The State of Open Source in Financial Services 2023 report uncovers the need for new training and certification based on the experience of the largest global financial institutions which now encourage consumption and contribution to open source projects

NEW YORK, NY – November 1, 2023 - Today, at the Open Source in Finance Forum, the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS) announced the release of its third "State of Open Source in Financial Services Report," alongside the launch of a novel open-source training and certification program. These initiatives, crafted in collaboration with leading financial institutions, aim to unlock the ability of regulated industries to safely engage in open collaboration initiatives akin to big tech, and in turn accelerate innovation in critical areas of the industry's digital transformation like cloud computing, AI/ML, data standards, regulatory efficiency, payments, and software supply chain security.

State of Open Source in Financial Services 2023 Report

At the sold out Open Source in Finance Forum (OSFF) in New York today, FINOS presented critical insights from the "State of Open Source in Financial Services 2023" yearly report. The data vividly illustrates the swift adoption and resulting value of open source in finance: 90% of survey respondents assert that open source is valuable to the financial services industry and 78% agree that their organizations are getting more business value from open source compared to 2022. This is possible, in part, because 73% of those firms now have permissive policies that encourage open source consumption, compared with 47% in 2022 and 27% in 2021.

The industry needs to focus more on contribution, however, as Gabriele Columbro, Executive Director of FINOS, asserts, "The accelerated pace of open source consumption underscores its pivotal role in modern finance. But true industry value in accelerating the digital transformation, time to market and overall ROI lies in active contribution, as firms can influence the direction of open source projects and directly contribute upstream."

Rhyddian Olds, Head of UI & Services at Citi explains in the report that contribution can come in many forms: "Open Source prospers not only from code, but also diverse talents and perspectives. From project managers to analysts to communicators, every discipline shapes the landscape. Whilst engineering is the foundation of Open Source, inclusivity is essential for communities to thrive."

Addressing the Contribution Gap

The industry recognizes the potential for increasing active contributions, as Cosmin Oprea, Enterprise Architect, London Stock Exchange Group, confirms in the report: "I believe that open source will become the prevalent software model in the next 10-20 years, with even more organizations actively participating and contributing." And the industry is seeing an increase in the amount of time individuals are spending on contributions (65% report being allocated more time compared with last year).

However, overall industry contribution numbers are still low compared to other industries and over half of respondents identified a lack of policy or training materials as an impediment to making contributions. This is not surprising since just over half of the surveyed firms have established Open Source Program Offices (OSPO), which have been shown to advance open source policies and processes that enable and encourage consumption and contribution.

New Training And Certification

In response to the community's requirement for training materials, and based on the experience of the world's leading financial institutions who leveraged and contributed to its Open Source Readiness initiative to become active participants in the open source community, FINOS, in partnership with the Linux Foundation, is proud to introduce:

• Open Source Contribution in Finance (LFD137): A comprehensive training enabling developers in financial services to safely participate in open source communities, drawing from the best practices of the world's top financial institutions. The training is free to enable organizations of all sizes and individuals in finance to take an active part in open source projects.
• FINOS Financial Services Open Source Certification (FSOSD): A certification designed to ensure open source contributors in financial institutions, fintech and technology vendors and consultants operating in the financial industry contribute in line with the financial services industry's regulatory framework and compliance best practices.

FINOS new training and certification paths, meticulously developed and refined in partnership with financial services developers, represent the newest learning offerings accessible to both FINOS Members and the broader community. These resources are designed to bridge technological divides, fostering innovation and evolution in this pivotal industry. Through these efforts, FINOS continues to reinforce its commitment to transforming the financial services industry by harnessing the collective power of open source.

FINOS encourages all financial services technologists and practitioners to take the free training and participate in the certification's beta phase. Organizations should contact FINOS to learn how to embed these offerings in their training curriculums and learning management systems.

Open Source Body of Knowledge for Financial Services

The training and certification was authored by industry experts within FINOS' Open Source Readiness Special Interest Group (OSR SIG), who recognized the crucial need for a comprehensive set of shared industry best practices that pools knowledge and experiences from regulated entities successfully engaging in open source in full regulatory compliance. SIGs are an essential industry tool for collaboration, as Elspeth Minty, Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets, explains in the report that "there's a huge amount of value to having a forum to talk through approaches to open source adoption, rather than every individual bank having these discussions on their own."

The OSR SIG leveraged that industry collaboration to launch the Open Source "Body of Knowledge'' (BOK) for Financial Services, which delivers standardized approaches to open source contribution within the industry, using real-life examples to demonstrate its safety and effectiveness, setting the stage for contribution to truly flourish within the industry. The FINOS Open Source BOK is uniquely tailored for regulated institutions and will continue to capture best practices pulled from open source experts across the breadth of the FINOS membership.

"The Body of Knowledge in OSR helps you not just figure out where you are in your OSR journey, but shows where you should aim. While not trying to be exhaustive, as that's impossible due to the large number of contributors, it still covers multiple angles and many companies' views at the same time." Peter Smulovics, Chair of the FINOS Open Source Readiness SIG (Special Interest Group) from Morgan Stanley.

Rob Moffat, Sr Technical Architect at FINOS, reflected on the collaborative effort, "Corralling the financial services community into the creation of the Open Source Readiness body of knowledge has been a remarkable journey. The resulting documentation, which now backs our training and certification, stands as a testament to our community's collective expertise and dedication."

As open source adoption accelerates within the industry, this gives firms starting their open source journey a head start and means they don't have to reinvent the wheel; it also allows more experienced firms the opportunity to compare and benchmark against their peers in order to understand and address possible gaps in their open source policies.

With more than 100+ articles covering best practices, tools, technologies, maturity assessments, license guidance, regulatory impact the BOK truly sets out to become a recognized industry standard for regulators and regulated industries to become first class citizens in open source.

To learn more about how FINOS can help its members to accelerate their open source journey, contact the FINOS team.

Relevant FINOS Links:

State of Open in Financial Services 2023 Report

FINOS & Linux Foundation Training and Certification

FINOS Open Source Body of Knowledge for Financial Services