Have an idea for a panel discussion for IndiaFOSS 2026?
If you have a compelling topic in mind and are interested in hosting a panel, we invite you to propose your idea. The call for Panel Discussions will close on June 28th, 2026 (EDIT: extended deadline). List of approved panels will be posted here, we may reach out to you for a call to understand your proposal in more detail.
To propose a panel discussion, reply to this thread with the following details:
Title of the panel
Objective
Brief Description and Key Discussion Points
Format (Q&A, a debate, or a roundtable discussion)
Objective: Exploring how open source software can help us build a global AI Commons as an alternative to closed, proprietary AI
Brief Description and Key Discussion Points:
– Current AI landscape globally
– Open Source AI (OSAI) versus Closed AI
– How a global OSAI commons can counter extreme concentration of AI capabilities in a few companies, and two countries (USA and China)
– Why OSAI may grow faster than closed AI in the next 5-10 years
– Challenge from the increased patenting of AI
Format (Q&A, a debate, or a roundtable discussion)
Panel discussion
List of potential panelists
– Kailash Nadh, Zerodha
– Philipp Olbrich, GIZ (Germany)
– Prof. Rahul De, former professor, IIMB
– Vivek Raghavan, co-founder, Sarvam AI
– Prof. Arul Scaria, National Law School India University, Bangalore
– Biju Nair, Open Invention Network
Objective - Discuss the impact of AI on FOSS, Software Engineering and Technical Education, and where do we go from here.
Description
The last year or so has been a roller coaster for the software ecosystem. LLMs have gotten dramatically better. The number of FOSS projects and contributions has shot [0] up [1], along with the slop [2] that comes with them. Non-technical people are now able to build solutions that would have taken months of engineering time and effort, just using natural language.
In an effort to preserve their craft, AI skeptics have argued about the quality and reliability of these tools, and some have even vowed not to use them. Optimists, on the other hand, have handed these tools the keys to their entire digital lives [3]. We (the FOSS United Foundation) have talked to multiple FOSS maintainers, students, and engineering leaders over the last few months, and there is a certain sense of confusion and ambiguity in everyone’s minds about the future of open source, software engineering as a career, and how we teach and learn software.
It’s too early to say whether Software Engineering is truly dead, but it is clear that these tools are going to have a massive impact on the future of FOSS, Software Engineering and technical education. We also feel this is going to lead to a fundamental reimagination of carers in tech. This panel is an effort to initiate a discussion around this existential crisis that surrounds the FOSS community and sit with that discomfort.
Key Discussion Points
Trends across Communities, Academia and Industry
Companies and SWE
The junior developer crisis (and hiring)
Rise of the vibe coder
Education and Academia
Interdisciplinary learning
Computational thinking
Solving (and finding) the right problems
Social Sector
Imagining careers beyond Big Tech
The need for developers in the Social Sector
FOSS (and AI) for good
Future of FOSS in the age of AI
Redefining “maintainers”
Evaluating FOSS to adopt amidst an abundance of projects
P.S - This panel discussion has previously happened at ChennaiFOSS (full recording here) and LucknowFOSS with different panelists. This is an attempt to take it to a larger stage.
Title: From Digital Public Infrastructure to People’s Digital Infrastructure: Reclaiming Digital Infrastructures for ensuring Democratic Accountability Panel discussion organized by SAFAR Trust and FOSS United
Objective:
To explore how the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community can work alongside social movements, peoples campaigns and networks working with unorganised workers, the poor and the historically marginalised to enhance peoples’ rights to a more just and dignified economic order. While this process entails the necessary constructing and rebuilding of modes which enables political participation of people beyond voting, there is a clear need for such modes and platforms to be complemented by digital infrastructures which are built to serve the goals of transparency towards the people and accountability of the powerful. The discussion aims to introduce the need for such a peoples’ digital infrastructure, and identify opportunities for demonstration of alternatives to move the conversation from conception to practice.
Brief Description and Key Discussion Points:
The discussion will explore:
When and how should digital infrastructures be designed when transparency for and accountability towards the poorest and the most marginalised is the starting point
What distinguishes a People’s Digital Infrastructure from Digital Public Infrastructure? What are the governing principles of such a Peoples’ Digital Infrastructure?
India has emerged as a global leader in building Digital Public Infrastructure, while vast numbers of the poor, elderly and the working class suffer exclusion, erasure, opacity and diminishing control over their rights and resources through them. Who were these infrastructures designed by and for what purpose? And who is accountable for the loss of lives, livelihoods and dignity that the imposition of such infrastructures has resulted in?
How can FOSS communities collaborate with workers’ organisations, RTI campaigns, social audit institutions and citizen groups to co-create digital public goods that decentre power and make the powerful answerable to the people
What breakthroughs have taken place for such transitions and what practical opportunities exist today—from gig worker rights and public information systems to social audits and participatory urban planning?
Format
Moderated roundtable discussion with opening remarks, followed by a moderated conversation among panelists and audience Q&A.
Potential Panelists
Representative, SAFAR Trust and Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
Representative, FOSS United
Technologist working on public-interest digital infrastructure
Representative from a workers’ collective or trade union engaged with platform workers
MGNREGA workers , Pension beneficiaries , claimants of Forest Rights Act etc
Front line functionaries : such as NREGA Mates, Anganwadi Workers, Booth Level Officers etc
From Digital Public Infrastructure to People’s Digital Infrastructure: Reclaiming Digital Infrastructures for ensuring Democratic Accountability
Objective
To explore how the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community can work alongside social movements, peoples campaigns and networks working with unorganised workers, the poor and the historically marginalised to enhance peoples’ rights to a more just and dignified economic order. While this process entails the necessary constructing and rebuilding of modes which enables political participation of people beyond voting, there is a clear need for such modes and platforms to be complemented by digital infrastructures which are built to serve the goals of transparency towards the people and accountability of the powerful. The discussion aims to introduce the need for such a peoples’ digital infrastructure, and identify opportunities for demonstration of alternatives to move the conversation from conception to practice.
Brief Description and Key Discussion Points
The discussion will explore:
When and how should digital infrastructures be designed when transparency for and accountability towards the poorest and the most marginalised is the starting point
What distinguishes a People’s Digital Infrastructure from Digital Public Infrastructure? What are the governing principles of such a Peoples’ Digital Infrastructure?
India has emerged as a global leader in building Digital Public Infrastructure, while vast numbers of the poor, elderly and the working class suffer exclusion, erasure, opacity and diminishing control over their rights and resources through them. Who were these infrastructures designed by and for what purpose? And who is accountable for the loss of lives, livelihoods and dignity that the imposition of such infrastructures has resulted in?
How can FOSS communities collaborate with workers’ organisations, RTI campaigns, social audit institutions and citizen groups to co-create digital public goods that decentre power and make the powerful answerable to the people
What breakthroughs have taken place for such transitions and what practical opportunities exist today—from gig worker rights and public information systems to social audits and participatory urban planning?
Format
Moderated roundtable discussion with opening remarks, followed by a moderated conversation among panelists and audience Q&A.
Potential Panelists
Representative, SAFAR Trust
Representative, FOSS United
A leading FOSS technologist working on public-interest digital infrastructure
Representative from a workers’ collective or trade union engaged with platform workers
MGNREGA workers , Pension beneficiaries , claimants of Forest Rights Act etc
Front line functionaries : such as NREGA Mates, Anganwadi Workers, Booth Level Officers etc
Have an idea for a panel discussion for IndiaFOSS 2026?