Call for Speakers
State of Open Con 25
4 Feb 2025
5 Feb 2025
London, United Kingdom
stateofopencon.com/
Join OpenUK for its third annual "Open Technology” conference, State of Open Con 25. Spanning open source software, open hardware, open data, open innovation, open standards and of course, open AI there is something for everyone interested in our digital world.
SOOCon25 convenes the UK and global open technology communities...and those wishing to learn more. It sits at the intersection of topics of interest to Enterprise, Technologists, Public Sector, Government, Academia and those in law and policy. Whether you are interested from a technical, legal and policy or community perspective you will find topics of interest to you and have the opportunity to engage with colleagues and experts.
Convening the UK and global Open Technology communities and businesses, SOOCon25 brings some of the world’s best-known speakers in this field to London, to tackle key challenges faced across the open tech sectors. You will also have the opportunity to interact and engage with global leaders in an accessible Conference bringing the Bay Area to London.
Convene’s new Sancroft venue in the heart of the City of London, by St Paul’s Cathedral, will provide SOOCon25 with a state-of-the-art home with plenty of space for all of our attendees to enjoy the Delegate Experience as well as hear from our speakers and mix with others sharing similar interests.
SOOCon's regular annual timing (always falling on the Tuesday and Wednesday after FOSDEM) means that SOOCon25 taking place on 4 and 5 February is an easy train journey from Brussels for anyone attending FOSDEM.
Number one in Europe by number of developers in open source software and lines of code committed, the UK is also the home of Open Data and looking to be a leader in AI. Today it is first in Europe and second when it comes to open source AI. Where better to engage with the leaders of open technology and to tackle the challenges of building a diverse and healthy future for open technology, than here in the UK?
Organised by OpenUK
Venue: Sancroft, London
Address: TBC
Dates: 4th February 09.30-18.00 and 5th February 09.30 - 17.00, 2025
Registration and breakfast each day from 08.00 - 09.30
Delegate Experience space will be open on both days, featuring networking areas and consultations will take place during breaks, as well as podcast recordings, portraits from our photographer and much more.
Call for Speakers
19 Nov 2024
11 Dec 2024
You are invited to submit your talk or panel to the Call for Papers (CFP) for the following tracks:
Open source software and Security:
This track merges our past software and security tracks into one. The CFP committee is looking for content related to either or both of open source software and/or security. Talks may be about open source software or security and need not be about both.
The topics you might wish to cover from an open source software perspective are wide-ranging and might include software development practices, tooling, database software, operating systems, cloud computing, platform engineering, the benefits or challenges of AI in development, AI and software, green software development, and the list of course goes on.
On the security side topics related to innovation in cybersecurity in open source software from securing AI to eBPF, or the use of memory safety and Rust, might be appropriate.
Our Committee are looking to hear from you with a wider range of case studies, experiences and challenges across both areas.
Co-Chaired by Nick Jones and Andrew Martin
Co-hosted by Liz Rice, and Rebecca Rumbul
Open Hardware:
This track will cover all things open in the hardware domain with insights into open source hardware development, covering a wide range of topics from licensing, to data centres and infrastructure, open silicon, the RISCV specification and radio technology, for example.
Chaired by Allison Randall
Open Data:
A deep dive into open data and related trends, and innovations in data management and infrastructure. Past topics have seen case studies across public and private sector usage and sustainability metrics.
Any area in which data has or might be opened is of relevance. The challenges of a lack of open data definition and past attempts to create one, discussions on open data licensing and of course the place of data in AI and the benefits and challenges of it being opened will all be covered in this session.
This track is not about databases which fit into the open source software and security track.
Chaired by David Aronchick
Hosted by Sonia Cooper
Finance and Openness:
A One-day track on 4th February, this is our second day dedicated to financial services and open source advancements in fintech, with a range of case studies and challenges faced by the sectors in their implementations.
Chaired by Ann Schlemmer and Lee Fulmer
Mobile, Communications and Openness:
A One-day track on 5th February focused on Mobile and Communications: this will explore mobile and communications technology and the impact of open developments, and connectivity innovations, like OpenRAN, 5G, operating system openness, opening the telecommunications infrastructure, standards, real-time communications and open media.
Co-Chaired by Nick Allott and Dan Jenkins
Future of open source: A One-day Track on 4th February
This new track follows from the feedback received that the State of Open Con Plenary sessions should be longer. Our day one Plenary consists of keynotes and panel sessions on the future of open source, a broad-ranging topic focused on the challenges of today and the future.
World leaders in the space will kick the day off by considering the grand challenges in the evolving open source landscape and strategic vision for its future.
The remainder of the day will have content largely submitted via CFP and some curated content.
Our team will look forward to your submissions of talks and panels covering a wide range of topics from a policy, community and business perspective.
A wider range of topics is relevant and might include Licence change and single vendor companies, Funding open source and its future, Forking and the Hammer of Valkey, GeoPolitics and open source regulation, building sustainable open source software, scaling open source businesses, the role of State Aid, Sustainability and the impact of open tech on the environment, Will AI kill open source software, and much more.
Chaired and Hosted by Amanda Brock and Industry Leaders (TBC)
AI Openness: A One-day Track on 5th February,
This new track follows from the feedback received that the State of Open Con Plenary sessions should be longer. Our day two Plenaries consist of keynotes and panel sessions on the future of AI openness, one of the most controversial subjects in open source today.
Our team will look forward to your submissions of talks and panels covering a wide range of topics from a policy, community and business perspective, such as AI developments and their implications.
The remainder of the day will have content largely submitted via CFP and some curated content.
Our team will look forward to your submissions of talks and panels covering a wide range of topics from a policy, community and business perspective. Topics that our Committee expect to hear from you on will include the OSI’s AI Definition, A range of approaches to AI openness, the place of open source in AI Regulation, Data and AI, Open Models and Weights - what more is needed, Building community in AI, Beyond the LLM, and much more.
Chaired and Hosted by Amanda Brock and Industry Leaders (TBC)
Submission notes:
Please note that in applying to speak at the event, you do so at your own discretion and risk, and submitting an application does not, in itself, amount to a commitment by the organisers that you will be invited to participate as a contributor. The organisers reserve the right to choose contributors completely at their own discretion.
Brevity and clarity is appreciated in submissions.
Travel Support is limited and subject to availability. Your talk being accepted does not guarantee travel support will be offered to you and any support may be partial.
All speakers are responsible for providing slides in a timely manner and managing these and their personal profiles on the Sched App which will be provided by the conference organisers.
Speakers will receive a conference code and must register within a week of receiving that free code or risk losing their free place.
Participation at this event is subject to compliance with the following OpenUK policies and by submitting a talk you agree to comply with them:
We look forward to you joining us at SOOCon25.