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Welcome to SOSE

Strengthening secure and sustainable open-source ecosystems

The Summit on Open-Source Ecosystems (SOSE) will bring together members of open-source communities and others seeking to become more actively involved in sharing ideas, debating challenges, and reimagining how research and innovation can be transformed into open-source technologies and services that address society’s most pressing needs.

Building secure and sustainable ecosystems around open-source assets—whether software, datasets, hardware, models, protocols, infrastructure, or other open-source products—requires participation across sectors, disciplines, and technical domains.

SOSE is designed to convene the people doing the hard work of building, leading, supporting, and sustaining these ecosystems.

The inaugural summit—sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and hosted by George Mason University’s Institute for Digital Innovation in collaboration with The University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy—will focus on open-source ecosystems (OSEs) in the context of rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI). Participants from open-source communities, industry, government, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, academia, and research institutions will be invited to take an active role in exchanging practical experiences, identifying shared challenges, developing actionable recommendations, and building ongoing partnerships.

AI is reshaping the ecosystems around open-source technologies and assets, with AI agents potentially becoming critical collaborators with humans in their development, maintenance, security, and governance. As these changes accelerate, SOSE 2026 is positioned to serve as a key forum for asking and debating questions such as how to build trust, encourage participation and accountability, promote interoperability and security, and develop innovative approaches to sustaining these resources and their communities.

An ongoing forum

SOSE 2026 is designed as the inaugural event in a continuing thematic series. Future summits will provide a timely forum for addressing the evolving challenges and opportunities facing communities that build and sustain open-source ecosystems.

What makes SOSE different

SOSE 2026 will offer two days of active collaboration to envision how ecosystems around open-source technologies and services can make lasting, meaningful progress toward addressing some of society’s biggest challenges.

Activities will include large- and small-group discussions, collaborative problem-solving, networking, and opportunities to share new ideas and ongoing success stories. The goal is to encourage participation and dialogue rather than passive listening, so the program will not include paper presentations or keynote speakers. All that is required is a willingness to engage in the conversations.

Stay informed

Program details, registration information, travel-support opportunities, and additional ways to participate will be announced as planning progresses.