The European Open Source Academy (EOSA) has officially expanded its prestigious membership, welcoming the Awardees of the 2026 European Open Source Awards into its fold.
The new members join a growing community of open source experts, advocates, and researchers, dedicated to securing Europe’s digital sovereignty by supporting and advocating for all echelons of open source ecosystem.
Who are the new members?
The new members represent the potential of European innovation, and have already been recognised by the European open source community as its peers and leaders, during the 2nd Annual European Open Source Ceremony. The new members include:
- Greg Kroah-Hartman, Fellow at the Linux Foundation and one of the world’s most vital maintainers of the Linux kernel.
- Frank Karlitschek, The founder and CEO of Nextcloud, Karlitschek has proven that open source models can compete at the highest levels of the global software market while protecting user privacy.
- Jenny Molloy, Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, Molloy has been a leading voice in ensuring open source is a vital part in accelerating health research.
- Matthew Venn, Founder of Tiny Tapeout, Venn is pioneering the next generation of hardware engineering by making chip design accessible to everyone through open source tools and workshops.
- Roberto Di Cosmo, Founder and Director of Software Heritage, led the way in collecting, preserving and sharing all publicly available software in source code form, in order to build a common infrastructure for industry, research, and society at large.
- Stefano Zacchiroli, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Software Heritage, co-developed and maintained the monumental work in archiving and preserving the world's open source software as a common heritage for humanity.
Why This Matters
The introduction of new members represents the next chapter of European Open Source Academy, as the membership and expertise expands, it showcases open source is being recognised as a pivotal component of how Europe envisions and plans for it's digital future.
By bringing these leaders into the European Open Source Academy, the Academy ensures that the individuals who actually build, maintain, and advocate for open source infrastructure have a seat at the table where policy is shaped. This peer-based membership model ensures that the Academy remains meritocratic, independent, and deeply rooted in the reality of the open source ecosystem.
The European Open Source Academy has set out to support the open source community through the following activities:
- The Annual European Open Source Awards: Through its Awards Ceremony, the Academy brings "invisible" digital contributors and community pioneers into the spotlight, highlighting the strategic and economic value they bring to Europe.
- Bringing open source onto the policy agenda: the Academy provides expert guidance to policymakers and industry leaders on how to support the open source community and ensure "strategic autonomy" for the EU.
- Empowering the current and future users of open source :Through its upcoming Skills and Resource Hub as well as the EOSA Masterclass series, the Academy is bridging the gap between developers and the public sector, training a new generation of contributors to maintain the software the world relies on.
Learn more about the new members:
