Anastasia Stasenko and Pierre-Carl Langlais from Pleias shared their view on open-source AI and public data: what today's problems are and how CERN can help. Sophia Vargas from Google's OSPO shared how to collectively work towards OSS sustainability. Both were really fascinating and insightful presentations: if you missed them, watch their recordings available on Indico!

Four CERN-related open-source projects presented what they do - providing insights into the incredible breadth of expertise at CERN and how we as a CERN community share with and give back to the world. VOLTS presented their testing framework for telephone systems; Edgar Lemos Cid presented open-source hardware to improve medical accelerators; LGC presented their impressive open-source for geodesy; and the React Formule team showcased their library for building input interfaces for surveys.

Clemens Lange introduced the OSPO's role in CERN's Open Science context and why it matters to the CERN community; the OSPO used the occasion to share their progress in 2024 and plans for 2025, including the work on open-source hardware and software catalogues. This was presented as a challenge to the open-source community: is the OSPO doing what you expect? What is missing, where can the OSPO help? A live-Q&A as well as the discussion session brought some fantastic, targeted ideas what to add to the OSPO's plan for 2025.

After a full agenda, the in-person participants used the networking event to meet, provide more feedback (without having to get the full Council Chamber's attention), and initiate follow-up discussions. As one attendee shared in the days after the event:

Thanks a lot for the event yesterday. The OSPO events last year and this year (together with a hardware workshop) reignited the fire: I'm back to tinkering and sharing my projects with the community. Thank you so much for that! Something was missing in my life but I didn't know what. Thanks to the OSPO I found it back. I always dreamed of my own chip; now, with open-source tooling and mini tape out on Kickstarter I can do it! I can't wait to hold my own chip in my hands in half a year! ❤️

With such a wonderful feedback we are already looking forward to our 2025 community event! And we promise to work hard to deliver what you, our open-source community, expect from us. If you have feedback or comments, don't hesitate to share: we do this for you!