FINOS OSSF 2019 RECAP

finos open source strategy forum

November 20, 2019 - NYC

This year at the 2019 Open Source Strategy Forum (OSSF) we brought together around 450 individuals at the cross section of finance, open source, and technology to share thoughts, knowledge, and insights on the direction of open source and open standards in financial services. What a great day! With representatives from nearly 150 companies (almost half representing financial services institutions) we think it’s clear that the financial services industry is embracing all that open source has to offer. We could go on an on but we’ll try to keep this recap brief. Read on to learn more about overarching themes from the conference, how to access presentations you may have missed and how to give us your feedback.

KEY CONFERENCE THEMES

• (Open Source) Compliance as Code is a major opportunity: Our FINOS community made it clear that embracing open source solutions to address compliance and regulatory challenges is a massive opportunity for the industry and regulators. Check out the Goldman Sachs Pure / Alloy contribution, the Santander Trust proposal, and the ongoing Cloud Service Certification effort.

• Moving from consumption to contribution: Financial services companies already consume lots of open source software but are increasingly recognizing the value of contributing. Check out presentations from FINOS Executive Director, Deutsche Bank and the Aite Group. 

• Overcoming challenges to deliver benefits: Financial services is a highly regulated industry with a history of “closed doors” and building proprietary software. Changing culture and process takes time but is worth it. Check out presentations from the FINOS Chair and Vice Chair, Facebook, and Consensys. 

• The value of community: Building an open source community isn’t easy but it’s essential for the success of open source projects. It also provides unique value to both companies and individuals. Check out presentations from BNY Mellon and GitHub. 

• Finding a project to work on: There are plenty of open source projects and standards out there, including new initiatives, young projects building momentum, and established projects that continue to evolve. Whatever your interest, find a project to get involved with. Check out presentations from the FINOS Project Leads, Goldman Sachs Pure / Alloy Demo, and Morgan Stanley. 

RECOGNIZING OUR COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTORS

We are forever grateful to our growing community for their commitment and hard work and were pleased to recognize three individuals in particular.

The Newcomer: Simon Laing, Scott Logic. Individual most active on FINOS projects within the last year. 

Top Contributor: Andrew Stein, J.P. Morgan.  Individual with the most activity on any FINOS project.

Leading the Pack: Alvin Shih, Morgan Stanley.  Individual driving growth across a number of FINOS projects. 

FEEDBACK PLEASE

We’d like to know what you thought of the conference, what you thought worked, and where we can we improve. Please take a few minutes to complete this very brief survey. 

Thank you again to our incredible speakers and to everyone who attended. And if you weren’t able to make it this year, we hope you’ll join us next year! 

The FINOS Team

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