Internet utilities are largely built using open source technology. However, not everyone clearly understands open source and its importance in the AI era.

As technology advances, open-source technology acts as a catalyst, driving innovation and breakthroughs through the participation and collaboration of communities around the world. Through open source, users from all corners of the globe can contribute and build together to create new values and benefits.

While the term "open source" is not entirely unfamiliar, it remains somewhat vague for many people. In simple terms, open source is a decentralized production model, designed for public access, allowing anyone to modify and share technology.

In the context of rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology, aimed at helping businesses and tech enthusiasts keep pace with emerging trends, Asia Information Technology and Open Source Summit - FOSSASIA 2024 was held at the Post and Telecommunications Institute of Technology from April 8th to 10th, bringing together over 2,000 participants, including students, programmers, global technology companies, and numerous leading experts in the open-source field.

The FOSSASIA Summit 2024 attracted a diverse range of participants, including students, programmers, technology companies, and leading experts.

The conference is expected to serve as a crucial bridge, facilitating access to the latest cutting-edge technology solutions for Vietnamese businesses, and empowering Vietnamese programmers to enhance their expertise, knowledge, and skills to compete on the international stage.

The conference featured in-depth presentations from expert speakers, delving into the most captivating technology topics of the day. Among the distinguished speakers, Mr. Alexandre Zapolsky, Founder and President of Linagora, shed light on the significance of True Open Source AI and the challenges in establishing this digital approach.

Open source is at the heart of the formation of the Internet

In an interview with VTV News, Mr Alexandre Zapolsky stated: "Open source is the foundation of the internet. There would be no internet without open source.”

According to the Chairman of Linagora, open source is fundamental, it's the ability for everyone to freely use solutions developed by others, to disseminate these innovations. Anyone can modify and use them. Consequently, the concepts of free and open-source software lie at the heart of the internet's formation.

“Nowadays, as a software developer or a programming enthusiast seeking to create a new digital solution, your first instinct is to search the internet. If you find open-source solutions, you'll start utilizing them and developing value-added features. In this way, open-source is a continuous innovation process. Most importantly, it empowers newcomers to find their niche in the market, enabling everyone to contribute to global innovation”.

Why should open-source technology be developed and promoted?

There are numerous reasons why organizations and businesses choose open source over proprietary software. One prominent reason is that open-source code can be adjusted to meet specific needs of the enterprise or community. There are no restrictions on how you use the source code, and support from the community ensures efficient deployment of new ideas.

Open-source software empowers users to independently audit and track data movement and code modifications, reducing reliance on vendor commitments.

In contrast to proprietary source code controlled by a single author or company, open- source code is updated and bug-fixed through active community participation, ensuring its long-term sustainability beyond its original creators.

The source code in open source comes at a lower cost compared to proprietary options. What users have to pay developers for when using it are support, enhanced security, and interactive capability management costs. Open-source code grants users the freedom to utilize it anywhere, for any purpose, and at any time. The existence of vibrant open-source communities implies that you can seek assistance, resources, and a broader range of perspectives beyond a single interest group or company. “Open source is one of the ways to attract the best developers. They want to work in open source, they want their work to be useful, they want to contribute to making society better, and thus, those who participate in free software are those who contribute to making society better.” - Chairman of Linagora.

Mr. Alexandre Zapolsky believes that open source is one of the ways to attract the best developers worldwide.

“The advantage of open source is that when you develop it, you're always building on existing bricks that are already there. So fundamentally, you don't have to invent everything. You're really taking over work that others have initiated. You're enhancing it, and you're adding your own value. This is what's being done by many developers worldwide. They contribute to the development of free software, allowing us to have an impressive collective force capable of competing with the largest global companies. Thus, innovation comes from free software communities. Moreover, these people working together are what we call the free software community. It's truly one of the strengths of free software, the power of working together, collaborating, and innovating uniquely within the realm of free software”.

Sharing source code is a way to collaborate and encourage community creativity. Open- source software, developed through peer review and community production, can lead to more flexible and adaptable programs.
 

The necessity of True Open Source AI

At the FOSSASIA Summit 2024, Linagora President cited research findings from the 2023 World Language Situation, which revealed that 43% of the 7,168 languages currently spoken globally are endangered. In fact, one language disappears every 40 days. The majority of endangered languages are found within indigenous communities, at risk of losing the cultures and knowledge they encapsulate. At the current rate, 90% of the world's languages could disappear within the next 100 years. Today, over 88 million people are speaking endangered languages. 

According to Alexandre Zapolsky, generative AI (Gen AI) only provides one answer to a question. Meanwhile, linguistic and cultural diversity deserves to be protected as a shared human heritage.

“We need Gen AI to support online for diverse languages and cultures by providing truly open-source large language models, datasets, and resources for all languages, including those of minority communities,” Linagora President emphasizes.

GenAI can create opportunities for more comprehensive development in media technology and interfaces. Mr. Alexandre Zapolsky believes that we must develop compact, multilingual models that can run on both older computers and smartphones. “Our goal is to reduce barriers to technology, communication, and public services, while preserving linguistic diversity and protecting endangered cultures," shared the Chairman of Linagora.

“He also stated that our lives are enriched by the contributions of artificial intelligence. And we are in the early stages of this phenomenon. Open source is an artificial intelligence with a model that is freely used without restriction”.

"There needs to be trust in artificial intelligence because artificial intelligence will increasingly be present everywhere," affirmed the Chairman of Linagora.

He believes that we need to understand how artificial intelligence is created and from what data, in order to promote open-source development, especially true open-source (True Open Source), also known as true open-source artificial intelligence (True Open Source AI).

