The United Nations Open Source United community and the Open Source Initiative (OSI) today announced that the OSI has become the first organization to officially endorse the UN Open Source Principles. The UN Open Source Principles, recently adopted by the UN Chief Executive Board’s Digital Technology Network (DTN), provide guidelines to drive collaboration and Open Source adoption within the UN and globally.  

Open Source United, a community of practice established by the DTN, works to advance Open Source technologies throughout UN agencies. It promotes collaboration and scalable solutions to support the UN’s digital transformation. The OSI is a non-profit organization recognized globally by individuals, companies and public institutions as the authority that defines Open Source for software and AI. 

The UN Open Source Principles are comprised of eight guidelines and provide a framework to guide the use, development and sharing of Open Source software across the organization. 

The UN Open Source Principles

1. Open by default: Making Open Source the standard approach for projects
2. Contribute back: Encouraging active participation in the Open Source ecosystem
3. Secure by design: Making security a priority in all software projects
4. Foster inclusive participation and community building: Enabling and facilitating diverse and inclusive contributions
5. Design for reusability: Designing projects to be interoperable across various platforms and ecosystems
6. Provide documentation: Providing thorough documentation for end-users, integrators and developers
7. RISE (recognize, incentivize, support and empower): Empowering individuals and communities to actively participate
8. Sustain and scale: Supporting the development of solutions that meet the evolving needs of the UN system and beyond.

“The Open Source Initiative applauds the United Nations for recognizing the growing importance of Open Source in solving global challenges and building sustainable solutions, and we are honored to be the first to endorse the UN Open Source Principles,” said Stefano Maffulli, executive director of OSI. “The UN Open Source Principles comprise the same Open Source values that drive innovation, contribute to an $8.8 trillion economic impact, and enable organizations all over the world to achieve their objectives.”

The UN and the OSI invite other organizations to join in support of the UN Open Source Principles and in contributing to a future of open, inclusive digital solutions worldwide. To endorse the UN Open Source Principles, submit your organization’s information here.

SAN FRANCISCO – May 14, 2024 – Open Source Initiative (OSI), globally recognized by individuals, companies and public institutions as the authority that defines Open Source, is driving a global multi-stakeholder process to define “Open Source AI.” This definition will provide a framework to help AI developers and users determine if an AI system is Open Source or not, meaning that it’s available under terms that allow unrestricted rights to use, study, modify and share. There are currently no accepted means by which openness can be validated for AI, yet many organizations are claiming their AI to be “Open Source.” Just as the Open Source Definition serves as the globally accepted standard for Open Source software, so will the Open Source AI Definition act as a standard for openness in AI systems and their components.

In 2022 the OSI started an in-depth global initiative to engage key players, including corporations, academia, the legal community and organizations and nonprofits representing wider civil society, in a collaborative effort to draft a definition of Open Source AI that ensures that society at large can retain agency and control over the technology. The project has increased in importance as legislators around the world started regulating AI, asking for feedback as guardrails are defined.

This open process has resulted in a massive body of work including podcasts, panel discussions, webinars, published reports, and a plethora of town halls, workshops and conference sessions around the world. A big emphasis was given to make the process as inclusive and representative as possible: 53% of the working groups were composed of people of color. Women and femmes, including transgender women, accounted for 28% of the total and 63% of those individuals are women of color. 

After months of weekly town hall meetings, draft releases and reviews the OSI is nearing a stable version of the Open Source AI Definition. Now, the OSI is embarking on a roadshow of workshops to be held on five continents to solicit input from diverse stakeholders on the draft definition. The goal is to present a stable version of the definition in October at the All Things Open event in Raleigh, North Carolina. This “Open Source AI Definition Roadshow” is sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and OSI’s sponsors and donors.

“AI is different from regular software and forces all stakeholders to review how the Open Source principles apply to this space,” said Stefano Maffulli, executive director of the OSI. “OSI believes that everybody deserves to maintain agency and control of the technology. We also recognize that markets flourish when clear definitions promote transparency, collaboration and permissionless innovation. After spending almost two years gathering voices from all over the world to identify the principles of Open Source suitable for AI systems, we’re embarking on a worldwide roadshow to refine and validate the release candidate version of the Open Source AI Definition.”

