Brussels, 1 July 2026 — The European Open Source Academy (EOSA) today announced the launch of its Partner Community, a programme that brings together commercial, academic, public-interest, and civil society organisations to support the Academy's work and strengthen the open source software and hardware ecosystem across Europe.
The Academy was established to recognise individuals and organisations that have advanced open source software and hardware in Europe, and to serve as a platform for thought leadership, policy engagement, and community development. The Partner Community extends that work by collaborating with organisations and inviting them to contribute to and support the Academy's activities on an ongoing basis, across its four strategic goals: Excellence and Achievement, Business and Impact, Advocacy and Awareness, and Skills and Education.
The Partner Community is organised into two groups. Subscribers are commercial organisations that work with the Academy on projects of mutual interest. Knowledge Partners are academic, non-profit, public-interest and civil society organisations that support the Academy's activities while gaining engagement opportunities with Europe's open source community. Both will be critical to the future sustainability of the Academy as an enterprise and to help it reach new communities and audiences.
Founding Subscriber
The Academy welcomes Adfinis as a founding Subscriber. Adfinis is a leading service provider of open source IT solutions, founded in Switzerland in 2000, with more than 150 staff across six countries. From strategy to execution, Adfinis provides consulting and planning, engineering expertise, and 24/7 managed services to a worldwide clientele. It contributes actively to open source projects, including as a co-maintainer of the secrets-management project OpenBao.
The Academy would like to thank Adfinis for its leadership in becoming its first Subscriber, demonstrating a strong commitment to advancing the public recognition of open source software and hardware.
“Open source isn't just a model for software development; it has become the fundamental backbone for our digital society. As organisations across Europe increasingly prioritize flexibility, control, and digital sovereignty, fostering the skills and community frameworks behind these technologies is more critical than ever. The Academy provides an essential framework to bridge commercial IT excellence with public recognition, and Adfinis is proud to support this mission as its founding Subscriber.” -- Nicolas Christener, CEO at Adfinis
Founding Knowledge Partners
The Academy is also joined by seven founding Knowledge Partners, spanning open source policy, research infrastructure, hardware, logistics and the open source movement itself.
APELL, the European Open Source Software Business Association, is the umbrella organisation for national open source business associations in Europe. Founded in 2020, it represents the sector to the European institutions and advocates for policies that support open source businesses and digital sovereignty.
“APELL is proud to be a part of the EOSA Partner Community, showcasing how the Open Source ecosystem of businesses and communities contributes to a more open and digitally sovereign society. We look forward to continuing to partner with EOSA in the months and years to come.”-- Sebastian Raible, Director of EU Government Affairs at APELL
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) is Spain's national supercomputing facility, founded in 2005, and home to the MareNostrum supercomputer. It conducts research across high-performance computing and contributes open technologies, including open source chip design based on the RISC-V architecture.
“The BSC is delighted to join the EOSA community as a Knowledge Partner. We believe that OSS and OSH play a vital role in driving innovation, collaboration, and sustainable technological development. We look forward to contributing to and learning from this vibrant community while supporting EOSA's mission to advance openness and shared knowledge across the ecosystem.”--Maritza Luis Pérez, Technology Transfer Officer at Barcelona Supercomputing Center
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world's largest scientific laboratories and a long-standing contributor to open science. Its open source work includes the CERN Open Hardware Licence and its open data initiatives.
“CERN is pleased to join the EOSA as a Knowledge Partner. EOSA’s focus on both free and open source software and open source hardware resonates with the mission of CERN’s Open Source Program Office. We look forward to collaborating and improving the impact and recognition of Open Source in the scientific community and society at large.” -- Giacomo Tenaglia - Chair, CERN Open Source Program Office
MicroNanoSpain, coordinated by AESEMI (the Spanish Semiconductor Industry Association), is Spain's semiconductor competence centre. It connects research infrastructures, universities and industry across the semiconductor value chain and contributes to Europe's goals under the European Chips Act.
The Open Logistics Foundation (OLF) is a non-profit foundation, based in Germany and founded in 2021, that promotes the collaborative development and commercial use of open source software and hardware in logistics and supply chain management, with members from more than a dozen countries.
“Joining the EOSA Partner Community feels like a natural step for the Open Logistics Foundation. Open source is not just a development model. It is a philosophy of trust, transparency, and shared responsibility. EOSA brings together organisations that understand this, and we are genuinely excited to be part of that conversation at a European level." -- Carina Tüllmann, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Open Logistics Foundation
The Open Science Hardware Foundation (OSHF) is a non-profit organisation that works with institutions, funders and policymakers to bring open science hardware into the mainstream as a key part of open science. It supports the next generation of open science hardware leaders and provides an organisational home, administrative support and capacity building to open science hardware projects.
“The Open Science Hardware Foundation is thrilled to join the European Open Source Academy as a Knowledge Partner. EOSA's recognition that open hardware belongs alongside open software in Europe's digital sovereignty story is crucial in taking the next steps towards a more open world." -- Jason Griffey, Executive Director at Open Science Hardware Foundation
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is the steward of the Open Source Definition and the globally recognised authority on open source licensing, working to promote and protect open source software.
"The OSI is delighted to be joining the European Open Source Academy community as a knowledge partner. We look forward to supporting them in highlighting the work of European Open Source developers, and fostering a new generation of Open Source contributors.” -- Duane O’Brien, Executive Director at Open Source Initiative
Organisations interested in joining the Partner Community as a Subscriber or Knowledge Partner can find more information on our new Partnership page on the Academy website, where you can download a prospectus, and by contacting partnership@europeanopensource.academy.
About the European Open Source Academy
The European Open Source Academy unites individuals and organisations that have advanced open source software and hardware across Europe. Through a transparent, merit-based selection process led by its Members, the Academy recognises outstanding contributions, fosters collaboration and advocates for the societal and economic value of open technologies. The Academy is funded by the European Union, with support from its Partner Community.
