Our Sessions
Explore our sessions – you can filter by track or search for keywords. And if you like what you see, you can get a ticket here
Lightning Talk
The Lightning Talk session will take place on the first day of the conference, 16 March at 17:20 CET at the Stage Auditorium.
Talk
17. March 2026, 10:35 am - 11:05 am
Auditorium
Open source licenses like GPL or MIT matter, but ecosystem is what truly defines how open and sustainable a project is. Open source isn't always as open as it seems! There are many tactics beyond licensing to lock you in - and copyleft isn't always better than permissive, or vice-versa.
Talk
17. March 2026, 04:25 pm - 04:55 pm
Auditorium
Writing a detailed plan to fork, as a disaster recovery plan for tomorrow, is a great way to identify places where you sould be investing more deeply in an open source project, today.
Off Stage
16. March 2026, 06:10 pm - 07:40 pm
Auditorium
Join us for a drink and a chat at our Get Together directly after the conference!
Talk
16. March 2026, 11:35 am - 12:05 pm
Auditorium
Discover how European local governments successfully collaborate on open source solutions. Based on 5 in-depth case studies including Consul Democracy, Digitransit, and Golemio, learn proven governance models, collaboration archetypes, and actionable strategies for scaling sustainable cross-border digital public services.
Talk
17. March 2026, 03:50 pm - 04:20 pm
bUm Box
A practical guide to the constraints and tradeoffs of building open-source products for government customers. Covers restricted access to end users, slow feedback cycles, legal and compliance restrictions, political turnover, and infrastructure gaps. Presents governance patterns, advocacy guidelines, and design rules that make open projects usable,
Workshop
16. March 2026, 07:40 pm - 08:40 pm
Auditorium
Do you dare to visit a space-station under Berlin?
Do you want to visit Germanys oldest Hackerspace?
Do you want to enjoy decent food and a mate with fellow FOSS Backstage attendes?
The join us!
We will send an expedition team from FOSS Backstage to explore c-base and meet the local population.
Panel
17. March 2026, 02:45 pm - 03:25 pm
Auditorium
How can designers navigate in engineering-focused environments? This panel explores approaches for integrating UX into developer workflows and showcasing how design contributions are valuable assets for greater impact in engineering circles.
Talk
16. March 2026, 04:40 pm - 05:10 pm
Wintergarten
The Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) will require FOSS projects to step up their security and, following the logic of the FOSS ecosystem, produce attestation for their software.
This talk introduces fair-share cost tokens - a feature which supports financial flows along open source software supply chains. (No blockchain)
Workshop
16. March 2026, 03:30 pm - 04:30 pm
Wintergarten
This workshop explores funding and resource models for sustaining FOSS projects. We look at grants, donations, sales, licenses, corporate and student contributions, and more — evaluating the models pros, cons, and fit for different project stages. The goal is to refine a shared, open resource and identify unmet needs.
Keynote
16. March 2026, 10:00 am - 10:40 am
Auditorium
The tech Industry has relied heavily on Free and Open Source Software for 20 years but under-investing in its security and maintenance has increased global cybersecurity risk. Æva Black will reflect on this history and show how regulations could improve security across the ecosystem.
Talk
16. March 2026, 12:10 pm - 12:40 pm
Auditorium
Between major updates for Log4J, substantially increasing test coverage for SystemD, updating hundreds of CVE reports at NIST for Yocto and providing a new infrastructure-as-code solution for PHP, work on FOSS projects for the Sovereign Tech Agency is as varied as it is impactful. This talk recaps the highlights from that past two and half years.
Talk
17. March 2026, 10:35 am - 11:05 am
Wintergarten
What happens when a developer-first open source project tries UX research for the first time? This talk tells the story of Prometheus's first UX mentorship and explores the reality of introducing research to a dev-first community. Was it worth it? Will they do it again? And what can other OSS projects learn from their experience?
Talk
16. March 2026, 11:35 am - 12:05 pm
bUm Box
Security can fail even when code is correct. Drawing on work with SecureDrop, Qubes OS, and Mailvelope, this talk defines “usability vulnerabilities,” design flaws that cause unsafe behavior, and shows how open-source teams can detect and address them before release.
Talk
16. March 2026, 02:35 pm - 03:05 pm
bUm Box
Anyone who still puts AI-generated code into circulation today has conditional intent to infringe the law – how to limit or at least defer the risk.
Talk
17. March 2026, 11:20 am - 11:50 am
Auditorium
Compliance with legislation is not sufficient to build a good user experience, especially when maintaining an operating system used by millions. In this talk, we will share how we are building an accessibility practice that addresses the obvious and the non-obvious, and our learnings from this journey.
Talk
17. March 2026, 11:55 am - 12:25 pm
Wintergarten
Africa is rich in tech talent, many of whom are eager to contribute to open-source projects. However, due to the technical requirements needed to get started with open source and a lack of proper mentoring and guidance from these communities, many talents are discouraged. This talk explores ways to mitigate this problem.
Talk
16. March 2026, 03:30 pm - 04:00 pm
Auditorium
Inner Source success hinges on easy contributions. However, complex frameworks can be a barrier. We simplified our process by removing bureaucratic hurdles, automating compliance, and simplifying project involvement. Discover how to create a frictionless Inner Source experience and unlock your company's collaborative potential!