The schedule of workshops is as follows: 

• North America
  • USA, Pittsburgh, PyCon US (May 17)
  • USA, NYC, OSPOs for Good (July 9 – 11)
  • USA, Ashland, The RegenAI Summit (September 13 – 14)
  • USA, Raleigh, All Things Open (October 27 – 29)
• Europe
  • France, Paris, OW2 (June 11 – 12)
  • Spain, Madrid, OpenExpo Europe (June 13)
  • Austria, Vienna, Open Source Summit Europe (September 16 – 18)
  • France, Paris, Data in OSAI Workshop (October 10 – 11)
  • Germany, Mainz, Open Community Experience (October 22 – 24)
• Africa
  • Nigeria, Lagos, OSCA Community Webinar (July 15)
  • Senegal, Dakar, Deep Learning Indaba (September 1-3)
• Asia Pacific
  • Hong Kong, AI_Dev (August 21 – 23)
  • China, Beijing, Open Source Congress (August 25 – 27)
  • India, Bangalore, India FOSS (Sept 7 – 8)
  • Asia – details TBD, DPGA members meeting (November 12 – 14)
• Latin America
  • Argentina, Buenos Aires, Nerdearla (September 24 – 28)

For weekly updates, town hall recordings and access to all the previously published material, visit opensource.org/deepdive.

Supporters of the Open Source AI Definition Process

The Deep Dive: Defining Open Source AI co-design process is made possible thanks to grant 2024-22486 from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, donations from Google Open Source, Cisco, Amazon and others, and donations by individual members. The media partner is OpenSource.net.
Others interested in offering support can contact OSI at sponsors@opensource.org.

OSI encourages every part of the Commission to make the most of this new Decision, both for economic and civil reasons. A recent report for the Commission by Open Forum Europe (an OSI Affiliate) estimates that “open source software contributes between €65 to €95 billion to the European Union’s GDP” and observed that “if open source contributions increased by 10% in the EU, they would generate an additional 0.4% to 0.6% (around €100 billion) to the bloc’s GDP.”  But as observed in the 2018 UNESCO “Paris Call” report, a document that OSI contributed to, software is also an essential element of our cultural heritage and legislators need to “create an enabling legal, policy and institutional environment where software source code can flourish as an integral part of knowledge societies” and especially leverage open source licensing to “enable effective independent auditing of software source code used to make decisions that may affect fundamental rights of human beings”.

“As global steward of the Open Source Definition and of the list of approved Open Source Licenses, OSI is an ideal partner for the European Commission in taking this further” said Stefano Maffulli, OSI Executive Director. “Open Source licensing is the perfect strategic approach to unlock these economic and social benefits and we congratulate the Commission on this Decision” said Simon Phipps, OSI Director of Standards and Policy.

My challenge was to look for ways to continue our work during lockdown, keep the organization moving forward through a transitional year and support the board on its journey towards a visioning body that works with a staff-driven organization. Now it’s time to hand things over to our new Executive Director, Stefano Maffulli but first I’d like to recap my time spent in navigating these waters.

Staffing at small non-profits is always a combination of strategy and luck. This spring, I was fortunate to be able to bring in the amazing Betsy Waliszewski as our Director of Sustainability. The Board also organized and conducted a thoughtful and thorough Executive Director search (with great results!). As part of OSI’s preparation to become a more staff-driven organization, we solidified the kind of workplace that OSI will be — humane, generous and respectful. I met with OSI stakeholders to talk about what we could offer open source practitioners in this new era. With the help of Program Associate Valdimir Bejdo, we hosted a new, tightly-focused, virtual event full of actionable and practical open source information, POSI. 

In all of these challenges, I was buoyed by OSI’s part-time staffers, an excellent, hard-working team dedicated to OSI’s growth. It was a tough year and everyone looked for ways to make things easier for each other while still serving the community. Our volunteer Board was lovely and supportive — they have deep knowledge of the open source landscape and are crafting an exciting vision for OSI’s next few years. I also want to thank Patrick Masson for all his support in handing the OSI off to me for this transitional year.

After everything that we learned about transitions, Stefano and I scheduled a whole month to make onboarding as smooth as possible. This past year was a big one for working through some of OSI’s technical debt (the other kind of legacy typical of older organizations) and I feel that I’m leaving things a bit clearer and more thoroughly documented than I found them. I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish in my year here and I can confidently say that I’m leaving the organization in great hands. 

I’m leaving OSI but will still be active in the free and open source software community. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at in-person events again (eventually) and at many online events like SeaGL and the CROSS Research Symposium or on upcoming video calls where we’re collaborating to build a robust, diverse, welcoming and sustainable future for open source practitioners and advocates. 

As I step down from my year as the Interim General Manager, I’m proud to remain a friend and individual supporting member of the OSI.

Though our schedule has been published for about a month, we are now proud to announce that our schedule has been finalized, with a big addition: our event will start off with a few words from our New Executive Director, Stefano Maffulli! Make sure to attend his opening remarks at 10:45 AM EDT, just prior to our Keynote.

