EU celebrates open source excellence

Open source excellence is now being recognised by European policymakers and industry with the inaugural European Open Source Awards. To be presented annually in January, the Awards shine a spotlight on those individuals who have shared code openly and freely for the public good, substantially altering the field of open innovation.

Awards Ceremony and Categories

In a ceremony in Brussels on 30 January 2025, four exceptional individuals were honoured for their remarkable contributions to the open source community across four award categories:

• The European Open Source Achievement Award: Mr. Daniel Stenberg, cURL Project founder and lead developer and WolfSSL curl master;
• The Business & Impact Award: Amandine Le Pape, COO and co-founder of Element and co-founder of Matrix.org co-founder;
• The Skills & Education Award: David Cuartielles, founder of Arduino and interaction design PhD-lecturer at Malmö University; and,
• The Advocacy & Awareness Award: Lydia Pintscher, Wikidata portfolio lead at Wikimedia Deutschland. 

The ceremony showcased the enormous and positive impact of these individuals’ work, as well as the broader impact of open source software and hardware on European society and industry. “The [European] 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,” said Pearse O’Donohue, future networks director, DG CNECT, European Commission, noted in his opening remarks.

Presenting the awards were Omar Mohsine, open source coordinator at the United Nations Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies, Felix Reda, director of developer policy at GitHub, Mitchell Baker, chairwoman of the Mozilla Foundation, and Alexandra Geese, member of the European Parliament. Sachiko Muto, OpenForum Europe chair and senior researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden closed the event.

Reflecting on the scale and reach of open source software and hardware, Felix Reda noted that: “GitHub data shows that the EU has surpassed the US in public software code contributions,” Reda said. “It is encouraging that this growing importance of open source for European economic, societal and educational progress is recognised by the EU through the Open Source Awards.”

The Inaugural Laureates of the European Open Source Academy

The ceremony also marked the launch of the European Open Source Academy (EOSA), which has a mandate to recognise and celebrate open source excellence. The Laureates will lead the Academy as its founding members, playing a key role in shaping its future, including selecting future award recipients and guiding strategic initiatives.

The European Open Source Achievement Award

Bestowed upon a leading figure whose work has transformed the technological landscape and whose continuous engagement contributes to a thriving open source community, this award was presented to Daniel Stenberg, who will serve as the Academy President. Stenberg has been a major force in open source for over 30 years, best known as the founder and lead developer of cURL, one of the world’s most widely-used software components. His contributions extend to protocol development within IETF, authoring books on open source and networking, and advocating for open technology principles. 

Business & Impact Award 

Celebrating a pioneering business leader who has demonstrated exceptional vision in leveraging open source to drive European innovation by fostering a collaborative ecosystem, this award was given to Amandine Le Pape, who will take on the role of head of section – business & impact in the Academy. Le Pape is a co-founder of Element and Matrix.org, where she has played a crucial role in advancing secure, open communication technology, enabling millions of people to benefit from sovereign, end-to-end encrypted communication. 

Skills & Education Award 

Honouring an influential figure who has significantly contributed to open source education, ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of technological innovation, this award was presented to David Cuartielles, who will take on the role of head of section – skills & education in the Academy. Cuartielles has dedicated his career to education and interactive design, co-founding the Arduino platform and leading research and innovation in creative coding and embedded technology. 

Advocacy & Awareness Award 

Recognising a policy champion who has shaped European digital policy to position open source at the core of Europe’s digital success, this award was presented to Lydia Pintscher who will serve as head of section – advocacy & awareness in the Academy. Pintscher has been a strong advocate for open knowledge and open data through her leadership at Wikimedia Deutschland, where she has significantly advanced Wikidata’s role as a critical open knowledge resource.

The Future of the European Open Source Academy

Preparations for the establishment of EOSA began with the kick-off of the OSAwards.eu project in November 2024, funded by the EU to ensure a support structure for the establishment of the Academy.

This new initiative aims to be the centre of excellence for open source and open hardware in Europe, supporting collaboration between developers, policymakers and industry leaders. The Academy serves as a skills and resource hub, providing training, policy guidance, and expertise to strengthen Europe’s open source and open hardware ecosystem. The European Open Source Awards will be a flagship annual event that shines a spotlight on the impact of open technologies innovation.

Over the next two years, the Academy members will lead efforts to build awareness of the impact of open source and open hardware, organise and nominate their peers for awards as part of subsequent ceremonies, and work together to set up the EOSA for success as a sustainable, independent initiative.

“The Academy and Awards will amplify public recognition and awareness on open source software and hardware in Europe for many years to come,” noted Johan Linåker, project coordinator of the OSAwards.eu. “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”.

For further details on the Academy’s work, upcoming events, and the inaugural awards ceremony, visit the European Open Source Academy website (https://europeanopensource.academy). In the coming months, you will receive invitations to upcoming webinars and masterclasses, as well as to be informed about upcoming activities.