Talk
17. March 2026, 04:25 pm - 04:55 pm
bUm Box
Companies that develop Free Software face a problem: competitors disguising proprietary software as “open” and undercutting Free Software products in public tenders. Such practices distort competition and undermine strategic procurement and digital sovereignty. Which openwashing methods are used, and what can be done about it?
Panel
17. March 2026, 12:30 pm - 01:10 pm
Wintergarten
There are so many open source projects and not enough contributors to sustain them all over the long term. With many open source projects desperate for contributors, how do we educate the next generation of open source contributors to grow the contributor base for all of us?
Talk
16. March 2026, 12:10 pm - 12:40 pm
bUm Box
What happens when a federal state truly supports open source? Granted by the state of Saxony, our funding project FOCIS helps ALASCA - Association for operational, open cloud-infrastructures e.V. grow into a more stable, independent home for FOSS projects. We’ll show how public support strengthens open source and what others can learn from Saxony.
Talk
17. March 2026, 10:00 am - 10:30 am
Wintergarten
"Why aren’t more people contributing?"
Contributors are the lifeblood of open source, yet many projects struggle to grow beyond a small core team.
In this workshop, you will learn simple, hands-on techniques to get more people contributing to open source projects.
Talk
16. March 2026, 04:40 pm - 05:10 pm
bUm Box
Decidim, once reliant on Barcelona’s funding, faced a 2022 crisis that spurred a Sustainability Plan to diversify income. Three years on, we share strategies, challenges, and lessons in securing funding from public, private, and philanthropic sources for FLOSS project sustainability.
Talk
17. March 2026, 11:55 am - 12:25 pm
bUm Box
Open source security is often overlooked until a crisis hits. This talk compares the impact of volunteers versus dedicated full-time security engineers in the Python and Ruby ecosystems. It highlights how consistent investment strengthens community resilience, reduces risk, and proves that security isn’t a cost but an essential strategy.
Talk
17. March 2026, 11:20 am - 11:50 am
bUm Box
Open software thrives through open tools and collaboration. Hardware remains trapped behind prohibitively expensive tool licenses and limited foundry access. Why? This talk explores the structural barriers preventing hardware from following software's path, and why solving them requires entirely new institutional forms, not just better policies.
Talk
16. March 2026, 11:00 am - 11:30 am
bUm Box
Improved security in open source is more than a theoretical goal but a plausible reality as shown by nonprofit Open Source Technology Improvement Fund, Inc. Following a best practice of independent code review with a process specifically tailored to open source projects and communities, OSTIF is turning funds into positive security outcomes.
Talk
16. March 2026, 02:00 pm - 02:30 pm
bUm Box
We talk about license changes and risk management for open source companies all the time, but what about how open source companies can use their open source project as a competitive advantage to win in their market? That's what this talk is about.
Talk
16. March 2026, 03:30 pm - 04:00 pm
bUm Box
The ORT Server is a platform building on the renown OSS Review Toolkit to automate software compliance checks in a scalable and enterprise-ready way. This talk gives an overview of how to use the ORT Server to deal with obligations of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) specifically.
Talk
17. March 2026, 11:20 am - 11:50 am
Wintergarten
Open-source ecosystems run on more than code, they run on story. Beyond commits, shared narratives sustain trust and belonging. At WriteTech Hub, we turned storytelling into infrastructure, every doc review, milestone, and mentor invite reinforced one truth, you belong here, and what you build matters.
Talk
16. March 2026, 02:00 pm - 02:30 pm
Auditorium
Digital sovereignty is becoming a key objective of societies and nations. Learn how Digital Public Goods (DPG) like Mastodon can build a decentralised internet and challenge big tech. A joint talk by DPGA & Mastodon—we'll unpack the concept, analyse EU policy, and offer concrete strategies for a sovereign digital future.
Workshop
17. March 2026, 02:10 pm - 03:10 pm
Wintergarten
In this hands-on workshop, we’ll create a No-Code Contribution Map to show how skills like writing, design, outreach, and accessibility promote adoption and inclusion. Leave with strategies to grow diverse, welcoming, and sustainable communities.
Talk
16. March 2026, 04:05 pm - 04:35 pm
bUm Box
Around the world, governments are building and exporting their own “open” technology stacks — from India Stack to the emerging Deutschland Stack — blending open-source ideals with national strategy. This talk dives into how states are curating open technologies to reflect political philosophies, advance digital sovereignty, and shape global norm.
Workshop
16. March 2026, 11:35 am - 12:35 pm
Wintergarten
The CRA’s Open-Source Software Steward (OSSS) status offers legal recognition and hidden traps for non-profits and volunteer communities. This talk unpacks benefits, duties, liability, and tax effects, helping NPOs use the status safely and avoid accidental burdens.
Talk
17. March 2026, 02:10 pm - 02:40 pm
bUm Box
Free and open standards, and the open processes behind them, can lay the foundation for innovation, interoperability, and compliance across EU digital, environmental, and industrial policies. Drawing on the Linux Foundation’s State of Open Standards report, this talk explores their potential to strengthen regulation, trust, and competitiveness.
Talk
17. March 2026, 12:30 pm - 01:00 pm
bUm Box
A brand isn’t just a logo, it’s the story people tell each other about what you stand for. In open source, that story builds trust, sparks curiosity, and inspires contribution. This talk explores how storytelling and brand design can create welcoming open source projects.
