The Linux Foundation Europe officially launched the NeoNephos Foundation today. This new initiative focuses on collaboration and innovation around open cloud infrastructure and European digital sovereignty. NeoNephos stems from the EU’s IPCEI-CIS investment program and aims to give European companies and governments more control over their digital infrastructure.
NeoNephos responds to the growing demand for secure, scalable, and transparent cloud solutions that support European objectives for digital sovereignty. The initiative brings together leading organizations, technology suppliers, and academic institutions to develop open-source solutions that promote digital autonomy in Europe.
“Linux Foundation Europe is proud to support the launch of NeoNephos, which represents a significant step forward in supporting Europe’s cloud sovereignty goals through open source,” said Gabriele Columbro, General Manager of Linux Foundation Europe. The organization wants to create an ecosystem that innovates through integration with existing open source projects such as Kubernetes, Sylva and LF Networking.
Focus on digital sovereignty
NeoNephos focuses on three core areas: cloud infrastructure, digital sovereignty, and collaboration and innovation. The goal is to develop open, interoperable technologies tailored to the needs of European companies and governments. The main priority is that organizations retain full control over their data and infrastructure while continuing to comply with European regulations.
In Europe, digital autonomy is becoming increasingly high on the agenda. Last week, thirteen EU countries emphasized the need for Europe to become less dependent on foreign technology during a D9+ Summit in Amsterdam. The changing geopolitical relationships only make this need more urgent.
Broad network of founding members
A broad coalition of founding members has joined the NeoNephos Foundation, including Clyso, Cyberus Technology, Deutsche Telekom, SAP, TNO – ECOFED and 23 Technologies GmbH. These organizations bring in-depth expertise and a shared commitment to an open cloud ecosystem prioritising transparency, security and interoperability.
The involvement of TNO – ECOFED is interesting, as it is also involved in a Dutch cloud project called ECOFED. This project also aims to increase European digital sovereignty by developing open interfaces and open-source software tools to reduce dependence on American cloud providers.
“As an independent applied research institute in the Netherlands, TNO is proud to work with NeoNephos in shaping the EU’s sovereign cloud foundation. NeoNephos aligns with the goals of the Dutch IPCEI CIS project ECOFED; a consortium project with the Dutch SME cloud industry to come to open a federated cloud ecosystem,” says Berry Vetjens, director of the ICT, Strategy & Policy Market Unit at TNO – ECOFED.
NeoNephos is one of the first concrete open-source results of the EU investment program IPCEI-CIS.