However, according to him, most of today's open source artificial intelligence is not True open source artificial intelligence. Chairman of Linagora said that the true open source artificial intelligence really need to ensure 3 factors: Open Source Model, Method Open Source Method and Open Source Data Warehouse (Open Source Corpus). Models are labeled “open source”, such as as LLAMA or LLM like ChatGPT, does not make these guarantees. Also, learning process and data (issues of bias and preference) remain unknown. Finally, the models are trained 90% in English, partly with European languages and Arabic. “The world needs trustworthy, controlled and transparent generative AI!” - Chairman Linagora affirmed.

Mr. Alexandre Zapolsky founded Linagora in 2000, when he was still student at the French National Institute of Telecommunications. As a far-sighted businessman, he has been defending the idea of a “Digital Third Way” for more than two decades, a path that respects user rights, is ethical, inclusive and sustainable and at the same time affordable potential to provide an alternative to America's digital giants (GAFAM) and China (BATX).

“All the building blocks of the Internet are free software and therefore open source is fundamental copy. It also allows countries to develop their digital sovereignty. Presently Today, countries around the world are developing digital sovereignty to become more independent before major software manufacturers from the US and China. We call it Third digital path - an open, free digital path, independent of major providers in the world. This third digital path is suitable for European countries and is also suitable with countries in the Asian region such as Vietnam. Basically, France, Europe and Vietnam have the same common interest to develop their digital sovereignty, to less dependent on tech giants.” Mr. Alexandre Zapolsky said that most countries are interested in developing an alternative digital technology, based on free software and in developing their own digital sovereignty.

“This is what I call digital biodiversity. This is starting around the world, people understand that we should not depend on one or some softwares. It should not fall into a monopoly or oligopoly situation and it is important to have many diverse choices. Like in nature, multi Bioforms are needed in the digital realm. Digital biodiversity is absolutely essential”.

Since its creation, Linagora aims to create, develop, deploy and maintain open source technologies to protect the technical independence of customers and the digital sovereignty of nations. The company created Twake Workplace as a 100% free alternative to GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) products. Besides, Linagora also develops LinShare, a secure solution for sharing large data files.

For nearly 10 years, Linagora has also researched the field of NLP (Natural Language Process) and developed its own unique transcription algorithms and language models. These technologies are integrated into LinTO, an open source intelligent conversation platform, which allows to record meetings, transcribe and edit its in a collaborative mode to organize and be able to take advantage from its, thanks to artificial intelligence.

Faced with the tidal wave of OpenAI and the upheaval in the use of artificial intelligence, Michel-Marie Maudet, co-founder of Linagora, initiated the launch of the OpenLLM France community with the aim of developing the Giga language model, or sovereign and open source large language model (LLM). This community is by far one of the largest global communities with over 500 public and private researchers focused around the common goal: creating a multimodal sovereign true open source AI.
 

There are still challenges on the path to developing open technology

Although it has many advantages, free software also has some limitations. According to Mr. Alexandre Zapolsky, one of the specific limitations of free software is that initially, it relied on contributions from individuals, user groups, and programmers.

Although there are more and more companies like Linagora specializing in free software, they are only on a small and medium scale, so they do not have as strong a force as global software giants and technology giants. famous. And so, it will certainly be harder for these companies to become known and recognized.

“We think about the weakness in terms of communications and marketing because of the fact that we work a lot by word of mouth. When people really like a solution, they will tell others. This allows us to reduce the cost of marketing our solutions. For example, we created a solution called Twake Work Place - a communication and collaboration platform. If someone goes to the Twake website and realizes that it is a good solution, they will use it for themselves and will certainly let others know about it. And so anyone can see what Twake is capable of doing and whether it meets their needs. And then they will download the solution, install it and we have a ripple effect, word of mouth is the best marketing. Because when someone who knows you tells you this solution is a good solution, they are the best sales people, someone who knows you is the one who tells you that you should try it. Therefore, it depends a lot on human relationships and it is actually one of the strengths of free software. This is both one of the weaknesses but also one of the strengths."

With the help of media and free software players, open source software can spread widely and reach more people.

Companies specializing in free software have a harder time reaching customers than tech giants.

According to Chairman of Linagora, to continue to develop and compete in the open source field, the most feasible action is innovation.
“In a very competitive market like the digital market, to continue to not only compete but also grow, we must focus everything on innovation, research and development. To do that, cooperation with universities is needed. In France, we have a program that allows close contact with five major technical schools, including the Polytechnic University of Paris. We are also doing the same thing in Vietnam as we aim to strengthen cooperation with Hanoi University of Science and Technology for many years and we are developing this cooperative relationship."

To be able to attract the best people, Linagora has internship programs for students, providing suitable job opportunities and creating conditions for young people to build a career with the company.

It is also a high-level collaboration with laboratories with laboratories and research, the company signed a strategic agreement with the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France's largest center for public research. “We are trying to do the same thing in Vietnam. We want to strongly promote cooperation between France and Vietnam, including at the laboratory and public research level. And so, I really believe in this model, where we combine the experience of public laboratories and private research" - said Mr. Alexandre Zapolsky.

Link article: https://vtv.vn/cong-nghe/nguon-mo-nen-tang- cua-internet-va-dong-luc-cho-su-doi-moi- 20240417090145734.htm
Link video (w Eng Subtitle):
https://tdrive.linagora.com/shared/111111114AxHLNjGvEGJpA/drive/ 1ie5JFBeXhXm1sU3a2FMFU/t/44296bbf447e5cadfb9c861ec31cc0e600 ade46f