Apereo Foundation and ODSI Form Partnership to Advance Open Source Across the African Continent

Memorandum of Understanding Establishes Long-Term Collaboration, Cross-Board Leadership, and Shared Commitment to Open Source Innovation
 

The Apereo Foundation is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Open Digital Sovereignty Initiative (ODSI), establishing a strategic partnership dedicated to strengthening digital sovereignty through the development, adoption, and sustainability of open source software throughout the African continent and global higher education community.

The agreement establishes a framework for joint advocacy, community engagement, events, and knowledge sharing to fully engage African institutions and innovators with global open source software communities.

The ODSI serves as the visibility infrastructure for Africa's open source ecosystem. By documenting projects and the people behind them, advocating for open source policy, and connecting developers, educators, governments, and institutions, ODSI is helping to ensure that Africa's growing open source ecosystem receives the recognition, investment, and policy support it deserves.

Apereo and ODSI bring complementary strengths to this collaboration. With more than 25 years of experience cultivating globally recognized open source software communities for higher education, Apereo contributes deep expertise in open source governance, community development, project sustainability, and institutional collaboration. ODSI complements this with a dedicated focus on advancing African perspectives through global initiatives, leveraging its leadership, partnerships, and regional expertise to promote digital sovereignty, local capacity, and sustainable digital ecosystems across the continent. Together, the organizations combine global experience and regional leadership to create new opportunities for institutions, developers, policymakers, and learners while advancing an open, collaborative, and sovereign digital future.

"ODSI and Apereo spring from common roots, the awareness, exploration, and realization of the value of open source software for, in, and by higher education," said Patrick Masson, Executive Director of the Apereo Foundation. "By working together, we strengthen both organizations. ODSI brings extraordinary insight into Africa's rapidly growing open source landscape, while Apereo contributes decades of experience building sustainable software communities and global collaboration. Together, we can help institutions adopt open source with confidence while ensuring that local communities remain empowered to lead solutions that best serve their own educational, cultural, and national priorities."

A Partnership Built on Shared Values

The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework for ongoing collaboration focused on:

• Sharing strategic and operational knowledge between both organizations.
• Strengthening understanding of the role of open source software in higher education.
• Encouraging participation by African institutions and developers in Apereo software communities.
• Collaborating to promote open source solutions throughout African countries.
• Organizing and supporting conferences, workshops, and events of shared interest.
• Building stronger connections between educators, policymakers, developers, and open source advocates.

The partnership recognizes that meaningful international collaboration succeeds when organizations contribute complementary strengths while respecting the sovereignty and expertise of regional communities.

Leadership Collaboration Across Both Organizations

The partnership also establishes reciprocal board appointments. Olawale Fabiyi, Founder and Executive Director of the Open Digital Sovereignty Initiative, has been appointed to the Apereo Foundation Board of Directors, while Patrick Masson, Executive Director of the Apereo Foundation, will serve on the ODSI Board. Together, these appointments reflect a shared commitment to sustained collaboration, strategic alignment, and the continued advancement of open source in higher education.

"The partnership between ODSI and Apereo is not a courtesy agreement. It is a recognition that Africa's open source ecosystem and the global higher education community need each other. Apereo gains a direct connection to a continent where the appetite for open source alternatives is growing rapidly. ODSI gains the institutional credibility and global network to amplify what African practitioners are already building. That is what a strategic partnership should look like," said Olawale Fabiyi, Founder and Executive Director, Open Digital Sovereignty Initiative.

Speaking about his appointment to the Apereo Board, Fabiyi added:

"Sitting on the Apereo Board means that for the first time, an African-led open source initiative has a voice inside one of the most established open source foundations in higher education globally. This is not just a personal milestone. It is a signal that African perspectives belong at the table where decisions about open source in education are made, not just as beneficiaries of those decisions, but as contributors to them." 

Masson welcomed Fabiyi's appointment, emphasizing the importance of broadening global representation in open source leadership.

"Olawale has earned tremendous respect, not only across Africa, but throughout the international open source community. His thoughtful leadership, deep policy expertise, and remarkable ability to bring together developers, educators, governments, and institutions around a shared vision will bring an important African perspective to the Apereo Board, strengthening our ability to support and engage communities across the continent while enriching Apereo's global perspective. His experience will help ensure that our projects, programs, and members benefit from a broader diversity of ideas, practices, and priorities, regardless of where open source technologies are developed or deployed."

Growing Open Source Through Regional Leadership

The partnership also reflects Apereo's long-term strategy of supporting regional organizations that understand the unique needs of their local communities while connecting them to an international network of expertise and collaboration.

"Open source succeeds because communities lead it," Masson of Apereo continued. "Our role is not to centralize leadership, but to strengthen self-direction. Partnerships with organizations like ODSI and with Apereo’s other partners, such as the Academic eXchange for Information Environments and Strategy (AXIES) in Japan and ESUP-Portail in France, demonstrate the Foundation’s commitment to supporting regional organizations that understand their own educational, cultural, and policy environments. By working together, Apereo shares its experience in building sustainable software communities while ensuring that local and regional organizations remain sovereign, leading the conversations and solutions that best serve their own institutions."

The partnership reflects Apereo's growing commitment to strengthening regional open source ecosystems through trusted local leadership, recognizing that sustainable global collaboration is built by investing in communities of practice worldwide.