Digital sovereignty in action: meet the FSFE at SFSCON 2026
November brings us one the Free Software weekends we have all been
waiting for. If you're passionate about Free Software, you know there is
one place to be this month. Join us on 13 and 14 November at the South
Tyrol Free Software Conference in Bolzano!
The FSFE has been taking part in the South
Tyrol Free Software Conference (SFSCON) for many years. The conference
offers a space for fostering discussion on Free Software, from technical
talks to workshops and community exchanges, covering current trends,
challenges, and opportunities.
This year, SFSCON is all about digital sovereignty. For the FSFE,
digital sovereignty means having control and autonomy over the
technologies we use Free Software plays a key role in
making this possible, giving our political structures,
people and organisations the freedom to use, study, share, and improve
software, and therefore greater control and independence over their
technology.
Our work puts these principles into practice in many different areas.
While our initiative “Public Money? Public Code?” asks for the four
freedoms as a basis in our administrations’ digital infrastructure. the
principle of Device Neutrality, we want to make sure
that people can install and uninstall the software they want on their
devices.With Router Freedom, we advocate
for people's right to choose and use their own routers and modems
instead of being restricted to equipment imposed by their internet
service providers.
Through these activities, we aim to empower users to make independent
choices about technology, reduce technological lock-in, and turn digital
sovereignty into something people can exercise in their everyday digital
lives. Let’s talk together about digital sovereignty and
Free Software at SFSCON 2026!
Here our FSFE SFSCON 2026 schedule so you do not miss any of our
talks! Moreover, do not forget to stop at our booth. We are coming with
new merchandise, a lot of stickers and as usual, there might be some ice
cream. 😉
Friday 13 November
European SFS Award 202610:15h, Seminar 1
Before we go depth into all the interesting topics, talks and
workshops that SFSCON is offering this year, let’s discover the winner
of the European SFS Award! Together with the Linux User Group
Bozen-Bolzano-Bulsan, the FSFE will present the 2026 award, recognising
an outstanding contribution to Free Software and to the Free Software
community in Europe.
The future is (also) female II12:00h, Crane Hall – Workshop A
The weekend will kick off with the workshop “The Future is (also) Female
II”, guided by Bonnie Mehring and Ana Galan. The presence of women in
the Free Software community has been growing over the past few years.
However, it is still essential to reflect on the barriers that need to
be overcome to build a more open and inclusive future. We encourage all
of you to join our workshop and share your experiences, insights and
ideas!
Open Hardware – A ‘develish’ Case Study12:20h, Seminar 3
Ready for a “devilish” case study? FSFE’s volunteer and supporter
Nicole Faerber will present the results of her analysis of the Mynd
Bluetooth speaker box, a product sold by Teufel as a commercial open
hardware. Nicole will take us through her testing and findings: is the
product really open, or is it a case of openwashing?
When hardware breaks free13:00h, Seminar 3
Lucas Lasota will give an insightful talk on Open Source Hardware. He
will explain which licences are available for hardware, how they differ
from software licences, and how to apply them to Open Source Hardware
projects.
From Right to Repair to DMA: Shaping the Open Source Hardware Landscape14:20h,Seminar 3>
Dario Presutti will give a talk on the Right to Repair
and interoperability rights in the EU, before moving on to the impact of
the European Commission's latest specification decision under the
Digital Markets Act (Article 6(7)) on Apple's hardware interoperability
requirements.
Open and Free Software Meets C2C Design16:00h, Crane Hall Workshop A
The workshop,by Tim Janßen and supported by the FSFE, will explore
how Free Software and Cradle to Cradle (C2C) design principles can work
together to make electronics more sustainable and circular. Through
interactive discussions, participants will identify barriers to
long-term device use and develop practical recommendations for long-term
software maintenance, hardware repairability, and open documentation
under upcoming regulatory frameworks like the Right to Repair and the
Digital Product Passport.
