POSE: Conference: A Community-Wide Convening to Grow Secure Open-Source Ecosystems in the Era of AI

Award ID: 2626488

This project supports a two-day, community-wide convening aimed at strengthening secure and viable open-source ecosystems in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). Open-source software increasingly underpins scientific discovery, cyberinfrastructure, critical infrastructure, education, government services, and the digital economy, yet these ecosystems face growing challenges related to security, long term viability, interoperability, governance, and trust. The convening will bring together participants from academia, industry, government, nonprofit organizations, and open-source communities to identify shared priorities and practical opportunities for improving the long-term stewardship of open-source ecosystems as AI-assisted development, AI agents, and other emerging technologies reshape how software is created, maintained, and used. The project is responsive to the goals of both the NSF Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) program and the Safe-OSE efforts by fostering cross-sector coordination around secure, viable, and trustworthy open-source ecosystems. The workshop will use facilitated plenary discussions, structured breakout sessions, and hands-on working activities to examine technical, organizational, legal, and other dimensions of secure and viable open-source ecosystems. Topics will include software supply-chain security, distributed development, governance, licensing, interoperability, community coordination, and the implications of AI-enabled tools and agents for open-source development and maintenance. The intellectual merit of the project lies in its integrated approach to identifying gaps, synthesizing community perspectives, and developing actionable directions for research, practice, and policy at the intersection of AI, cybersecurity, and open-source ecosystem long-term viability. The convening will engage expertise from cybersecurity, AI, software engineering, governance, economics, public policy, and community engagement to generate findings that reflect the needs and perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups. Expected outcomes include a synthesis of key themes, identified gaps and opportunities, recommended next steps, and broadly disseminated materials that support future activities and contribute to the advancement of secure and resilient open-source ecosystems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Florence Rabanal