Three days focusing on Europe’s digital sovereignty on the web – the Open Search Symposium #ossym25 in Helsinki highlights the future of Open Web Search and sovereign AI
The international Open Search Symposium will bring together representatives of the European and international Open Web Search community from 8 to 10 October, 2025, at CSC – IT Center for Science near Helsinki.
Espoo, 02.10.2025 – Espoo based CSC IT Center for Science is hosting the annual international Open Search Symposium #ossym in collaboration with international partners. The three-day conference brings together partners from science, business, and civil society to further develop interdisciplinary ideas and concepts for Open Web Search and comprehensive web data usage. The focus lies on further developing the European Open Web Index (OWI) into a public web data infrastructure in Europe and beyond. The conference is being held for the seventh time.
EU Commissioner Henna Virkunnen will open the program, followed by groundbreaking keynote speakers from the Finnish political and start-up scene
Keynotes on the topics of “trust,” “access to knowledge,” and “digital sovereignty” will focus on the importance of open web data usage and direct accessibility to information for web search and AI systems.
Henna Virkunnen, Executive Vice President | Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy within the European Commission, will open the symposium with a digital welcome address to the Open Search Community.
Aura Salla, Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament, will present perspectives on how Europe can attain more digital sovereignty.
Harri Ketamo, founder and CEO of headai, will address the importance of open knowledge data for future search models in his keynote speech.
Viivi Lähteenoja is CEO of The MyData Company and a doctoral student at the University of Helsinki. Her keynote speech will highlight issues surrounding trust and verification of facts on the internet.
Further program highlights
The technical presentations will continue to focus on scientific and technological issues relating to web crawling and infrastructure, innovative search applications and technologies, machine learning for search, large language models (LLMs), and AI search. For example, Noor Afshan Fathima from CERN will present a dedicated search engine for people with disabilities. Furthermore, presentations of alternative search engines with a focus on data protection and transparency will also be on the program. In addition, ethical requirements and legal aspects of an open Internet search infrastructure will be discussed and further developed in dedicated sessions.
The choice of this year’s conference venue in Finland also underscores the growing relevance of AI-based technologies in Europe and the increasing need for extensive web data sets for sovereign European AI systems. The CSC – IT Center for Science is Finland’s center of excellence for information technology, focusing on technological services for science and research. Its unique selling point: the LUMI supercomputer operated by CSC is one of the fastest in the world. The state-owned non-profit company is part of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, which operates a joint supercomputing infrastructure and a network of European AI factories across Europe. CSC is therefore also a strong and long-standing partner of the Open Web Search initiative.
“Open Search is more than a technology, it’s a movement toward transparency, collaboration, and equitable access to knowledge. At CSC, we believe OSSYM25 is an important platform for advancing these values, bringing together communities to shape the future of research discovery and innovation.” says Heidi Lane, LUMI AI Factory Data Lead.
Information and Registration
#ossym25 is organized by the Open Search Foundation in collaboration with the Finnish supercomputing center CSC – IT Center for Science. The symposium will take place in a hybrid format, both in person and online. Participation requires prior registration via https://ssl.eventilla.com/ossym25. There are around 100 places available for on-site participation. Further information on the program:
https://opensearchfoundation.org/events-osf/ossym25/
About CSC – IT Center for Science
CSC is a Finnish non-profit company providing advanced digital services for research, education, and public administration. With deep expertise in high-performance computing, data management, and research infrastructures, CSC supports national and international collaboration and contributes to the development of a sustainable digital ecosystem.
About Open Search Foundation
The Open Search Foundation e. V. coordinates a European movement that creates the basis for independent, free, and self-determined access to information on the Internet. In cooperation with research institutions, data centers, and other partners, it promotes web search and web data usage that benefits everyone. True to the motto: “Together for a better net.”
Media contact
Open Search Foundation e.V.
Carolin Bauer
