Newsroom | Linux Foundation EU

Linux Foundation Europe Newsletter - January 2026

Written by Linux Foundation Europe | Jan 28, 2026 9:13:55 PM

Welcome to the January 2026 edition of the LF Europe Newsletter. 

In this edition of the LF Europe newsletter, you'll discover news and announcements from LF Europe, projects updates, LF Education opportunities, the latest insights from LF Research, highlights from recent events and summits, and a preview of upcoming events.

>> Read on to stay informed, engaged, and connected with the vibrant LF Europe community.

Contents


Exciting news + announcements from LF Europe

  • New Blog: How do we keep open source strong and sustainable as regulation, geopolitics, and the technical landscape continue to shift?

    • In 2025, this question shaped Linux Foundation Europe’s work across policy, security, funding, and global collaboration. Here’s what we learned and what comes next. Read the blog >>

  • EU Open Source Policy Summit 2026—Digital Sovereignty Runs on Open Source >> January 30, 2026
    • The 2026 EU Open Source Policy Summit will bring together public and private sector leaders to show how open source delivers Europe’s digital sovereignty across security, cloud, AI, standards, and industrial innovation.
    • Gabriele Columbro (LF Europe / FINOS) will give a keynote on Europe’s digital sovereignty and the strategic role of open ecosystems.
    • Paula Grzegorzewska (LF Europe) will participate in the panel “Building Alternatives – Cloud & AI”, which will examine how open source can support competitive European cloud and AI ecosystems, trusted infrastructure, and interoperability. She will be joined by Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA); Thibaut Kleiner, Director at DG CONNECT, European Commission; Frank Karlitschek, CEO of Nextcloud; Ritesh Paiboina, CTO of Open Telekom Cloud at T-Systems International; and Frank Feldmann, Chief Strategy Officer at SUSE.
    • The panel will explore how regulation, procurement, and industrial policy can be aligned to foster European alternatives to dominant global platforms, while ensuring openness drives innovation, interoperability, trust, and strategic control over critical digital infrastructure.
    • Join Europe’s open source policy conversation. Learn more and register >>
  • FOSDEM 2026—Linux Foundation Europe is excited to be part of one of Europe’s premier gatherings for free and open source communities.
    • This year, we will highlight a mix of global and Europe-led open source initiatives across cloud, telecoms, hardware, energy, security, and embedded systems. 
    • FOSDEM attendees can explore project stands from CNCF, OpenSSF, RISC-V International, OpenInfra Foundation, Zephyr Project, Dronecode Foundation, TODO Group, Xen Project, OpenBao, and OpenTofu, alongside emerging European initiatives such as the NeoNephos Foundation, Carbyne Stack, and PowSyBl.
    • We will also share new insights from LF Research on digital sovereignty, CRA readiness, and related topics, together with hands-on demos and training resources from Linux Foundation Education.
    • In addition, we are proud to co-organize several FOSDEM devrooms this year including EU Policy, Funding the FOSS Ecosystem, Robotics & Simulation, CRA in Practice, SBOMs & Supply Chains, Energy, and Embedded, Mobile & Automotive.
    • Session Highlights:
      • Accelerating the open source flywheel in Europe with private sector & VC funding—Gabriele Columbro (Linux Foundation Europe) and Abel Samot (Red River West) will speak at FOSDEM in the Funding the FOSS Ecosystem track. The session explores how enterprise and VC funding, often overlooked in Europe, can strengthen upstream open source projects and fuel sustainable commercial ecosystems. Drawing on insights from the State of Commercial Open Source report, the speakers will share perspectives from LF Europe and Commit, Europe’s first VC fund dedicated to commercial open source. Learn more >>
      • Global collaboration and Europe's digital sovereignty goals: debate—As Europe moves from slogans to strategy on digital sovereignty, open source is increasingly recognised as a foundation of technological autonomy. Yet the conversation often gets stuck on questions of origin and ownership that don’t align with how open source ecosystems actually function.
        • This panel will explore sovereignty as a matter of capability, participation, and influence, and how deeper engagement in global open source communities can reinforce, rather than dilute, Europe’s strategic autonomy. The discussion brings together perspectives from Gabriele Columbro of LF Europe and FINOS, Vittorio Bertola of Open-Xchange, and Thierry Carrez of the OpenInfra Foundation, with moderation by Paula Grzegorzewska (LF Europe). Learn more >>
      • LF Europe Evening Reception—As part of the annual FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers European Meeting), the Linux Foundation Europe organises a special evening Reception for relaxed networking and conversations about all things open source on 31 January. We look forward to bringing together developers and open source enthusiasts from around the world.
        • Proudly sponsored by >> Cloud Native Computing Foundation, OpenSSF, LF Education, OpenInfra, Dronecode, Sovereign Tech Agency.
        • Registrations are now full. We will reopen the page if additional seats become available. Stay tuned for more details.
  • Zephyr Project Meetup—Brussels, Belgium, 30 Jan 2026

