SOVCAP Workshop: Capacity Building on Cloud Computing
The SOVCAP Initiative is a Open Source Cloud Initiative for Capacity Building, which supports the implementation of a souvereign cloud infrastructure in collaborative way. Our yearly workshop brings together experts from different domains, to discuss new developments and approaches and current challenges for cloud-technology.
To start the collaboration we invite universities, organizations and companies to the first workshop. In this workshop, we want to present the initiative, test the ideas with your questions, learn from your experience, and invite contributions from everyone who wants to help grow an open, sovereign cloud ecosystem.
Date: 5th - 6th August 2026
Location: Hybrid Conference Design is adapted from the AT6FUI series of conferences.
RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Campus Landau, Fortstr. 7, 76829 Landau in der Pfalz or remote at regional meeting points
Topics: Digital Sovereignty and Capacity Building as a global challenge; Open-Source Cloud Technology, Interoperability and Open Standards, Cloud Solutions in theory and practise, Curriculum for post-graduate courses and further education, Knowledge Platforms and Cooperations
This will be presented as talks, demos, discussion rounds and hands-on sessions to configure parts of the cloud computing infrastructure.
Registration for participation: Please fill out the following registration form:
Contact: opensource4rptu[at]projects.rptu.de
Note: We don't have sponsors for this workshop, so we cannot provide funding for travel expenses and living expenses. The hybrid workshop design enables participation even without funding.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) for the provision of the BBB (Big Blue Button) infrastructure for research and education at RPTU contributing to the OSSYM26 the BBB infrastructure for the scientific exchange. The reliable and seamless technical support provided by JGU has been instrumental in ensuring the success of virtual participation at the event, enabling smooth participation and interaction among all attendees. The University RPTU appreciates this valuable IT infrastructure and the commitment to fostering academic exchange through digital platforms based on OpenSource.
Workshop schedule
Time slots are expressed in (CEST) or (UTC+2). You can find the time for your time zone via www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html
5th of August 2026
09:30 – 10:00: Opening, welcome, introduction of SOVCAP – Prof. Dr. Engelbert Niehaus (RPTU), Friederike Zelke (ITU, VanillaCore)
10:00 – 10:30: Cloud infrastructure intersect with Digital Government Architecture - principles to practice" – Dr. Peramachanahalli Sachidananda Ramkumar (Senior Expert in Digital Governance and Digital Public Infrastructure, ITU and Chief Architect, GOVSTACK Global initiative)
10:30 – 10:45: Needs and challenges for infrastructure and human capacity for cloud adoption in digital government transformation in Guinea and Bissau - Serge Lionel Yebel Ndigui (Project Coordinator, ITU Area Office for Central Africa & Madagascar)
10:45 – 11:00: Unique Needs and Challenges of the Asia-pacific region for Cloud Computing - Mr. Nabhonil Roy Chowdhury (ITU Regional Office ASP)
11:00 – 11:45: time for questions
11:45 – 12:15: Break
12:15 – 12:40: Sovereign Private Cloud at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences – Robert Holling (Osnabrück UAS)
12:40 – 13:05: Vanilla CaaS for every workload and building block – Karsten Samaschke (VanillaCore)
13:05 – 13:30: From Open Innovation to Sovereign Public Services: Women in GovTech, the Frankfurt Municipal PoC and a Repeatable Implementation Model – Helen Uvarenko (Kitsoft)
13:30 – 14:15: time for questions
14:15 – 15:00: Break
15:00 – 15:25: VLAB: An Open education infrastructure resource platform that uses virtualization, containerization and federation principles to digitally aggregate and share laboratory tools and learning contents for experimental self-learning, interactive live practical training and offline assignments, across various courses, institutions, faculty and students in Institutionalized learning environments. – Mohammed Sahique (Senior tech lead, Applied Cognition Systems, India. and PhD student, RPTU)
15:25 - 15:50: Capacity Building Workshop and the IT-Support Infrastructure - Prof. Dr. Engelbert Niehaus (RPTU),
