Barcelona, September 2025 – The European Open Academy (EOSA) today announced a significant expansion of its ranks, welcoming nine leading open source experts and organisation representatives to its Academy. This strategic growth this strengthens EOSA’s position as Europe’s hub for policy, innovation, advocacy and education.
The new members were introduced during the second General Assembly meeting. Their induction brings together a diverse mix of technical pioneers, policy influencers, and community leaders, spanning software, hardware, advocacy, business and education. With their combined expertise, the EOSA’s mission will drive to promote open source innovation, digital sovereignty and sustainable technology adoption across Europe and beyond.
Notable new members include:
• Academy Presidium: Ton Roosendaal (Blender), Denis ‘Jaromil’ Roio (Dyne.org), Catharina Maracke (Open Source Initiative)
• Business & Impact: Jean-Baptiste Kempf (VideoLAN/VLC), Dries Buytaert (Drupal Association, Acquia)
• Advocacy & Awareness: Javier Serrano (CERN), Robert Kaye (MetaBrainz)
• Skills & Education: Nadya Peek (University of Washington), Isabel Drost-Fromm (Apache, InnerSource Commons)
Together, the new members cover key domains of Europe’s digital landscape. Spanning from software and hardware development to community governance, web infrastructure, sustainable business models, open data and open education. Institutions like Blender, CERN, Drupal, OSI and the University of Washington lend both credibility and visibility, reinforcing EOSA’s voice in policy debates on digital sovereignty and the turn from proprietary tech dominance outside Europe, open licensing, public procurement, and education.
Upcoming European Open Source Awards 2026
The open source community can expect to meet the European Open Source Academy and learn more about the latest strategic plans for supporting the open source community during the European Open Source Awards 2026, taking place in Brussels, Belgium in January of 2026. More details about further Academy nomination processes, and how open source community can contribute to the Awards will be announced in October.
About the European Open Source Academy (EOSA)
The European Open Source Academy was founded to bring together key stakeholders and experts from the broader open source ecosystem, to provide thought leadership for Europe’s policy makers and industry, especially in how legislation and strategies should be tailored to the risks and opportunities of open source technology. EOSA organises Masterclass Workshops, CEO Roundtables, annual European Open Source Awards, and acts as a hub for policy input, education, skills development, and awareness.