  • Blog: EU Open Source Week 2026—What to Expect from Linux Foundation Europe

    • Late January is becoming a key moment for Europe’s open source ecosystem. From FOSDEM to the EU Open Source Policy Summit, EU Open Source Week 2026 brings developers, policymakers, and communities together in Brussels to shape the future of open digital infrastructure. Here’s what to expect. Read the blog >>

  • Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and Linux Foundation Europe are hosting the inaugural Open Sovereign Cloud Day—Amsterdam, Netherlands, 23 March 2026 (co-located with #KubeCon EU)
     
    • Calling all technologists with real-world experience building sovereign solutions on open source!
    • It’s time to move from policy to practical technology showcasing how open source projects across the Linux Foundation ecosystem are coming together to deliver end-to-end sovereign cloud stacks.
    • If you are working on sovereignty in practice, we would love to see you there! Learn more >>

LF Europe Projects: Featured news

Open Source Summit Europe 2025 Keynote

ELISA Project

  • The ELISA Project will be present throughout FOSDEM 2026 in Brussels.
    • ELISA Ambassadors participating in talks, discussions, and developer rooms across the event. Attendees can also meet the team at the Linux Foundation Europe stand (Building K, Level 2)  to learn about ongoing work, community activities, and opportunities to get involved.
    • A session highlight features Philipp Ahmann (ETAS GmbH / Bosch) presenting “Code, Compliance, and Confusion: Open Source in Safety-Critical Products,” examining the growing use of open source in functional safety, recent progress across the ecosystem, and persistent challenges around certification, evidence, and governance. ELISA TSC members Kate Stewart and Nicole Pappler will also be onsite for discussions and collaboration.
    • In addition, ELISA will host a BoF / unconference titled “Safety-Critical Linux: Challenges across industries.” This open discussion will bring together practitioners from automotive, aerospace, medical devices, robotics, and rail to share real-world experiences and explore common challenges such as timing and determinism, documentation, tooling, certification, and system design. Anyone interested in safety-critical Linux is welcome to join and contribute to the conversation.
  • WG SIG Annual Updates 2026
    • The ELISA Project will host its annual Working Group and Special Interest Group Updates on February 11–12 (10:00–12:00 EST / 15:00–17:00 UTC), bringing together project leads to present progress, roadmap priorities, and participation opportunities for 2026.
    • The two-day virtual event will cover 2025 milestones, current activities, and areas for cross-industry collaboration, and will include onboarding guidance for new contributors. Sessions will feature updates from ELISA Working Groups and SIGs, including Systems & Automotive, Open Source Engineering Process, Safety Architecture, Linux Features for Safety-Critical Systems, BASIL & Tools, Lighthouse, Aerospace, and Space Grade Linux. Register for the event >>

Margo

  • Margo Releases Preview Release 1 (PR1) 
    • PR1 provides early access to an interoperable industrial edge application lifecycle management specification and sandbox environment. 
    • This preview enables ecosystem participants to explore application packaging, hosting, and fleet management concepts, validate interoperability use cases, and contribute feedback that will inform the first general release in 2026. 
    • Read the preview release >>

