Press Release - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OW2con’26 Conference – “Open Source and Open Models to Drive European Sovereignty”, June 2-3, 2026 in Paris-Châtillon
Paris, France, April 22, 2026 - Organised by OW2, OW2con is a European conference dedicated to open source, bringing together an international community of contributors, users, publishers, digital services companies, academics and non-profit organisations. Over two days, the event offers a packed programme of presentations covering a wide range of topics, from technical aspects to the business and ethical challenges of open source.
Free and open to all, OW2con is conducted in English and offers a unique opportunity to network with professionals from around the world. The event will take place, once again this year, at the Orange Gardens site in Paris-Châtillon.
Open Source and Open Models to Drive European Sovereignty
For this 2026 edition, the association is focusing on European digital sovereignty. At a time when the European Union is strengthening its autonomy in terms of secure digital technologies, resources and services, open source and open models are emerging as key drivers of technological independence. Through some thirty high-level conferences, OW2con will explore the strategic role of these approaches in building a sovereign digital ecosystem.
Highlights: 6 major keynote speeches
• “Start your own Internet Resiliency Club using LoRa radios, mesh networking, and community management” – Valerie Aurora, co-founder, Amsterdam Internet Resiliency Club
• “Decoding the EU Cloud Sovereignty Framework: A Strategic Roadmap for the Open Source Ecosystem” – Emiel Brok, Sovereignty Ambassador, SUSE / DOSBA
• “Featuring Sovereign, Democratic Healthcare: Open-Source Medical Imaging Devices as a Proposal for Critical Infrastructure” – Martin Häuer, Board, Open Source Imaging Initiative,
• “For the future of our society: Let’s spark children’s interest in coding” – Matthias Kirschner, President, FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe)
• “Embracing Open Source in the Orange Backbone” – Jean-Louis Le Roux, Senior Vice President, Orange Intl. Networks Infrastructures and Services (OINIS)
• “OW2con’26 Invited Country : GERMANY” - Tara Tarakiyee, Technologist Lead at the Sovereign Tech Agency
In addition, the conference will welcome Germany as the "Invited Country" and around thirty presentations selected from the call for papers will be delivered on the Orange Gardens Main Stage.
The first day will conclude with the OW2 Best Project Awards ceremony, recognising the best initiatives and deployments of OW2 technologies in three categories: Community Award, Market Award and Technology Award.
Parallel Breakout Sessions and final debate
In parallel of the main program, themed sessions (breakout sessions) will punctuate the two-day event, offering to attendees lively interactive or hands-on sessions.
On 3 June morning, an “NGI Zapp Accelerator Meetup” workshop will bring together projects funded under the NGI (Next Generation Internet) european programmes to discuss business models and market fit for open-source projects, with contributions from investors and project managers.
The Apereo Foundation repesented by Patrick Masson will moderate the breakout session “Open Source in Education, Science and Research”, June 3 morning.
Latest news about the Cyber Resilience Act will be covered in a dedicated breakout session “CRA and impact on open source actors”, June 2 afternoon.
OSPO Alliance, partner of the conference, will conduct a session focused on topics related to open source governance and latest updates on its “Good-Governance handbook methodology”, June 2 afternoon.
The event will conclude with a debate moderated by Emiel Brok (DOSBA, Suse), focusing on the topic “from digital sovereignty to technical independence”.
A place to socialize and get together
The OW2con is widely recognized as a premier networking event, where attendees, speakers, and sponsors can connect with their peers through numerous networking opportunities included in the program.
This year’s conference is supported by leading companies in the ecosystem, including: Worteks, Thales, PrestaShop, Centreon, eXo Platform, Orange, MAIF, Collabora Online and Linagora. The 250 expected attendees will also have the opportunity to discover the solutions offered by some of the sponsors in the exhibition hall.
For more information and to register (free), visit the event’s official website: https://www.ow2con.org
Places are limited.
About OW2
OW2 is an independent, non-profit association dedicated to promoting open source software and to fostering a vibrant community and business ecosystem. OW2 federates 50+ organizations and 2500+ IT professionals world wide. OW2 hosts 50+ technology Projects, including: ASM, BlueMind, Centreon, CLIF, Cryptpad, FusionDirectory, GLPI, LemonLDAP:NG, Linphone, Lutece, OCS Inventory, PrestaShop, Rocket.Chat, SAT4J, SeedStack, Sympa, Telosys, Waarp, WebLab and XWiki. Visit www.ow2.org.
Contact : OW2 Management Office: Catherine Nuel - Phone: +33 6 77795915 catherine.nuel@ow2.org