Nextcloud CEO and founder Frank Karlitschek wins European Open Source Award for Business & Impact

Beitragsdatum

5. Februar 2026

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Autor

Katrin Goethals

Last week, Frank Karlitschek, CEO and founder of Nextcloud, received the Special Recognition for Contributions to Business & Impact Award at the European Open Source Awards (EOSA) 2026.

EOSA 2026 Frank Karlitschek award ceremony

And while his name was called on stage, Frank wanted to highlight that this accomplishment is shared with the entire Nextcloud community, without whom it wouldn’t have been possible.

From contributors and translators to testers, partners, and users advocating for digital sovereignty every day: this award reflects a collective effort to prove that open source is impactful, competitive, and ready for Europe’s digital future.

What are the European Open Source Awards?

The European Open Source Awards, home to both open source giants and emerging talent, is a one-of-a-kind celebration of the leading innovators and contributors in European open source. It amplifies the work of the open source software and hardware community and supports future generations of innovators.

Frank and his commitment to open source

Frank has been a long-time open source contributor and privacy activist since the late 1990s. Long before „data sovereignty“ became a key term for Europe’s digital competitiveness, he was contributing to projects like KDE and serving on the board of KDE e.V.

Over the years, he has demonstrated his dedication to making the internet more secure and decentralized through the development of open collaboration solutions and the User Data Manifesto. He previously led ownCloud Inc. and is now CEO of Nextcloud GmbH.

Frank sees open source innovation as a collaborative effort, with a vision of a wider public adoption of transparent and secure software tools. Now, the EOSA recognition celebrates that long-term commitment to open source, as well as the community that grew around it.

An award dedicated to the Nextcloud community

As one of four distinctions awarded at EOSA, the Special Recognition for contributions to Business & Impact is dedicated to individuals who have paved the path of open source innovation, commercialisation, and impact, showing that open source is a key component of European digital competitiveness.

This recognition for Nextcloud as an open source solution with meaningful economic and societal value would not have been possible without the support of our community.

As Frank said in a recent interview with Gardiner Bryant: “Of course, as I said at a ceremony, I accepted the award in the name of the community because these are the people who were doing the hard work, the heavy lifting.”

This includes the people who:

Write and review code
Test upcoming releases
Translate Nextcloud into dozens of languages
Report bugs and propose improvements
Help others in forums and at events
Spread the word about Nextcloud

Or support Nextcloud in any other way!

Want to get involved as well?

As an open source project and an open company, Nextcloud is a platform you can both use and help shape. Do you want to get a certain improvement in Nextcloud? Did you find a problem? Do you want to help translate, promote, or document Nextcloud? We have a dedicated Nextcloud Contribute page where you can find all the ways you can get involved.

What’s up next at Nextcloud?

We’re looking forward to the online launch of Nextcloud Hub 26 Winter during the Nextcloud Special Event on January 18. Make sure to reserve your seat to get free trial access.

On September 19 and 20, we will gather again in Berlin, Germany, for our beloved tradition and the annual meeting point for the Nextcloud community: the Nextcloud Community Conference 2026.

And finally, our Berlin meetups are back! Come and join us every third Wednesday of the month between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM to code and vibe together. Prefer Stuttgart? We’re organizing meetups there, too!