OpenSSF

  • Blog: OpenSSF at FOSDEM 2026: From Policy to Practical Security
    • OpenSSF is heading to Brussels for FOSDEM 2026 and Open Source Week, building on last year’s momentum around practical open source security, CRA readiness, and community-driven solutions. Expect strong presence across policy and technical devrooms, a joint booth with Linux Foundation Europe (K2-A-03), and active participation in key events like the GVIP Summit and EU Open Source Policy Summit. The focus this year: turning regulation and security best practices into real, usable tooling and guidance for maintainers and projects. Read the blog >>
  • Blog: Your Guide to the OpenSSF OSPS Baseline for More Secure Open Source Projects
    • What does good security actually look like for open source projects? This new blog walks through the community-developed OSPS Baseline, a catalog of practical security controls that helps projects understand expectations, improve over time, and meet users where they are. With FOSS in up to 96% of modern codebases and relied on across nearly every industry, the blog explains why shared security practices matter and how the Baseline connects to standards like NIST SSDF, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and ISO 27001. It also links to keynotes, a tech talk, a podcast, a real project case study, and FAQs so you can see how the Baseline works in practice. Read the blog >>
  • Blog: Collecting Badges, Building Bridges: Representing OpenSSF and Linux Foundation Across Europe
    • In his blog, Madalin Neag reflects on attending key open source, cybersecurity, and standardization meetings on behalf of OpenSSF throughout 2025. He describes how each conference badge represents conversations, collaboration, and the growing understanding that open source security is becoming an essential part of Europe’s cybersecurity future. The blog highlights the connections formed between maintainers, policymakers, standards groups, and community leaders, and shows how work in open source security bridges policy and practice across many different environments. Read the blog >>

  • Connect with the OpenSSF Community at these key events:

Servo

Zephyr Project

  • The Zephyr Project will be at FOSDEM 2026 on 31 January–1 February 2026 in Brussels, joining thousands of developers at one of Europe’s largest open source gatherings.
    • Zephyr will share a stand with the Dronecode Foundation at AW Level 1, featuring live demos, products running Zephyr, and opportunities to meet maintainers and contributors, with insights on the CRA, security best practices, and more.
  • Ahead of FOSDEM, the Zephyr Project will also host a Zephyr Meetup in Brussels on 30 January 2026, with limited seats available.

    • During the conference, the Zephyr RTOS Community BoF will bring together maintainers, contributors, and users to discuss the project roadmap as Zephyr marks its 10th anniversary, share real-world product feedback, and reflect on overall project health. 

LF Education highlights


Attending FOSDEM 2026 in Brussels (31 January–1 February 2026)? Stop by the Linux Foundation Europe booth to connect.

Not attending? You can still join in—save 40% on Linux Foundation Education courses, certifications & bundles. Use code LFEFOSDEM at checkout. Offer ends 13 February.

 

LF Research: Participate in our cyber resiliency study

Help us understand the open source ecosystem’s cyber resiliency! 

As cybersecurity legislation comes into effect in Europe and beyond, new software security and accountability requirements impact open source projects, contributors, and stakeholders. Following last year’s inaugural study on the topic, LF Research and OpenSSF are fielding a survey to update our understanding of the community’s awareness of and readiness to comply with cybersecurity regulation. Lend your perspective, bridge the knowledge gap, and help prepare the open source ecosystem for emerging regulatory challenges!

 

The CNCF’s Annual Survey results are now published! 

LF Research and CNCF partnered again in 2025 to field their annual survey in the cloud native community. Survey insights show Kubernetes’ evolution from container orchestrator to AI infrastructure platform, cloud native maturity’s predictable progression, and a profound gap between AI ambition and infrastructure reality. Read the full report to learn how to address this gap! 

 

LF Europe Events: Mark your calendar!

Upcoming events:

To register for in-person attendance or virtual LF Europe 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!

Follow us!

Follow the Linux Foundation Europe on social media to get all the latest info, updates on upcoming events, and breaking news and announcements from the global open source ecosystem. Follow us here: Mastodon, Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn, X.
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