Why open source AI?
OpenProject’s event report from Univention Summit 2024
OpenProject was among many open source organizations to attend and present on important topics related to data sovereignty, transparency, and open source software this year. The official focus for the event was “Together Strong,” and the atmosphere reflected that mindset. I have returned grateful for the connections with like-minded organizations in the field and impressed with the hard work and care put into these products and services for our customers.
I listened and learned from many practical presentations, exciting workshops, and captivating discussions that underlined the diversity and importance of open source software in today’s modern software industry. When you think of AI, do you think of open source? Maybe not yet, but an understanding of the importance of open source in AI is growing.
“Without the contributions of open source, the technology landscape today would be markedly different, underscoring the importance of open collaboration in technological advancement,” says Mark Hinkle, CEO and Founder of Peripety Labs, in his latest blog The Critical Role of Open Source in the Future of AI. “The advantages of open source AI are manifold, impacting various aspects of technology development and business strategy.”
Why open source AI?
Peter Ganten, CEO of Univention, welcomed the crowd and set the stage by emphasizing the importance of collaboration, transparency, and digital autonomy, as the global community builds and integrates AI technology around the world.
Frank Karlitschek, CEO of Nextcloud, discussed what ethical AI looks like by presenting an AI implementation of Nextcloud that includes a rating system and shows how the use of the various AI integrations are evaluated with a focus on maintaining data sovereignty.
Daniel Halbe, Goetz Wohlberg, and Lars Höger discussed how openDesk, an alternative to Microsoft Office, focuses on digital sovereignty for its users looking for open source email, calendar, chat, video conferencing, and project management software. Various integrations between the different components are already in place and are being further developed.
Michael Meeks, CEO of Collabora, gave a captivating talk emphasizing the importance of restoring digital sovereignty by controlling documents through importing existing archive data and improved security and compliance.
Sven Thomsen’s presentation, CIO of Schleswig-Holstein, highlighted how they are implementing digital sovereignty with open source software in the public sector.
A special mention to our friends at XWIKI, an open source Confluence alternative, with whom we shared a booth this year in Bremen. OpenProject also presented together with XWIKI openDesk - The Open Source collaborative suite at the FOSDEM 2024 in Brussels.
It was another great event in Bremen with lots of exciting presentations and discussions with our friends and partners from the open source ecosystem.
Many thanks to Univention for the organization of this great event.