15:50 – 16:15: Digital building blocks on Cloud - Multi-entity, multi cluster cloud environment hosting federated services using building-block approach and Govstack principles – Mohammed Sahique (Senior tech lead, Applied Cognition Systems, India. and PhD student, RPTU)
16:15 – 16:30: Break
16:30 – 16:45: Needs and challenges for cloud computing in Digital Government transformation in Africa - Emmanuel Niyikora (Programme Officer, ITU Regional Office for Africa)
16:45 – 17:10: Capacity Building needs for cloud computing in GIZ country engagements - Nico Lück (GIZ)
17:10 – 17:35: Ideas for of interuniversity collaboration: Kube3 – Lena Becker (RWTH Aachen), Martin Mai (Uni Bamberg)
17:35 – 18:00: Time for comments, questions & answers
6th of August 2026
09:30 – 10:15: Demo Cloud Infrastructure - Robert Holling (Osnabrück UAS), Karsten Samaschke (VanillaCore)
10:15 – 11:00: VLAB Demo - virtualization, containerization and federation principles to Institutionalized learning environments. – Mohammed Sahique (Senior tech lead, Applied Cognition Systems, India. and PhD student, RPTU)
11:00 – 11:45: Demo Use-case from Kitsoft - Helen Uvarenko
11:45 - 12:30: Digital building blocks on Cloud - demo - Mohammed Sahique
12:30 – 13:00: Cloud Computing and Digital Governance in Latin America: Policy Opportunities and Challenges - Marushka Chokobar (ITU)
13:00 – 14:00: Final Discussion and Feedback loop
SOVCAP Workshop
Registration for participation
Please fill out the following registration form:
Introduction of a new Global, Multi-stakeholder Initiative: SOVCAP - Sovereign Cloud Capacity Program
Capacity Building for Sovereign Cloud Infrastructure - Becoming Experts for Open-Source and Digital Sovereign Environments (DevSecOps)
Capacity Building is a global challenge – and it will not be solved by AI tools. Capacity, knowledge, competence will always be a crucial part of success, sovereignty, and self-determination. This is true for start-ups, enterprises, and administrations of countries.
Part of sovereignty nowadays is digital sovereignty: data security, control of data and environment, possibility to choose, change, and adapt technology – and to shape, innovate, and secure the whole stack.
We are launching this new initiative to build a powerful network of sovereign clouds — backed by universities like Osnabrück and Kaiserslautern-Landau, alongside ALASCA e.V. and industrial partners. But we aren't just building infrastructure; we are building the future workforce. By creating open-source university curricula and further-education courses, we are training the next generation to build, operate, and scale secure cloud technologies. This is the foundation of cloud-native software development and digital sovereign cloud hosting, including AI tools. We connect infrastructure, education, and real-world open-source practice. Students learn how open-source technology is developed, deployed, and operated. Organizations gain access to knowledge, applications, curricula, and materials published as Open Educational Resources.
Everything we create is 100% free and accessible as Open Educational Resources (OER): Because we believe in true digital sovereignty, so our code, applications, knowledge, and educational materials will be completely open-source and free for the world.
The global demand for open-source and digital sovereignty is skyrocketing, but organizations lack the secure infrastructure and skilled talent to achieve it.
Our initiative solves both. We are connecting universities and industry partners to create a network of secure, sovereign clouds used for cloud-native development and safe knowledge sharing. By integrating real-world operations into university curricula, we are closing the tech skills gap.
This initiative builds a network of sovereign, SCS-compliant clouds as a practical foundation for open-source cloud-native development, secure knowledge sharing, and digital sovereignty. We’re looking for visionaries and collaborators from public, educational, and industry sectors to challenge our roadmap and build this ecosystem with us. What experiences can you bring to the table?
The goal is simple: make digital sovereignty something people can actually build, operate, teach, and reuse.
Organizing Committee:
- Prof. Dr. Engelbert Niehaus - RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau
- Dr. Ramkumar Sachidananda Peramachanahalli - RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau, ITU
- Robert Holling – University of Applied sciences Osnabrück
- Jörg Rapp - RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau
- Friederike Zelke – VanillaCore GmbH, ITU, GIZ