On Tuesday, October 6, Zephyr maintainers, contributors and technical leaders will meet at the Prague Congress Centre for the first ever Zephyr Maintainers Forum. Co-located with Open Source Summit Europe, this forum offers the opportunity for the Zephyr community to discuss and decide strategic directions for the project.
This event is different from the Zephyr Developer Summit, which is also happening in Prague, and will be structured as interactive discussions with the Zephyr Technical Steering Committee (TSC) rather than presentations.
Discussion Topics and Session Leads
The planned discussions will cover:
- Hardware-in-the-loop testing and CI
- Security, regulatory frameworks, CRA, PSIRT, and backports
- AI and LLMs in Zephyr development and security
- Safety certification, code scanning, API stability, and versioning
- Clock management, power management, threads, and startup architecture
- Build systems, firmware update partition IDs, LLEXT, userspace, and IPC services
- Scaling Zephyr across platforms, vendor HALs, and shim drivers
- High-performance MCUs and the balance between footprint, performance, security, and safety
The sessions will be guided by Alberto Escolar Piedras (Nordic Semiconductor), Anas Nashif (Intel), Benjamin Cabé (Linux Foundation), Dan Kalowsky (Qualcomm), Daniel DeGrasse (Analog Devices), David Brown (Linaro), Fabio Baltieri (Google), Johann Fischer (Nordic Semiconductor), Kate Stewart (Linux Foundation), Martin Jäger (Libre Solar), Parthiban Nallathambi (Linumiz), and Stephane Parenti (Wind River Systems).
The forum will also address release planning, technical and process changes, maintainer workflows, and coordination across subsystems.
Who Should Attend?
The forum welcomes Zephyr maintainers, TSC members, subsystem owners, and frequent contributors who want to take an active role in shaping the project’s technical strategy for the coming year.
Why In-Person Participation Matters:
The sessions will not be recorded. Interested participants are encouraged to attend in-person to take part in the discussions.
Event Details:
- Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
- Time: 8:00 am–5:00 pm
- Location: Prague Congress Centre, Prague, Czech Republic
- Registration cost: Early Bird: €100; Standard: €150
- Format: In-person working meetings; sessions will not be recorded
How to Register:
Pre-registration is required. To attend the Zephyr Maintainers Forum, add the event to your Open Source Summit Europe registration.
The Zephyr Maintainers Forum will provide dedicated time for the people closely involved in the project to discuss technical priorities, processes, and future direction. We look forward to welcoming the community to Prague.
Travel Funding:
Thanks to the support of Zephyr Platinum Member Renesas, travel funding is available to community members who are actively driving Zephyr efforts and will contribute meaningfully to the forum. The fund may cover all or part of transportation, accommodation, and event registration costs. Applicants should explore employer-sponsored funding first.
Applications must be submitted by Monday, September 14, 2026. Successful applicants will be notified by Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Funding is limited, and not every request or expense can be supported. Complete the 2026 Travel Fund Application to apply.
For questions, contact support@zephyrproject.org.
