Charting the Course: Reflections from the 2023 Open Source Congress

In July 2023, Geneva, Switzerland, became the meeting ground for Open Source Congress, a research roundtable organized by the Linux Foundation. This gathering addressed pressing concerns facing the open source community, such as cybersecurity, the rise of techno-nationalism, the intricacies of AI, and the challenges of increased regulatory scrutiny. The resulting Linux Foundation Research publication, Standing Together on Shared Challenges authored by Anthony Williams with a foreword by Yue Chen and Chris Xie from Futurewei, distills the determinations and strategic action plans from the gathering, aiming to broadly guide the open source ecosystem through the complexities of a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Key insights

• Adherence to core principles in a shifting landscape: Congress participants reaffirmed commitment to the open source principles of transparency, inclusivity, and community-driven development as essential for ongoing sustainability and growth.
• Security as a shared responsibility: Congress participants emphasized the need for a collective shift towards proactive security measures within the open source community, highlighting security as a shared and essential responsibility.
• Regulatory challenges and opportunities: The increasing prevalence of open source software has led to more regulatory attention, and the report underscores the need for deeper engagement with policymakers to ensure supportive regulations.
• Diversity as a pillar of innovation: The importance of diversity and inclusion is highlighted as both a moral and strategic imperative, essential for infusing new talent and ideas into the community, thereby driving innovation and social impact.
• The role of foundations in advocacy: The report underscores the pivotal role of open source foundations in policy advocacy, calling for increased legal and communicative expertise to represent and safeguard the community's interests effectively.

Identified gaps

• Cybersecurity resourcing: The report identifies a critical gap in cybersecurity resources within the open source ecosystem, with current investments failing to match the escalating threats.
• Policy presence and influence: A gap in the open source community's engagement with legislative and regulatory bodies is highlighted, which could lead to unfavorable policies that threaten the open source model.
• SME overreliance: The report pinpoints the overreliance of small and medium-sized enterprises on open source software for security, revealing a gap in these companies' internal capabilities and a broader need for support from the ecosystem.
• Talent pool development: The report calls out the pressing need to develop and retain a skilled cybersecurity workforce within the open source sector.
• Unified strategic approach: A need for better collaboration among open source foundations is identified, advocating for a unified and strategic approach to tackle the community's collective challenges more effectively.

• AI integration and ethical considerations: The community's readiness to integrate AI into open source, with its associated ethical and legal challenges, is identified as a significant gap that needs to be addressed.

Actionable insights

• 'Security by default' adoption: The report proposes a paradigm shift towards embedding security considerations into the software development process from the start, emphasizing the need for automated security protocols to become standard practice.
• Policy advocacy enhancement: Open source foundations are encouraged to strengthen their policy advocacy efforts, improving their engagement in policy discussions to shape favorable legislation.
• Cybersecurity talent cultivation: Initiatives for cybersecurity education and talent diversification are highlighted as essential to address the shortage of skilled professionals in the field.

• Inter-foundational collaboration mechanisms: Creating a global secretariat or a peer-to-peer network among OSS leaders is suggested to streamline collaboration and address shared challenges.
• Annual open source congress: An annual congress is proposed to continue the collaborative momentum, offering a platform for open dialogue and tracking the progress of joint initiatives.

Why you should read the report

Standing Together on Shared Challenges is an essential read for all stakeholders in the open source community. It thoroughly accounts for the collective wisdom and strategic resolutions from the 2023 Open Source Congress. The report offers insight from the rich discussions designed to navigate current and future challenges and serves as a symbol of cross-foundational collaboration and innovation, paving the way for the endurance and prosperity of open source.