Open Source, Strategy, and the Future of Innovation in Higher Education
In this executive panel, CEOs from organizations deeply embedded in the open source ecosystem come together for a candid discussion on strategy, sustainability, and partnership. Moderated by Patrick Masson, Executive Director of the Apereo Foundation, the conversation will explore how open source influences the future of higher education innovation, from organizational decision-making to ecosystem-wide impact.
How does open source actually shape innovation in higher education—and what does it take to sustain that innovation over time?
Panelists will share real-world perspectives on building and sustaining open source communities in environments often constrained by funding and staffing, and examine how higher education institutions and open source companies can collaborate more effectively—going beyond code contributions to form partnerships that accelerate innovation, strengthen trust, and deliver shared value.
This session is designed for higher education leaders, technologists, and open source advocates seeking a clearer, more strategic understanding of how business models, community health, and institutional collaboration intersect in today’s open source landscape.
Our panelists:
Inge Donkervoort, CEO of DLearning
Current Apero Board Member, Inge Donkervoort is the CEO of DLearning. She lives in the Netherlands (Europe) and has been trained as a teacher. After a few years she started working as a consultant for the government and in businesses. She became interested in applying ICT for online communication, collaboration and online learning with schools, governments, health care institutions and companies and in 2010 she started her own business in online learning. Inge is director/owner of DLearning. She develops online learning materials for companies and institutions she works with and teaches them how to use Xerte and other tools considering their goals and target group.
Since 2009 Inge has been involved in the Xerte project working on various elements including the translation tool - the internationalization part. Since two year now Inge is working also on learning analytics and adaptive learning connected to Xerte.
Her vision and mission is "open source unless there is no other option". One of the great values of, for example, Xerte / open source is the share and reuse principle. So many beautiful online learning resources are being made that can be (re)used by others. Why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to? Within the Apereo Board she would like to further develop this principle and also play a role in the involvement of the various projects.
Dr. Kirsten Heiss, CEO of OpenCampus
Dr. Kirsten Ingmar Heiss is founder and managing director of OpenCampus, a European initiative to provide an open ecosystem for Higher Education management. Kirsten is a Medical Doctor by training, but left the field to find ways to increase the impact of his actions. First working as IT consultant with Gartner, then with the United Nations Development Program implementing educational solutions in emerging countries, which ultimately lead to Kirsten founding OpenCampus, as an open initiative, that allows institutions to create the digital technology they need, in a free, collaborative ecosystem.
OpenCampus is an Apereo Platinum Commercial Member.
Kate Valenti, CEO of Unicon
As Unicon's CEO, Kate Valenti sets the vision, leads the executive team, and drives operating cadence. With deep edtech experience in integration strategies and solution delivery, she focuses on client value, learner impact, and a human-centered workplace. (long) Kate Valenti is Unicon's CEO, responsible for setting the vision, leading the executive team, and driving the firm's operating cadence. Kate ensures Unicon remains focused on delivering value for its clients, impact for learners, and an outstanding environment for employees. Throughout her career at Unicon, Kate has previously held key leadership roles including Chief Operating Officer and Senior Director of Integrations and Analytics. Previously, Kate worked at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young as a management consultant with a focus on enterprise application integration. During her career in edtech, Kate has designed and developed integration strategies, programs, and technical services teams, and has delivered dozens of integrated solutions to the market. Kate has both participated in and facilitated industry panel conversations and holds the EDUCAUSE Review Author microcredential. Kate is passionate about the intersection of creating societal value through improved educational experiences and embracing humanness in the workplace. Kate and her family live among the trees in the Pacific Northwest.
Unicon is an Apereo Platinum Commercial Member.
Salvador Pellicer Farreri, CEO of Entornos De Formacóin S.L. (EDF)
Apereo Board Alumni, Salvador Pellicer Farreri is exclusively dedicated to the learning field with new technologies as CEO at EDF based in Spain. EDF is an e-learning company established in 2006, working for universities and corporate companies across three continents. EDF is involved in Apereo Foundation, working closely as a commercial affiliate for many years. Salvador’s main goal is focused on Teaching and Learning and how educational technologies can be incorporated effectively.
Prior to EDF, Salvador started in 1995 using computers for education, thus creating a company called Macromoon Multimedia Solutions, where he was the winner of the Möbius Award in edutainment. His drive for learning with technologies took his business one step further. In the year 2000, Salvador worked in the development of the first Spanish learning management system for the national market, where the results spoke for themselves in the Valencian Government learning department. His work in the project expanded the e-learning formula and he started to manage a new team. As a result, 25 institutions were added to the project, where all infrastructure, software, support and management is centralized in a specialized team that serves around 400.000 users.
The Valencian International University (www.viu.es) proposed an interesting collaborative opportunity where Salvador worked as an IT Educational manager, planning and developing a new online University using open source, in particular Sakai. Since then, Sakai is one of the fundamental technologies used in projects throughout his professional career.
EDF is an Apereo Commercial Member.
Marcel Oostdijk, CEO of Outfox
Apereo Board Member, Marcel Oostdijk is a Dutch technologist and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in higher education, open source development, and digital public infrastructure. As founder and CTO of Outfox, he has led the design and deployment of Drupal-based platforms that support collaboration, research, and community engagement across European Higher Education institutions.
Marcel combines technical leadership with a strong strategic focus on sustainable and human-centered digital infrastructure. His work prioritizes privacy, transparency, and long-term institutional ownership. These values are closely aligned with Apereo’s mission to advance open technologies in education.
He is passionate about helping universities and public partners adopt open source alternatives to proprietary platforms and contributes to building resilient and values-driven digital ecosystems for education.