDEM for great conversations and networking with the open source community. From 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. It’s the perfect chance to connect, so don’t miss out! Our event is sponsored by CNCF, OpenSSF, LF Education, Sovereign Tech Agency, and LF Europe.

Visit Us at FOSDEM

At LF Europe, we’re committed to keeping open source open and accessible to everyone. We’re passionate about fostering innovation and collaboration that makes a global impact. Whether you’re a developer, a business leader, or just curious about open source, we’d love to meet you at FOSDEM.

Make sure to stop by our booth (shared with CNCF) to say hi, learn more about our projects, and see how open source is shaping the future!

Looking forward to seeing you at FOSDEM 2025!

Looking Ahead to 2025: LF Europe Roadshows

Tux Image from 🏎️ SuperTuxKart

About
LF Europe Roadshows are one-day events held twice a year, offering a platform for networking, collaboration, and learning. These events bring together community members, executives, and experts for in-depth discussions on critical open source topics. For more info, check out the sponsorship prospectus. 

Coming up:

1. Regulations and Compliance Roadshow
2. Finance and Open Source Roadshow

EU Open Source Policy Summit

 Gabriele Columbro will be part of the panel titled "The Open Source Ecosystem – Navigating a World in Transformation." This panel will discuss the main challenges in open source, such as how to fund projects, support maintainers and developers, and manage the impact of global political tensions on the community. The panel will also look at how we can work together to strengthen trust in open source software and ensure it benefits everyone. Foundations play a key role in bringing people together to solve these problems. Learn more

Updates from Linux Foundation Europe projects 🚀

Open Mobile Hub:

As we reflect on 2024, it’s been a year of significant growth and milestones for Open Mobile Hub (OMH). From launching our new logo and website to debuting at React Universe Conf and releasing the OMH Storage SDK, we’ve made great strides in simplifying mobile app development. We're grateful for the community's support and look forward to even more exciting advancements in 2025. Thank you for being part of this journey!

OpenWallet Foundation:

Some quick updates to close 2024 as the OpenWallet Foundation and OpenWallet Forum prepare for a big 2025:

• Together with the Swiss Government and ITU, the OpenWallet Forum will convene Ministers, Heads of Intergovernmental Organizations, CEOs of OpenWallet Member Companies, EDs of Standard Development Organizations and other senior representatives at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. We are excited to disclose more about this event in the next newsletter.
• The OpenWallet Foundation has a newsletter, and you should subscribe! 
• On Tuesday December 31st at 16:00CET, OWF Executive Director Daniel Goldscheider will share his POV on the panel, “The Future of Public Sector Collaboration Across Europe”. Find out more here: https://summit.openforumeurope.org/
• OWF ED Daniel Goldscheider was a recent guest on the Identerati Office Hours livestream. Daniel and host Mike Schwartz discussed the UN and OpenWallet Digital Public Infrastructure Collaboration. Check out this fantastic 45 minute discussion here. 
• OpenWallet Foundation Technical Advisory Council (TAC) Chair Tracy Kuhrt shared a retrospective of 2024 at the last TAC meeting of the year. Click here to check out the discussion on 2024 and the TAC’s ideas for 2025. 
• Credo, an OpenWallet Foundation Growth project, wins the Identity Innovation Award at the IDNext!
• Congrats to Animo (using Credo) and Lissi (using Wallet Framework for .Net Lab)  teams for moving forward in the SPRIND Funke competition! You can find out more about the competition and the work of these teams here.

Servo:

This month, Servo adds support for :is() and :where() selectors, parallel flexbox, and experimental CSS grid layout. New Shadow DOM interfaces and SubtleCrypto algorithms (HMAC, AES-GCM, AES-KW, PBKDF2) are also now supported.

Performance improvements include faster flexbox layouts and reduced binary sizes. For developers, we've introduced the --profile medium build mode and CODEOWNERS for easier code reviews. Read more

Excited for more updates in 2025! Thank you for your continued support.

Sylva:

🎖️ Accomplishments

• Defining the Future: The Sylva Project proudly announces its Long-Term Vision for Scalable Cloud-Native Telco Infrastructure, setting the stage for sustainable innovation.
• Sylva V1.2 Released: Discover the latest updates and enhancements in our Open-Source Telco Cloud Reference Implementation.

🚀 What’s Next

• FOSDEM 2025: Meet us at the LFEU booth on 1st February for an introduction to Sylva, powered by our amazing staff—and yes, stickers included!
• Sylva Developer Day: Join us on Monday, 31st March, ahead of London KubeCon, for an exclusive hands-on experience.
• Mini Summits:
  • North America: Mark your calendars for June, in Denver, as Sylva hosts its Mini Summit. 
  • Europe: Coming in August, Amsterdam. 

🔧 In the Works

• Our team is hard at work preparing demos to showcase Sylva’s cutting-edge capabilities. Stay tuned for more updates!

Thank you for being part of our journey as we continue building the future of cloud-native telco.

