On the 7th of May 2026 the NeoNephos Governing Board again held an on-site workshop at SAP in Walldorf. The all-day get-together was filled with presentations, discussions, good food and sometimes contentious but always friendly debates. Everyone shared the goal of wanting to make the foundation better. What emerged was a concrete vision about the future of NeoNephos in the form of a roadmap, which we are proud to present further in this post.
The Q2 2026 - Q1 2027 NeoNephos Roadmap
Let's dive through all the points in order.
Onboard First NeoNephos Ambassador
While applications to the ambassador program are still private as of the time of this writing, behind the scenes the first ambassadors are evaluated. This first set of people have already proven their value to the NeoNephos Foundation in the past and serve as good first candidates to start the ambassador program. We expect to officially announce the onboarding of the first Ambassador in Q2 2026.
Finalize Project Lifecycle
The Project Lifecycle policy is one of the most essential documents in the foundation as it sets the conditions, expectations and benefits levied upon prospective and incumbent projects. As stated in the roadmap, we hope to finalize it soon. The development of this document is public and you can contribute here.
Introduce New NeoNephos Logomark
NeoNephos lacks a clear logomark yet. Several designs are in the pipeline. The new logomark will be introduced in the coming weeks.
Participate at KubeCon+CloudNativeCon India
The benefits of sovereignty extend world-wide. Therefore, we are present at the KubeCon+CloudNativeCon India with a talk.
Plan Events 2026/2026
We have to scope much further ahead and let you know a long time beforehand, where we intend to be. That is why we are improving on the process on selecting events for attendance. You know an interesting event we should attend? Let's chat on Zulip!
Improve Relations with General Members and Associate Members
We acknowledge that we at times lost touch with the needs of our General and Associate Members. Therefore, we made it a fixed target to improve the communication beyond the trimonthly townhall meeting.
Map Internal Rules and Responsibilities
Who does what is always important to know. But it is easy to get lost between all the companies and people involved in NeoNephos. Therefore, we will map this out more clearer.
Organize NN Hackathon
While our Gardener project regularly organizes hackathons, we also plan to do this foundation-wide.
Publish Case Studies and Success Stories
We want to more clearly communicate explicit example, where using projects of NeoNephos has made a difference to end-users.
Implement New NeoNephos Visual Strategy
We will establish a clear visual identity for NeoNephos which affects the website, slides and all content we generate.
Produce Dedicated NeoNephos Mascott
While There is no NeoNephos mascott yet, but it is in the works! Including a plush version to hand out at events.
Establish Physical NeoNephos Testlab
A physical NeoNephos testlab will be established where you can experiment with our projects on-site. While no location has been selected thus far, we fully believe that the community benefits from such a place.
Establish NeoNephos Conformance Program
The conformance program is a key pillar of our long term strategy. More details are to be announced.
Establish Commercialization Program
Our members have rightfully asked if there is also a financial benefit from supporting NeoNephos. Investigating these opportunities therefore deserves a spot on the roadmap, with more details to be announced.
Publish Vision Document
While we have our goals document, a more concrete vision document is in the works.
Host NeoNephos Master Class
There should be training available on how to use our projects. More to be announced.
Closing Words
The Roadmap represents the chief outcome of the May Strategy workshop. It also represents the first time that we switched to strategic long-term thinking and mapped out upcoming items long in advance. This is in stark contrast to the short term reactive behavior we exhibited in 2025 and represents a strong indicator that we are maturing as a foundation. We thank all participants for their tireless efforts in helping to improve the foundation further.
In the meantime, join us on Zulip and continue the discussion there!