Linux Foundation Europe was announced during a keynote speech at Open Source Summit Europe in Dublin. Image: Leigh Mc Gowran/SiliconRepublic.com
Stefano Maffulli of the Open Source Initiative told SiliconRepublic.com that the new foundation demonstrates that there is a ‘European industry that needs to grow’.
The Linux Foundation has launched a European entity to accelerate the growth of open-source projects across the continent.
With a dozen members already onboard, the new Linux Foundation Europe aims to help with the creation of open, collaborative projects, while sharing research insights into European open-source dynamics.
The announcement was made at Open Source Summit Europe in Dublin yesterday (14 September). This is where members of the open-source community came together to share information and work to solve problems to ensure a sustainable open-source ecosystem.
Some of the members of Linux Foundation Europe include telecoms giant Ericsson, consulting firm Accenture and anti-virus company Avast. The European foundation is led by Gabriele Columbro, who is also executive director of the Fintech Open Source Foundation.
“The Linux Foundation has done a phenomenal job bringing together the private sector and individual contributors on a global scale over the last two decades,” Columbro said. “I am thrilled to focus our attention on longstanding challenges and opportunities we can help unlock in Europe through open collaboration.”
Why Linux Foundation Europe?
#1: Unique cross-border landscape.
#2: The intersection of social and OSS.
#3: Local priorities, global challenges.#ossummit #oss #linuxfoundation #opensource— The Linux Foundation (@linuxfoundation) September 14, 2022
One of the speakers at the summit was Stefano Maffulli, the executive director of the non-profit Open Source Initiative (OSI).
Speaking about the Linux Foundation Europe launch, Maffulli told SiliconRepublic.com that “it is a long time coming” and demonstrates the importance of Europe for the open-source ecosystem.
“It is showing, on the positive side, the importance of Europe and demonstrating the fact that there is a European industry that needs to grow,” Maffulli added.
Linux Foundation Europe’s goal for the rest of 2022 and into next year is to establish projects among individuals, companies and organisations in order to boost global participation in open-source innovations.
Digital wallet infrastructure
The inaugural project of Linux Foundation Europe is a collaborative effort to develop a digital wallet engine.
This is being done through the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF), which aims to create a multi-purpose open-source engine that anyone can use to build interoperable wallets. This foundation said it does not intend to publish a wallet, offer credentials or create any new standards.
Daniel Goldscheider, who started the initiative, said the OWF is pushing for a “plurality of wallets based on a common core”.
“I couldn’t be happier with the support this initiative has received already and the home it found at the Linux Foundation,” Goldscheider added.
The importance of digital wallet infrastructure was raised by Accenture’s Melanie Cutlan and David Treat at the Hyperledger Global Forum this week.
Treat, senior MD and global metaverse continuum business group and blockchain lead at Accenture, believes that the standards and infrastructure behind digital wallets is a “competition frontier for a lot of companies”.
“The winning digital business in the next period is the one who creates the most trusted access to that wallet,” Treat told SiliconRepublic.com.
Speaking on the launch of Linux Foundation Europe, Treat said open-source collaboration impacts all of Accenture’s clients “in every industry”.
“Through our founding membership, we will be able to help design and extend these collaborative efforts, innovations and software standards to all of our clients and partners across Europe.”
Growing open-source support in Europe
As part of the launch of its European entity, the Linux Foundation shared survey results detailing the priorities and challenges of open-source in Europe.
The report suggested that a positive outlook towards open-source technology is on the rise in Europe. More than 45pc of the survey’s respondents said the value of open-source software to their organisation has increased over the previous 12 months.
However, the report warned that there appears to be a lack of collaboration between public sector organisations, along with a lack of a “clear contribution policy”.
In June, Martin Callinan, founder of consultancy firm Source Code Control, told SiliconRepublic.com that all industries “can and do benefit from open-source software” and this tech should “play a key role in public services such as health, local and central government”.
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