LLM-Generated Code and Copyright – Who legally owns your
(vibe)code?16:40h, Seminar 3
The way software is being developed has been changing rapidly in the
last few years, posing new legal questions. With LLM-generated code, who
owns the copyright? How do we approach licensing with LLM-generated
code? And are our existing frameworks able to sufficiently handle these
questions? Gabriel Ku Wei Bin will analyse these questions and explain
the hurdles encountered in the attempt to untangle these legal
complexities.
DMA Interoperability: What It Means for Free Software – Where are we after
two years of enforcement?17:40h, Seminar 4
During this talk, Lucas Lasota and Dario Presutti will talk about the
Digital Markets Act, the European law that is supposed to create a more
open digital market by requiring gatekeepers like Apple and Google to
provide “free and effective access to hardware and software features”.
From there, they will explain what has happened during these two years
of implementation, the findings of their developer surveys, the
practices of gatekeepers, and what is happening in court.
Saturday 14 November
Automating translation of a bestseller to spark children’s interest in coding9:20h, Seminar 3
Nico Rikken, FSFE's Coordinator Netherlands, has been passionate about
promoting the FSFE's illustrated storyAda &
Zangemann and making it available in as many languages as
possible. As part of this work, he developed an automation system to
make translations and adaptations easier, using Free Software and open
standards. During his talk, Nico will walk us through how these tools
have helped Ada & Zangemann reach new audiences
and how similar approaches could support other free culture and Open
Educational Resources projects
The FSFE Italian Community in Action – Building Digital Independence Through Practice10:40h, Auditorium (A2)
Marta Andreoli will walk us through the initiatives that Italian
supporters have been carrying out within the Free Software community in
Italy. She will explain how to increase local community engagement,
develop new projects, and bring Free Software to a wider audience!
Let’s toot together! The Fediverse for outreach for organizationsTalk at, 11:00h, Seminar 1 and BoF at 13:00h, Crane Hall>
Tobias Diekershoff and Ana Galánr, will take the stage
to explain what the Fediverse is and why the concept of "reach" on Big
Tech platforms can be misleading ,while explaining the diverse FSFE
Social media channels
After the talk, join them at a Birds of a Feather meeting where they
will be availabe to answer all your questions about the Fediverse, guide
you to create your Fediverse account and provide you with some tips for
starting tooting
How to do a Podcast with Free Software?11:00h, Crane Hall – Workshop A
Bonnie Mehring, is the host and editor of the FSFE's podcast dedicated
to Free Software. Join this workshop to learn how to produce a podcast
using Free Software and get practical tips and techniques to bring your
own projects to life!
How to design successful campaigns that scale11:40h, Seminar 1
What started as a simple book reading in an elementary school quickly
grew into a toolkit full of ideas and activities to spark children's
interest. This experience shows how providing volunteers with the right
tools can encourage them to get involved and bring new ideas to life.
Marta Andreoli will share the story behind this initiative and show how
community participation can help a simple idea grow into something much
bigger.
FSFE meet up -Let's talk about volunteer
engagement!12:00h, Crane Hall – Workshop A
Are you an FSFE volunteer? Or interested in becoming one and to help us
to promote software freedom? Or are you just trying to help supporting
Free Software? Join this workshop with Ana Galan and Bonnie Mehring!
This is an opportunity to share your volunteering experience, ideas and
suggestions, and to meet other volunteers who, just like you, help keep
the Free Software community alive!
Open StreetMap for Inclusion – Tactile Maps Designed for
Blind and Partially Sighted People14:20h, Seminar 3
Giacomo Alessandroni and Milena Rossi, FSFE Italian volunteers, are the
creators of the “Adopt Your Town” project, developed with a high school
class in Pesaro. During the project, 26 students learned how to use
OpenStreetMap to map their town, adding information about their local
surroundings and making over 95,000 changes to the map.Join this talk to
discover how open data can bring students and local communities together
and be used to create practical tools for inclusion!
At SFSCON 2026, most of the FSFE staff will be around, at the booth,
giving talks and workshops about our current activities, networking with
members of our community from all over the world. Of course, with time
to meet our Italian community. SFSCON is the perfect opportunity to
share what we have been doing, what we have achieved and what comes
next! So do not forget to stop by and say hi!
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