Software is all around us: it powers our industry, fuels innovation, supports scientific research and lies at the heart of our societies.
Software Heritage, the universal source code archive, was launched in 2016 by Inria (France). Software Heritage’s ambitious goal is to collect, preserve and share all software source code, building an essential infrastructure at the service of cultural heritage, digital development, science, industry, and society as a whole.
On April 3rd, 2017, a landmark partnership agreement was signed between UNESCO and Inria to establish a framework for collaboration on preserving the knowledge embedded in software source code, and making it widely available, centred around the ongoing development of the Software Heritage archive within the framework of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.
In 2021, we celebrated the 5th anniversary of Software Heritage with the first annual Symposium. A second Symposium took place in 2023. This is Software Heritage’s 3rd Symposium event.
As part of the event, we gathered together to take stock of the achievements and status of Software Heritage, and to highlight the relevance of its mission in the context of today’s dynamic digital innovation landscape, including rapid changes in the field of generative artificial intelligence.
