Call For Proposals (CFP)

The FINOS Open Source in Finance Forum (OSFF) is a premier gathering designed specifically for leading decision makers in the financial sector, including C-suite and managing directors at sell-side banks and buy-side firms. This conference presents a unique opportunity for these decision-makers to engage directly with the evolving landscape of financial technology through the lens of open source innovation. It serves as an ideal platform for discussing and shaping the future of finance, focusing on collaborative strategies to enhance code efficiency and delivery speed.

Please be aware that the Linux Foundation will now utilize Sessionize for CFP submissions. Sessionize is a cloud-based event content management software designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. If you need guidance, please review how to submit your session for an event to see step-by-step instructions and helpful screenshots.

• CFP Opens: Tuesday, May 21
• CFP Closes: Sunday, July 14 at 11:59 PM EDT / 8:59 PM PDT
• CFP Notifications: Tuesday, August 6
• Schedule Announcement: Thursday, August 8
• Presentation Slide Due Date: Friday, September 27
• Event Dates: Monday, September 30 – Tuesday, October 1
• Reminder: This is a community event — so no product and/or vendor sales pitches.

Please do not submit a general talk. We are interested in talks built around our financial services decision-maker and technologist audience. Regulated industries like finance have a different set of rules that our community has to negotiate daily, so make your talk impact this community, not open-source communities in general. We welcome talks on various topics relevant to open source in financial services.

