Surely you already know the Linux Foundation, or The Document Foundation, The Apache Software Foundation, Raspberry Pi Foundation, Free Software Foundation (FSF), etc., but… Have you ever heard of FOSSi Foundation? If not, it is about time that you know what this non-profit foundation is and the objectives for which it was created.
The first thing you should know is that FOSSi corresponds to the acronym Free and Open Source Silicon. And its mission is to promote and assist free and open hardware designs, as well as all ecosystems related to these projects. In addition, it is a totally open, inclusive, and vendor-independent group.
The FOSSi foundation was created by a group of individuals from the hardware industry and academics. Each one contributing their extensive work experience in open source projects featured within areas of digital and integrated design.
The philosophy of the FOSSi Foundation is to promote that components and systems that are inside the chips they can be designed using free and open source blocks. Therefore, a series of objectives have been set, such as:
- Support and promote the development of open standards, as well as their use.
- Support community events and host events on a regular basis.
- Encourage industry participation in open source IP design.
- Help hobbyists and academic institutions open their work to the public.
- Support the development and maintenance of a website intended to provide a free and open source platform.
You should also know that if you are an individual you can contribute to FOSSi, and if you are a company you can support through sponsorship or individual donations. And if you want to collaborate, learn, or start a free hardware project, you can also take a look at librecores.org.
More information - Official website of the FOSSi Foundation