Apereo Foundation
2023 ANNUAL REPORT

Presented at the Apereo Foundation
Annual General Meeting, July 26th, 2023

100 Canal Pointe Boulevard, Suite 212
Princeton, NJ 08540
ed@apereo.org

Mission and Vision

The Apereo Foundation was founded in 2012 with a core mission to “assist and facilitate educational organizations which collaborate to foster, develop, and sustain open technologies and innovation to support learning, teaching, and research." To achieve this mission, Apereo engages peer organizations throughout higher education, open source communities, and the education technology sector through various strategic initiatives.

The source for open source in higher education…the champion of open technologies and innovation created by and for educators worldwide.

Letter from the Executive Director

Dear Apereo Community,

Reflecting on another remarkable year, I am thrilled to welcome you to The Apereo Foundation's 2023 annual report. This year has been one of significant inspiration, re-invention, and collaboration across the vibrant education and open source communities.

Again this year, we have witnessed incredible advancements in our projects, with numerous new features and improvements that enhance the educational experience for students and educators worldwide. Core development themes among all projects included enhanced security and privacy and broader integration across the broader “edtech stack.” Apereo projects empowered by the community continue to drive innovation, foster engagement, and deliver excellence in service to students, faculty, and institutions.

Many of Apereo's projects' accomplishments highlighted the role—and benefits—of open, community-based collaboration "for education by education." Consider the successful launch of "TACT," a joint initiative from Japan's National University Corporation and the Tokai National Higher Education Research System in partnership with Gifu, Kyoto, and Nagoya universities. This consortium migrated over 16,000 courses to a new, shared, multi-tenant Sakai 20 architecture. Another example of peer progress is the S2U group, a consortium of eleven Spanish universities that joined forces to identify and develop solutions to improve Sakai's usability and functionality with enterprise integrations, including Office365, H5P LTI, and Safe Exam Browser. S2U's work proved so impactful it warranted a 250,000 Euro grant from the Spanish Ministry of Universities for the modernization of its university system through the European Union's Next Generation Funds.

Of course, Apereo's projects also continued building and expanding their own communities: Opencast held its annual (virtual and in-person) Summit, several DACH meetings, and hosted an inaugural meeting for their German-speaking community; Sakai Camp, Sakai Con, and the Sakai Virtual Conference were once again held; Unitime attended FOSSY; uPortal re-launched Dev Days; and Xerte introduced an online conference.

At the foundation level, Apereo stepped out to engage more deeply with our communities and constituents. Apereo board directors, staff, and projects participated globally in an array of events, conferences, and meetings to increase awareness and adoption of Apereo's own projects and open source edtech more broadly. These included the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), All Things Open, AXIES, Educause, FOSSY, and Open Forum Europe, The Foundation itself extended its network through new affiliates, including the Open Infrastructure Foundation, Open Policy Alliance,  OSPO++, and OSPO Alliance.

We also launched our own forum, Apereo MicroConferneces, which brings thought leaders from the broader open source and education communities together to share ideas, introduce issues, and inspire innovation among our members and projects. Dr. Cable Green of Creative Commons, Deb Nicolson, executive director of the Python Software Foundation, Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, and Stefano Maffulli, executive director of the Open Source Initiative, were just a few who presented on current trends impacting open source education technology and the communities that create and use it.

During 2023, the Apereo Foundation also took a step back to reflect, evaluate, and recast the organization to better serve the broader open source movement in higher education. We have engaged in thoughtful discussions and strategic planning to ensure that our mission and initiatives align with the evolving needs and aspirations of the academic community. By doing so, we are reaffirming our commitment to fostering innovation, collaboration, and access in education through open source solutions.

Our community's dedication and passion are the driving forces behind our success. I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to every contributor, developer, educator, and supporter who has played a part in our journey. Your commitment to open source principles and collaborative spirit continues to inspire and empower us all.

Together, we are building a future where technology serves education, promoting access, equity, and innovation. Thank you for being an essential part of this mission.

Warm regards,

Patrick Masson
Executive Director, Apereo Foundation