Open Source Initiative Announces 'Deep Dive: Data Governance' Conference, Expanding Work on Topic Critical to the Future of Open Source AI

Global experts to tackle data commons, licensing and stewardship at three-day virtual event focused on how data governance can make AI more open, transparent and trustworthy.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Open Source Initiative (OSI), steward of the Open Source Definition and leading voice on Open Source in AI, today announced its upcoming Deep Dive: Data Governance conference, taking place online Oct. 1-3, 2025.

The three-day virtual event will focus on the pressing challenges of data governance in AI, with emphasis on:

• Data Governance: Provenance, signaling, stewardship, standards
• Ethics & Accountability: Bias, fairness, responsibility
• Open Infrastructure: Sustainability and interoperability
• Real-World Case Studies: What's working (and what's not)

Building on OSI's Deep Dive Series
The Deep Dive series was created to convene experts and practitioners on critical topics shaping the future of Open Source in AI. In the original Deep Dive: AI, OSI gathered a diverse collection of leaders to collaborate in drafting a definition for Open Source AI. This latest event continues that trajectory, zeroing in on data governance – an area recognized as central to making AI both open and trustworthy.

Program Highlights
Across three days, Deep Dive: Data Governance sessions will address:

• Building data commons and public datasets for AI
• Provenance, licensing and stewardship frameworks
• Environmental sustainability and reciprocity in dataset creation
• Case studies from governments, nonprofits and research institutions

Speakers include leaders from academia, civil society and industry, with interactive sessions and published essays extending the dialogue beyond the live event.

"Datasets are the raw material of artificial intelligence," said Stefano Maffulli, executive director of the Open Source Initiative. "If we want AI to be open, transparent and equitable, then we must understand and probably invent new approaches to data governance. This conference is about bringing the global community together to set that foundation, building on the work we've already begun with the OSAID codesign process and the data governance research of 2024."

Learn more and register for the Deep Dive: Data Governance conference at: https://opensource.org/datagovernanceconf. Registration is free.

A special thanks to the event program committee: Alek Tarkowski (Open Future), Anna Tumadóttir (Creative Commons), Carlo Piana (Open Source Initiative), Julie Hunter (Linagora), Masayuki Hatta (Surugadai University), Maximilian Gahntz (Mozilla Foundation), Nick Vidal (Open Source Initiative), Ramya Chandrasekhar (CNRS – Centre national de la recherche scientifique), Stefano Maffulli (Open Source Initiative), Shane Coughlan (OpenChain), and Malcolm Bain (Across Legal).

Read the Data Governance White Paper
A fundamental challenge has emerged in AI: How do we create a data ecosystem that is not only robust but also equitable and sustainable? The OSI and Open Future produced a white paper earlier this year, "Data Governance in Open Source AI: Enabling Responsible and Systematic Access" to take a significant step toward addressing this challenge.

About the Open Source Initiative
Founded in 1998, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) is the global steward of the Open Source Definition and the Open Source AI Definition, and it advocates for the benefits of Open Source while building bridges among different constituencies in the Open Source community. A nonprofit corporation, OSI engages with developers, governments and businesses worldwide to ensure that software – and now data – remain open, transparent, and accessible to all. Join and support the OSI mission today at https://opensource.org/join.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Cristin Connelly
Cathey.co for OSI
[email protected]

SOURCE Open Source Initiative