RISE

What a year this has been! With nearly a dozen RFPs in process and over €1m committed, RISE has been instrumental in enabling the RISC-V software ecosystem in 2024. To commemorate this year, we have created and recorded a webinar covering the RISE End of year Ecosystem Update from our technical steering committee. This webinar includes a summary of everything RISE has been up to from a technical perspective. Also make sure to keep current with the RISE blog, where we provide regular detailed posts related to our projects and technical activities.

The past year has also been very busy for us from a community perspective, with several sponsored events and many more supported by our 21 member companies. We are planning now for 2025 and see a lot of opportunities to connect at RISC-V summits as well as industry events, including Embedded World, Supercomputing 2025, and more. You can keep an eye out for these on the RISE events page on our website.

Finally, we want to extend a special recognition of gratitude to Calista Redmond, the outgoing CEO for RISC-V International. Calista has been at the helm for RISC-V for nearly 6 years, and has transformed the organization from a quiet but fast-growing startup foundation to a true international standards body, with over 5000 participating members collaborating to create and curate the RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture. We wish Calista all the best in her new role, and we wish you, our community, the happiest of holidays - see you in 2025!

Top picks for reading/watching 📚

✨ Funding Open Source Projects: Measuring the Impact
Funding is crucial for the security and sustainability of open source projects. LF Europe, alongside experts from Sovereign Tech Agency, CHAOSS, and NGI Commons, has developed a toolkit to evaluate the social, economic, and technological effects of funding on open source development. This resource offers valuable insights for both funders and developers.
Check out the full article

✨ Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) Implementation Blog Series
The CRA officially entered into force on December 10, 2024, with full application starting in 2027. This new blog series explores the regulation’s impact on open source software, with the first post offering an overview and outlining LF Europe and OpenSSF’s ongoing efforts for implementation.
Learn more

✨ Keynote: Four Cloud Native Technology Areas to Watch For
Lin Sun and Karena Angell discuss key trends in cloud-native technologies, including AI, cost management, multicluster deployment, simplification, and project readiness for production.
Watch the keynote

✨ Sylva Project Announces Long-Term Vision for Scalable, Cloud-Native Telco Infrastructure
The Sylva Project, hosted at Linux Foundation Europe, is setting the stage for the future of telecommunications. With the expansion of 5G and the rise of 6G technologies, Sylva’s vision focuses on creating scalable, cloud-native infrastructure to support these advancements.
Read the full announcement

Latest LF Research Report:

The 2024 World of Open Source survey, conducted within the Linux Foundation's global community, provides insights into open source adoption, contributions, value propositions, and sustainability across regions and industries.

The year-over-year analysis highlights an increase in the perceived benefits and business value of open source. The IT and media sectors lead in adoption and contributions, while more regulated industries are slower to catch up. Time and funding remain key barriers to open source participation, and many respondents are uncertain about the effects of new regulations.

Training & certification🐧

GET IN-DEMAND SKILLS

LF Education just launched "Conversational AI: Ensuring Compliance and Mitigating Risks (LFS120)"! This FREE course will equip you with the knowledge & skills to navigate and mitigate the complex risks associated with the widespread adoption of conversational AI systems. 

Upcoming events 🗓️

• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025 in London, England 🇬🇧 Apr 1–4, 2025 
• KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026 in Amsterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱 Mar 23–26, 2026

• BackstageCon Europe London, England 🇬🇧 Apr 1, 2025

• CiliumCon Europe London, England 🇬🇧 Apr 1, 2025

• Open Source Summit Europe Amsterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱 Aug 25–27, 2025

To register for in-person attendance or virtual LF events, please view our full calendar of events here, and be sure to subscribe to our events newsletter. Check out our Flickr stream for photos of past events!

Partner with Linux Foundation Europe for your next open source event

Planning an open source event in Europe? Let Linux Foundation Europe amplify your event's reach! To our members, we offer promotion on our social channels and newsletters, connecting you with a broad audience of open source enthusiasts. 

Reach out if you'd like a Linux Foundation Europe team member to speak at your local open source event. 

As an independent, trusted supporter, and vendor-neutral hub for open source projects in Europe, we accelerate collaborative efforts, connecting public and private sectors and individual contributors. 

Say “Hi!” to the LF Europe Team 👋

If you’d like to stay updated with what we’re up to at LF Europe, subscribe to our monthly newsletter and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Discord, Mastodon & BlueSky!

We are excited to invite you to join the newly launched Bluesky channel of the Linux Foundation Europe for open source initiatives. We aim to create a platform where open source enthusiasts and experts can come together to discuss, collaborate, and work towards advancing the open source movement. Please check this link to follow. 

If you have ideas for new projects, please feel free to contact us at info@linuxfoundation.eu. We would be glad to explore how we can support your efforts. 

Finally, please also consider supporting LF Europe by participating (it’s free for existing Linux Foundation members, not for profit and public sector entities). 

On behalf of the LF Europe team, we look forward to hearing from you!