NeoNephos Foundation Announces Intent to Launch, Fostering Collaboration and Innovation for digital autonomy in Europe

BRUSSELS, Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Linux Foundation Europe announced its intent to launch the NeoNephos Foundation, which will serve as a neutral entity dedicated to fostering open collaboration and governance to create an overarching "cloud-edge continuum" that is not tied to individual providers, and to strengthen Europe's digital autonomy. This initiative is based on IPCEI-CIS, so-called Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) around Next Generation Cloud Infrastructures and Services (CIS). IPCEI-CIS is the first IPCEI in the cloud and edge computing domain. It concerns the development of the first interoperable and openly accessible European data processing ecosystem, the multi-provider cloud to edge continuum. It will develop data processing capabilities, and software and data sharing tools that enable federated, energy-efficient and trustworthy cloud and edge distributed data processing technologies and related services. The project is funded by the EU and its member states. With the key corporate participation from SAP, which donates its solutions to the Foundation, it will unite a community of developers, businesses, and innovators to accelerate digital transformation across industries.

The NeoNephos Foundation will offer a transparent framework for stakeholders to work together in an inclusive community, to tackle complex digital challenges through open source, open standards, and open innovation. Additionally, the foundation aims to advance projects that promote interoperability and data exchange while safeguarding security and privacy in compliance with European regulations. Central to its mission is the development of a cloud-edge continuum, which refers to an integrated, flexible, and secure infrastructure where cloud services and edge computing work together harmoniously. This continuum will ensure faster response times, reduced latency, and enhanced scalability, all while maintaining robust data privacy and regulatory compliance.

Hosted by Linux Foundation Europe, the NeoNephos Foundation will play a critical role in building the infrastructure necessary for high-performance cloud infrastructure across sectors. With its focus on creating an open, flexible, and secure cloud-edge continuum, the foundation aims to develop a reference blueprint that serves as a readily usable construction kit, offering blueprints and reusable open source components for critical building blocks. The formation of the foundation comes at a time when industries worldwide are navigating complex transitions to digital-first operations, with increased emphasis on interoperability, data privacy, and regulatory compliance. It forms the centerpiece proposal for all EU participants to align on joint interoperability standards and provides a strong cornerstone for conformance, future software development, compatible deployments, and usage of interoperable cloud services — reinforcing the common target of a cloud-edge continuum in Europe. The involvement of SAP and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action underscores the importance of fostering public-private partnerships to drive scalable, secure, and innovative solutions.

"With SAP's Apeiro Reference Architecture at its core, the NeoNephos Foundation will redefine how we build and manage cloud-native solutions across the Cloud-Edge Continuum," said Peter Giese, Head of SAP Open Source Program Office "By leveraging Linux Foundation Europe's leadership in fostering open collaboration, the NeoNephos Foundation will empower organizations with open, flexible, and interoperable tools in a vendor-neutral, community-driven environment."

"The intent to launch the NeoNephos Foundation represents an exciting new chapter for open collaboration and digital innovation in Europe," said Mirko Boehm, Senior Director, Community Development of Linux Foundation Europe. "With the backing of the EU, the German government and SAP, this project is poised to build an ecosystem that empowers organizations to unlock the full potential of digital transformation while ensuring fairness, security, and interoperability."

"When we created Linux Foundation Europe two years ago, one of our goals was to provide a neutral space to give the European digital commons the best chance to flourish on a truly international scale through the global collaboration platform offered by the Linux Foundation," said Gabriele Columbro, General Manager, Linux Foundation Europe. "That is why I am thrilled to welcome NeoNephos as a model of multi-stakeholder collaboration in the open and look forward to the impact it will have on the European technology landscape and beyond."

The NeoNephos Foundation welcomes stakeholders from across industries by offering a common baseline of well-accepted open standards without boiling the ocean or re-inventing the wheel. Open source components from the SAP's IPCEI-CIS project called ApeiroRA will be contributed to the Foundation and provide the initial community baseline. You can shape this digital commons with us!

Project operations are expected to commence in the coming weeks. If your organization is interested in participating in the final stages of formation and launch of the Foundation, please reach out to LF Europe at formation@linuxfoundation.eu.

Media Contact
Federica Nocerino
federica@linuxfoundation.eu
Linux Foundation Europe

About Linux Foundation Europe and The Linux Foundation
Linux Foundation Europe is the Brussels-based European chapter of the Linux Foundation. The Linux Foundation is the world's leading home for global collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world's infrastructure, including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, OpenChain, OpenSSF, PyTorch, RISC-V, SPDX, Zephyr, and more. The Linux Foundation focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.

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