Programme for SoSy2026

Dear colleague,
Please find below the programme for the 4th Solid Symposium (sosy2026.eu). Experience two days packed with keynotes and sessions covering everything from security to medical data, to digital heritage, to privacy, to business models. There is also a hackathon in the days leading up to the symposium.
Register by 1 April for a discounted rate!
Best regards,

Ross, Beatriz and Jesse
[co-chairs for SoSy2026]
Programme:
DAY 1: 30th ApriL 2026
After the opening and welcome, we will continue with 3 tracks. Check the sessions page<https://sosy2026.eu/Sessions/> for more information on the sessions. This day concludes with a fireside conversation with Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Time
Track 1: Auditorium
Track 2: Room A
Track 3: Room B
8:30-9:10
Registration
City St George's Student Union Foyer, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom<https://maps.app.goo.gl/9KQTGaTGiVA5EHCe9>
9:10-10:45
9:10. Welcome to SoSy 2026 in the Auditorium.
9:15. Keynote:
Sir Nigel Shadbolt<https://sosy2026.eu/Speakers/>, University of Oxford.
“How we are going to make Solid work in the world we currently live in?".
10:05. The ODI Solid 2026 roadmap with Oli Bage, Strategic Advisor to The ODI.
Chair: Jesse Wright, University of Oxford | Open Data Institute, UK.
10:45-11:10
Coffee Break and Posters, Foyer
11:10-12:40
Spotlight talks. Chair: Sarven Capadisli.
11:10. Dokie.li<https://dokie.li/>: The Social in SoLiD. Speaker: Virginia Balseiro.
11:40. NextGraph<https://nextgraph.org/>: where Linked Data and Local-First meet. Speaker: Niko Bonnieure.
12:10. Spotlighting.
Decentralised Information Retrieval and AI based on Solid<https://espressoproject.org/dias2026/>.
Organisers: Thanassis Tiropanis, University of Southampton, UK | George Roussos, Birkbeck University, UK | George Popescu-Craiova, Kings College London, UK.
Authorizing Solid Applications and related Security Considerations<https://sosy26.hackers4peace.net/>.
Organiser: elf Pavlik, Mexico.
12:40-14:00
Lunch and Posters, Foyer
14:00-15:30
Practical uses of Solid for medical and health data<https://solidweb.me/bbuelens/sosy2026/health-session.html>.
Organisers: Jackson Morgan, SetMeld, US | Dominique Van Dijck, Elfi Goesaert, VITO, Belgium | and Erich Bremer, Stony Brook University, US.
The Solid Symposium Poster Session.<https://sosy2026.eu/Posters/>
Organisers: Christoph Braun, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany | Juan G. Diaz Ochoa, PerMediQ GmbH, Germany | Chang Sun, Maastricht University, Netherlands | Rui Zhao, University of Oxford, UK.

14:00. Solid4FutureProtocols: Using Solid to Enable Future Application Protocols.<https://biagioboi.github.io/Solid4FutureProtocols/>
Organisers: Biagio Boi and Franco Cirillo, University of Salerno, Italy | Sreenivasareddy Hulebeedureddy, AT&T Services Inc., USA.
15:15. Achieving adoption of Solid at scale<https://sosy2026-solid-at-scale.jeswr.org/>.
Organiser: Jesse Wright, University of Oxford | Open Data Institute, UK.

15:30-16:00
Coffee and Posters, Foyer
16:00-17:30
16:00. Panel discussion in the Auditorium.
“Where do we see Solid in 2029?" with John Bruce, Inrupt | Louise Burke, The ODI | Virginia Balseiro, Dokie.li | and others TBC.
Moderator: Kelly O’Brien, Inrupt

16:45. Fireside conversation with Sir Tim Berners-Lee<https://sosy2026.eu/Speakers/>.
Interviewer: John Bruce, Inrupt
18:30-22:00
Reception and Dinner at the London Canal Museum, 12/13 New Wharf Rd, London N1 9RT, United Kingdom<https://maps.app.goo.gl/bHJVZMUv3H6deyqg6>
DAY 2: FRiDAY 1st May 2026
The second day opens with a full-length keynote from Oshani Seneviratne, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, US, and is packed with sessions, allowing you to get up to date on a variety of topics.
Time
Track 1: Auditorium
Track 2: Room A
Track 3: Room B
9:25-10:30
9:25 Exciting Announcements!
9:30 Keynote:
Oshani Seneviratne, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.<https://sosy2026.eu/Speakers/>
“Federated Learning Meets Solid: Privacy-Preserving Personalization with Federated LLMs and Solid Pods.”
Chair: Simon Mayer, St Gallen, Switzerland
10:30-11:00
Coffee, Foyer
11:00-12:30
4th Privacy & Personal Data Management Session.<https://besteves4.github.io/sosy2026-privacy/> Part I.
Organisers: Beatriz Esteves, University of Ghent, Belgium | Marc Florea, University of Groningen, Netherlands.

Solid POP session: Proof of aPplication, the proof is in the eating<https://sosy2026.eu/Sessions/POP-session/>
Organiser: Sjoerd van Groning, Muze

Solid Future(s) for Digital Heritage: Decentralising Access and Building Trust.
Organisers: Milena Dobreva, University of Strathclyde, UK | Pavel Kats, Jewish Heritage Network, Netherlands.

12:30-13:40
Lunch, Foyer
13:40-15:10
Shaping the business value of trust and innovating the business models of Solid<https://dataprdx.ai/events/conferences/sosy2026/>.
Organisers: Elfi Goesaert and Bart Buelens, VITO, Belgium | Jeremy Caine, IBM, Australia.

From Apps to Autonomy: Operating Systems for True Data Ownership<https://solidos.solidcommunity.net/public/2026/SoSy26London/FromAppsToAutonomy.html>.
Organisers: Angelo Veltens, codecentric AG, Germany | Timea Turdean, Freelance.
4th Privacy & Personal Data Management Session<https://besteves4.github.io/sosy2026-privacy/>. Part II.
Organisers: Beatriz Esteves, University of Ghent, Belgium | Marc Florea, University of Groningen, Netherlands.

15:10-15:40
Coffee, Foyer
15:40-16:40
Panel discussion.
Shaping the business value of trust and innovating the business models of Solid.<https://dataprdx.ai/events/conferences/sosy2026/>
Organisers: Elfi Goesaert and Bart Buelens, VITO, Belgium | Jeremy Caine, IBM, Australia.

Solid and Sustainable Development Goals.
Sustainable Knowledge Centre - Ethiopia.
Organisers: Paul Davies and Gareth Roberts, HD Labs, UK | Rupert Douglas, Global MapAid.
FAIR-based applications for sensitive data in the humanitarian data space.
Organiser: Mirjam van Reisen, Leiden University Medical Centre and Tilburg University
16:40-16:45
Short closing statements for the Solid Symposium in the Auditorium.
Chair: Ross Horne, University of Strathclyde, UK
17:00-
Drinks