• Open Source Readiness
  • The Open Source Readiness Initiative supports financial services organizations in their open source maturity journey so they can realize the benefits of open source code and collaboration. 
  • Open Source Readiness is leading activities that enable safe and compliant open source consumption and contribution in financial services firms. 
  • Talks submitted here would benefit from discussing best practices and case studies on how sell-side banks and buy-side firms move the needle to support and build consumption and contribution policies that help financial institutions become leaders in open source, reduce costs, and attract better talent.
• Open Regulation Innovation
  • The Open RegTech Initiative explores and promotes opportunities for open collaboration between financial institutions, technology firms, service providers, and regulators. It aims to use open source standards and software to change how financial regulation is implemented and supervised.
  • Talks submitted here would benefit from discussing the pressing challenges and priorities related to regulation interpretation and compliance, as well as examples of best practices and successful approaches to addressing the ever-growing needs for data and transparency in financial services under regulatory guidelines (US / UK as a starting point – but not exclusive to these regions). Current regulatory-related initiatives based on FINOS projects and frameworks and areas of opportunities in open innovation are talks that will have a high value.
• Artificial Intelligence in FSI (AI)
  • In January 2024, the FINOS board approved AI as a strategic initiative to speak to the growing opportunity and need for open collaboration in AI in the financial services space. We’re looking for talks that address the following:
    • AI Readiness for financial service companies (policy, frameworks, best practices for safe and compliant adoption of AI by Financial Services firms) 
    • Financial Services LLM use cases
    • AI Best Practices in regards to the regulatory nature of financial services
    • Financial AI open source toolchain
• Interoperability/FDC3
  • Interoperability and FDC3 aim to provide an open standard for interoperability on the financial desktop. This includes standardized verbs to invoke actions between applications (called “intents”), a standardized data format, an OpenAPI app directory standard, and standardized API operations.
  • Talks submitted here would benefit from discussing relevant FDC3 use cases and workflows, case studies of successful implementations, demos, and best practices to help extend the work already done in FDC3, and to uncover best use in and across financial desktop applications using the FDC3 standard.
• Common Cloud Controls / Cloud in FSI
  • FINOS Common Cloud Controls (FINOS CCC) is the codename for an open standard project, originally proposed by Citi, open sourced at the end of 2023 into FINOS, to describe consistent controls for compliant public cloud deployments in the financial services sector. This standard is a collaborative project which aims to develop a unified set of cybersecurity, resiliency, and compliance controls for common services across the major cloud service providers (CSPs).
  • Talks submitted here would benefit from discussing cloud best practices, standards, and case studies, specifically as they relate to financial services and the relevant regulatory guidelines (US / UK as a starting point – but not exclusive to these regions).
• Common Domain Model (CDM) (Part of Regtech)
  • The Common Domain Model (CDM) is a standardized, machine-readable, and machine-executable data and process model for how financial products are traded and managed across the transaction lifecycle.
  • The CDM is based on cross-industry collaboration between ICMA, ISDA, and ISLA and facilitates trade processing of repo, securities lending, bond, and derivatives transactions. The CDM is available in FINOS under the FINOS Community Specification License 1.0.
  • Talks submitted here would benefit from discussing advantages of standard, digitized contracts, applicability of the CDM for managing front-to-back business events and workflows, and best practices for cost-effective regulation compliance. 
• Open Source Software (OSS) Supply Chain Security
  • Open source software is pervasive in financial services data centers, consumer devices, and applications. Securing open source software in finance, or any other sector requires fostering collaboration, establishing best practices, and developing innovative solutions. Financial services companies run into the same issues as other tech companies, with the added layer of financial regulation that holds them more accountable than other large tech companies.
  • Identifying critical upstream and downstream dependencies for FINOS Projects and FINOS Members (specifically buy-side firms and sell-side banks) has accelerated in the past three years as banks have not only consumed more open source, but have now really started to contribute back to it.
  • Talks submitted here would benefit from discussing innovative and collaborative approaches for the financial industry to manage supply chain risk while modernizing their software stack and adopting the best of open source solutions.
• Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)
  • Talks covering cloud native projects and cloud native end-user stories ideal for the enterprise audience, particularly focused to those in the finance industry. Attendees will leave with enhanced knowledge on how to leverage cloud native projects and technologies to support various workloads to drive forward development within enterprises.
• FinOps Foundation
  • FinOps is an operational framework and cultural practice which maximizes the business value of cloud, enables timely data-driven decision making, and creates financial accountability through collaboration between engineering, finance, and business teams.
  • Sessions are prioritized for end-user practitioners and NO vendor talks will be accepted regardless of Foundation membership status.
  • We welcome speakers to share their stories and experiences using real-world examples and data. Please be sure to have the proper permissions or attributions to use data examples in your talks. Many speakers choose to anonymize data or redact sensitive things in order to still use data to support their topics.
  • You can also use findings from the State of FinOps annual survey to support your talk. We also encourage speakers to reference and cite past FinOps Foundation materials to help us grow our body of knowledge.
• Open MainFrame
  • Financial institutions have relied on mainframes for more than six decades. By many estimates, they process up to 90% of the credit card transactions in use today. They’re fast and reliable, despite what some sensationalized headlines might lead you to believe. In this track, we’re looking for open source on the mainframe including Linux on Z, those directly associated under the Open Mainframe Project and those that complement it. As modern tooling becomes more and more desirable to the mainframe workforce, our objectives include: encouraging developers of all ages and backgrounds and organizations to embrace the use of open source tools on the mainframe; demonstrating modern mainframe tooling; and establishing a thriving community of users and contributors. This track aims to cater to experience levels from the novice to the expert.
• OS-Climate
  • We welcome proposals regarding software, data, standards, and collaborations for climate- and sustainability-aligned finance, investing, business, and regulation. Open source collaboration on pre-competitive layers of technology and data that can integrate commercial components and services is crucial for helping financial institutions and corporations worldwide — including in the Global South — to address the growing wave of regulatory requirements across hundreds of regional, national, and subnational jurisdictions, as well as voluntary commitments such as those under the Global Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Innovations in AI, computer science, data science, business models, and other disciplines all tie into developing solutions for addressing climate risk and opportunity.

OTHER TOPICS—We also have a mix of tracks around wider areas of emerging technologies, payments, DEI, identity, and cutting-edge technologies in FSI.

Below are potential/suggested topics that speakers may use as guidelines within the conference tracks above. Please note product/sales pitches will not be accepted.