We’d also like to point out several details regarding event administration. We will be using an instance of the open source web conferencing system, BigBlueButton, to stream our talks and panels at POSI, with hosting courtesy of our in-kind sponsors at Blindside Networks. 

Remember to register in advance for POSI — registration is gratis, but tickets are limited as we use registration figures to plan for adequate bandwidth for the event. Please, don’t wait until the last minute to register! Register here, now.

Seeing this post during POSI? Seeking help? Contact us at vbejdo@opensource.org for day-of assistance during the event.

After an expansive search led by OSI’s purpose-built staffing committee, the Board of Directors appointed Maffulli, an experienced international leader in enterprise and open source environments. OSI is grateful to Deb Nicholson, interim general manager, for her outstanding work in this transitional year.

“Bringing Stefano Maffulli on board as OSI’s first Executive Director is the culmination of a years-long march toward professionalization, so that OSI can be a stronger and more responsive advocate for open source,” says Joshua Simmons, Board Chair of OSI. “We can now deprecate the role of President transitioning to Chair of the Board with confidence about OSI’s future.”

Maffulli joins OSI after decades of open source advocacy, both as a contributor and leader. He co-founded and led the Italian chapter of Free Software Foundation Europe from 2001 to 2007, structured the developer community of the OpenStack Foundation and subsequently led open source marketing teams in several international companies. An enthusiastic open source user, he’s contributed documentation patches, translations and advocated for projects as diverse as GNU, QGIS, OpenStreetmap and WordPress.

“Open source software is everywhere, but its definition is constantly being challenged,” Maffulli says. “The zombies of shared source, limited-use and proprietary software are emerging from the graves where we put them to rest in the 90s, threatening the whole ecosystem.”

OSI’s definition – and licenses – keep pace with today’s whiplash technological advances. 

“Mobile devices, cloud, artificial intelligence/machine learning and blockchain offer new opportunities for developers, entrepreneurs and society as a whole who all deserve a strong OSI not only to maintain a definition of open source that works in modern settings but also forges a path for how to effectively produce modern open source software,” he adds.

Members of the wider open source community also welcomed Maffulli to the OSI.

• “Successful open source depends on the solid bedrock of open source licenses, but it also requires so much more,” says Allison Randal, Chair of the Board of the Open Infrastructure Foundation. “The new structure of the OSI will enable the Executive Director and the Board to put renewed energy behind the practical aspects of producing open source software in open and collaborative environments, facilitating healthy dialog around how open source projects and communities can continue to evolve toward a more sustainable and equitable future.”

• “Open source has no geographical barriers. Software produced and shared by the global community is one of the greatest human achievements. By hiring an ED with an international background, the Open Source Initiative is reinforcing its mission to steward the Open Source Definition for the wider community,” says Samson Goddy, co-founder of Open Source Community Africa.

• “This is an important change,” says Karen Sandler, executive director of the Software Freedom Conservancy. “I congratulate the OSI for engaging in a critical re-evaluation of its role in the FOSS community and redefining how its board functions. I’m excited to see what the future holds for OSI with Maffulli’s leadership.”

About OSI

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is the steward of the Open Source Definition (OSD) and the community-recognized body for reviewing and approving licenses as OSD-conformant. The OSI is also actively involved in Open Source community-building, education, and public advocacy to promote awareness and the importance of non-proprietary software. The mission of the OSI is to educate about and advocate for the benefits of open source and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open source community.

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is a California public benefit corporation, with 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, founded in 1998. For more information, visit https://opensource.org/

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s extra long board election, investigation and subsequent re-run process. We especially appreciate everyone who took the time to run for the OSI board and we hope to continue collaborating with you all in the future. Your willingness to serve is one of the things that makes the open source community such an amazing place to work.

Thank you to our Oversight Committee for all their work to interpret the results of the investigation and help us ensure transparency in this process. This was a difficult task and we really appreciate their willingness to support the integrity of our community elections in this way. We’d also like to thank Ben Adidas at Helios for providing a fantastic open source voting solution and helping us when we needed help during our investigation. 

Josh Simmons, OSI’s Board President said, “This was a tough year and we are deeply grateful to everyone who has helped us understand what happened. We look forward to holding slightly more boring elections going forward as well as updating our technical infrastructure to improve our record keeping workflow.”

Board member seats expire at different times so that we can maintain some continuity. Our next election will take place early next year. There will be two Individual seats and one Affiliate seat up next year.

