A significant milestone for the European open source community was reached on January 30, 2025, when the European Open Source Awards (OSAwards 2025) celebrated the launch of the European Open Source Academy with the Inaugural Ceremony.
The Inaugural Ceremony
The ceremony was organised by OpenForum Europe (OFE), a member of the large consortium that includes RISE (Project Coordinator), TECNALIA, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Fraunhofer ISI, APELL, COMMpla and Trust-IT Services and is involved in the European Commission-funded project.It was held in Brussels, bringing attention to the expanding significance of open source and open hardware technologies in European society and industry, as well as their vital role in shaping emerging technologies and society. The open source community gathered in a more formal setting than usual, with many guests wearing formal wear, reflecting the growing maturity and awareness of open source's position in Europe's digital landscape, as well as the need for the impact of open source to be communicated in new and diverse settings.
One of the event's speakers, Felix Reda (Github), made a motivational comment that highlighted Europe's growing impact in open source contributions:
“GitHub data shows that the EU has surpassed the US in public software code contributions. It is encouraging that this growing importance of open source for European economic, societal and educational progress is recognized by the EU through the Open Source Awards.”
During the ceremony, outstanding individuals were honoured by the European Open Source Awards 2025 for their innovative contributions to the open source community. For his decades-long contributions to open source software and protocols, Daniel Stenberg, the creator of cURL, received the European Open Source Achievement Award. The Business & Impact Award was awarded to Amandine Le Pape, COO and co-founder of Element and Matrix.org, in recognition of her innovative contributions to safe digital communication. The Skills & Education Award was handed to Arduino founder David Cuartielles in recognition of his groundbreaking contributions to open source technology and education. Lastly, the Advocacy & Awareness Award was given to Lydia Pintscher, Portfolio Lead for Wikidata, in recognition of her work advocating for free software and open knowledge in the Wikimedia and KDE communities.
The event received significant support from key figures within the European Commission. Pearse O’Donohue, Director of Directorate E Future Networks at the Directorate-General for Communication Networks, Content & Technologies, expressed his thoughts, saying:
“The Open Source Awards are a great way of celebrating the success and depth of open source developments in Europe, but also a sign of the coming of age of open source software as a crucial part of Europe’s digital economy.”
Johan Linåker from RISE and Project coordinator of the OSAwards added even more excitement by stressing the Awards' and the Academy's long-term significance in raising public awareness and acknowledgement of open source hardware and software in Europe.
“The Academy and Awards will amplify public recognition and awareness on open source software and hardware in Europe for many years to come. The Academy's work will further help to foster European interest and skills development across society in contributing to and adopting open source technologies, and by extension increasing the competitiveness and open strategic autonomy of Europe.”
The Future of the European Open Source Academy
As the European Open Source Academy seeks to establish itself as a leading organisation for open source development throughout Europe and beyond, the ceremony succeeded in not only being a celebration of Open Source and Open Hardware, but also in laying the groundwork for future partnerships and collaborations that amplify the impact of these technologies in the European ecosystem. The Academy's inauguration signals the start of an exciting journey to raise open source knowledge, expertise, and contributions throughout Europe.
As we move forward, the hard work begins with the Academy members to help enlarge the Academy and lay the foundation for next year’s ceremony, which will be bigger and better, expanding on this year’s efforts to raise awareness and bring new stakeholders into the conversations. There will also be efforts undertaken to engage stakeholders across Europe to raise awareness of the Academy and the Awards, and to ensure that both enterprises are set up for future sustainability.
More information will be shared on the Academy’s activities in the weeks and months to come.