• Developing open source maturity in an organization
  • Developing and Delivering Open Source Tooling, Training & Best Practices
  • Addressing Open Source Legal, Compliance, and Policy Concerns
  • Leveraging OSS to Attract and Retain Talent
  • Upskilling and Becoming More Employable for Contributors
  • The Journey through Open Source Readiness for Financial Institutions
  • Innersource
• Making open source secure
  • Secure and Collaborative Innovation using Tooling and Processes for Identifying Vulnerabilities
  • How to Build a Robust Community around Software Projects to Maximize Eyeballs on Issues, as well as Solutions
• Building successful & sustainable OSS communities
  • Tools, Advice, and Approaches for Creating Diverse and Equitable (DEI) Communities
  • Building and Sustaining OSS Communities in a Highly Regulated Industry
  • Attracting and Rewarding Contributors
• Hot topics for OSS in finance:
  • Topics relevant for the Industry Use as ESG, CBDC, Blockchain, NFTs, AI, Machine Learning, Automation, Banking in the Cloud, Credit, Identity Management; Governments, and OS
  • Shaping the next generation of OSS in financial services
    • How to shape and guide open source policies and projects to be more inclusive of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) concerns
• Language in finance (relevant to FINOS projects):
  • Java
  • Python
  • Javascript
  • C++
• OSS projects & standards – Please note that the talks can be technical or business-focused
  • FINOS Projects and Standards
  • Non-FINOS OSS Projects and Standards with Specific Relevance for Financial Services
• Case studies
  • “Real-World” Examples of How OSS has Added Value in any of the Areas Above
    • Should be Focused on Financial Services or Have a Highly Relevant “Read-Across” from a Similarly Regulated Industry
• Solving industry challenges
  • Using OSS to Deliver Business and/or Tech Value to Your Organization & Consumers
  • Open Source Collaboration to Tackle Pervasive Challenges or New Opportunities; 
  • Application Interoperability
  • Areas of Interest Include Regulatory Interpretation and Compliance, Open Data, Leveraging Industry Standards like the CDM
• Delivering business and/or tech value
  • Specific Examples of How OSS has Delivered Business and/or Tech Value to Your Organization & Consumers
    • Areas might include Operations, Interoperability, Commercial OSS
  • Leveraging Commercial Open Source; OSS ROI and Speed to Market (with Newest Tools)
    • Case Studies from Project Managers who are working on a project that includes open source technology
    • Case Studies from Product Managers managing a product leveraging open source technology (but not a product pitch, please)

• Session Presentation (typically 30 minutes)
• Panel Discussion (typically 30 minutes)
• Birds of a Feather Session (typically 30 – 60 minutes in length)
• Workshop/Tutorial (typically 60 minutes)
• Lightning Talk (typically 15 minutes – ideal for first-time speakers)

• All speakers are required to adhere to our Code of Conduct. We also highly recommend that speakers take our online Inclusive Speaker Orientation Course.
• Panel submissions should include the names of all participants. In addition, The Linux Foundation does not accept submissions with all-male panels in an effort to increase speaker diversity. If you need help in finding panelists, please reach out to osff@finos.org.
• Avoid sales or marketing pitches and discussing unlicensed or potentially closed-source technologies when preparing your proposal; these talks are almost always rejected due to the fact that they take away from the integrity of our events, and are rarely well-received by conference attendees.
• All accepted speakers are required to submit their slides prior to the event.

While it is not our intention to provide you with strict instructions on how to prepare your proposal, we hope you will take a moment to review the following guidelines that we have put together to help you prepare the best submission possible. To get started, here are three things that you should consider before submitting your proposal:

1. What are you hoping to get from your presentation?
2. What do you expect the audience to gain from your presentation?
3. How will your presentation help better the ecosystem?

There are plenty of ways to give a presentation about projects and technologies without focusing on company-specific efforts. Remember the things to consider that we mentioned above when writing your proposal and think of ways to make it interesting for attendees while still letting you share your experiences, educate the community about an issue, or generate interest in a project.

How to Give a Great Talk

We want to make sure submitters receive resources to help put together a great submission and if accepted, give the best presentation possible. To help do this, we recommend viewing seasoned speaker Dawn Foster’s in-depth session titled Overcoming Imposter Syndrome to Become a Conference Speaker!.

Have More Questions? First Time Submitting? Don’t Feel Intimidated

Linux Foundation events are an excellent way to get to know the community and share your ideas and the work you are doing, and we strongly encourage first-time speakers to submit talks for our events. If you aren’t sure about your abstract, reach out to us, and we will be more than happy to work with you on your proposal.

The Linux Foundation is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for participants at all of our events. We encourage all submitters to review our complete Code of Conduct.