Betsy comes to us after many years of involvement with several different parts of the open source community. Some of you may have met her during her sixteen years with O’Reilly Media, the longtime organizational host of the recently, (sadly) discontinued OSCON. Others of you may have met Betsy during her recent six year stint at the Python Software Foundation where she served as their very successful Sponsorship Coordinator and Administrator. 

Betsy returns to the broader open source community by joining the Open Source Initiative as the Director of Sustainability, responsible for maintaining and increasing corporate sponsorships. This includes conducting research and market segmentation, creating sales, drawing connections, identifying opportunities and gaps as well as developing and overseeing OSI annual fundraising initiatives and programs. As OSI plans for a year of implementing new tactics and increased outreach (after a year of introspection and strategic planning) we are extremely fortunate to have an expert in organizational growth joining our team.

“I’m excited by the opportunity to help the Open Source Initiative in their community-building, education, and public advocacy to promote awareness and the importance of non-proprietary software.” says Betsy. 

Josh Simmons, OSI’s Board President adds, “We’ve got big plans for OSI over the next two years and Betsy’s unique skills in fostering connections and shepherding growth are exactly what we need.”  

Be on the lookout for an email from Betsy! She’s really excited to (re)connect with all the many people that make the open source community a friendly, sustainable, forward-looking place.  

We’ve considered a wide range of opinions from legal experts and the consensus seems to be that it’s unlikely Copilot involves any breach of US law on copyright. That doesn’t mean it’s OK to use the broad corpus of open source code as a training resource for an AI, though. Developers gave Github the broad copyright permissions that are in their Terms of Use so the service could be provided and improved, but that doesn’t mean they want to see their code laundered and reprocessed by a built-in tool in an editor. 

So is Copilot code going to be considered a reasonable use of that corpus, a violation of trust (or even maybe copyright), or will AI eventually just be how most code gets written? It’s truly too early for a conclusive hot-take. The open source community is probably more aligned with the idea of treating the use of publicly available code *for learning purposes* as an activity outside the confines of copyright law altogether than the folks who were hosting proprietary code on GitHub are, but this is still new territory. 

Understanding what’s legal is not enough; it’s also vital to understand what is respectful and advances the common good. Community engagement — with the goal of a shared understanding and eventually a standard of best practice for open source developers and lawyers — is sorely needed on this topic.

We’d like to see a process that includes open source organizations and the global open source legal and policy community. This new approach to coding is a great time for GitHub to strengthen the lines of communication between various open source organizations and stakeholders. Josh Simmons, OSI Board President added, “Open source truly is all about community. We believe GitHub should take this opportunity to involve the international community of thinkers around open source licensing as they chart a path forward.”

As always, OSI is eager to see the open source ecosystem grow in a healthy manner that embraces new open source technologies. We look forward to finding a collaborative path forward that both serves growth and principle and builds bridges. We’re really excited to see where this next era of code development will lead. We encourage GitHub to work with us and others to engage open source developers and users and to seek ways to make their tool embody rather than frustrate the collective vision of the open source community.

Today, OSI released two reports about what went wrong with our initial 2021 Board of Directors election. These reports were first released to the Board, then to the candidates, and now to the general public. Commensurate with the sensitive nature of elections, these reports are both authored by independent bodies: a specialist who conducted a forensic investigation, and an Oversight Committee which reviewed the forensic results and conducted additional interviews.

The results of this work paint a picture not uncommon among small nonprofits: technical and process debt accrued over time, and eventually creating an opening for things to go wrong. 

Ultimately, some people who should have received ballots didn’t, some people who shouldn’t have received ballots did, and one erroneously issued ballot was cast in the Individual Member election, which was the initial discovery that triggered the investigation.

Knowing precisely what went wrong, we are able to produce voter rolls that we can be confident in, in order to run a free and fair 2021 Board of Directors election. Better yet, we can implement technical and administrative changes that will give us greater confidence in all future elections.

We are grateful for everyone’s patience and understanding as we took the time to navigate a challenging situation diligently.

A special thank you to the volunteers of the Oversight Committee, who were generous with their time and extremely thoughtful in their work. Committee members who accepted the invitation to volunteer included several Board members (who were not standing for office in the election) as well as members of the broader open source community known to our membership to be neutral and trustworthy. The Oversight Committee Members were: Deb Bryant (board member); Chris Lamb (board member); James Vasile (OSI member); Liz Fong-Jones (OSI member); and Stefano Zacchiroli (OSI member).

Our new elections will begin on July 26, after we finish implementing our work plan and coordinate with all the candidates who have been waiting patiently since March.

Please find the reports enclosed here:

• Summary of Forensic Investigation
• Findings and Recommendations of the Oversight Committee

You may also find our public elections documentation to be valuable.

OSI Board & Staff