As the TODO Group and LF Research in collaboration with CNCF and FinOps Foundation, will begin work on the 2026 State of OSPO and Open Source Management Survey, we are opening a call for community input to help shape the survey instrument for the 2026 edition.
The State of OSPO and Open Source Management survey is the longest-running open research effort focused specifically on the evolution of Open Source Program Offices and open source management practices across industries and sectors. Its value depends entirely on how well the survey instrument reflects the real-world challenges, responsibilities, and priorities of the people working in and around OSPOs today.
Building on insights from the 2025 State of OSPO and Open Source Management Report, we want this year’s study to go deeper into the areas where OSPO professionals are experiencing the most challenges and opportunities: from AI governance and security cross-skilling, to measuring OSPO impact and navigating evolving regulatory requirements.
What Kind of Feedback Are We Looking For?
Specifically, we are interested in feedback on:
- New topics or questions that reflect current challenges in open source management (e.g. AI policy, security collaboration, open source funding, supply chain governance)
- Gaps in previous editions: areas you felt were underrepresented or missing entirely
- Themes worth tracking longitudinally to measure how the OSPO landscape evolves year over year
How to Contribute as an Individual
Submit your suggestions directly by opening an Issue in the OSPO Survey GitHub repository. You can propose new questions, flag gaps in previous surveys, or comment on focus areas you’d like to see explored in this edition.
How to Contribute as an Organization
If your organization works with or alongside OSPOs and open source management teams, consider becoming a survey development partner and helping to shape the questionnaire from the ground up. Sponsor partners have the opportunity to suggest core themes, co-design questions, and request specific segmentation analysis.
Organizations that become sponsors receive logo placement, early access to findings, and the ability to shape research direction. To learn more about sponsorship options, take a look to the sponsorship prospectus
Who Should Participate in This Feedback Process?
We welcome input from anyone working in or alongside OSPOs, open source management functions, or related roles including:
- Open source professionals working within OSPOs or similar open source management functions
- Managers, executives, and decision-makers who work closely with OSPO teams
Timeline
- March–April 2026 – Community feedback collection on survey instrument
- April–May 2026 – Survey development and finalization
- May–June 2026 – Survey in the field
- June–July 2026 – Data analysis
- August–September 2026 – Report drafting and production
- October 2026 – Publication
Open Data Commitment
As with every edition since 2018, all raw data, questionnaires, results, and insights from the 2026 study will be published under a CC-BY 4.0 license in the OSPO Survey repository, freely available to everyone in the open source community.