Open-Xchange today announced that Phil Zimmermann, the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) email encryption software will kick-off OX Summit 2013 on September 26 in Hamburg with his keynote “The NSA Revelations: Implications to Democratic Institutions and Personal Liberties”.
Phil Zimmermann launched a new venture last year – Silent Circle – which enables encrypted phone, email, text and VoIP from a single platform. On August 9, 2013, Silent Circle announced that the Silent Mail service would be shut down, because the company felt it was not possible to sufficiently secure email data.
Once the target of a Federal investigation himself, due to his controversial encryption technology, Phil will be describing the effects of PRISM and related programs on digital privacy in the current era in his keynote at OX Summit.
Open source protocols and tools such as TCP/IP, PHP, Linux, Apache and MySQL already built the unmatched successful infrastructure of the Internet. It’s up to the cloud industry now to adopt this approach at the application level. Trusted cloud services can do this using open source code to ensure transparency.– Rafael Laguna, CEO, Open-Xchange.
Rafael Laguna, CEO, Open-Xchange.
Open-Xchange believes that service providers can turn the PRISM threat into an opportunity by offering cloud services that are built on transparent open source software.
“Recent disclosures have accelerated the demand for secure cloud services that respect privacy,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO, Open-Xchange.
“This is a huge opportunity for local web hosters, telcos and system integrators that can provide their local customers with cloud services that meet the exact level of security and privacy they are looking for,” he added.
OS Summit 2013 will have keynotes, networking and workshops delivering insights into how Open-Xchange and partners are supplying to global service providers and cloud-based infrastructure companies.
With a mix of software, hardware and IT service provider examples, the key topics of data security, open ecosystems and freedom of choice will top the agenda.
Delegates from more than 20 sponsors will be delivering over 25 keynotes sharing business and technical use cases during the Biz- and Tech-Xchange sessions.
Guest experts include: Hakim Annaciri, KPN; Russell Broomell, GlowTouch Technologies; Dreas van Donselaar, SpamExperts; Arne Kemner, Dimension Data; Mikko Linnamäki, Dovecot, James Raquepau, Parallels, and Dave Ratner, Openwave Messaging.
Open-Xchange will also present its recent partnership with Dutch telco and ICT service provider KPN and integration of OX App Suite into cPanel and WHMCS at the summit.
“Both on stage and off, the conference will push back against the monopolization of the cloud by a few players, to ensure the Internet continues to innovate,” says the official press release.
Here is more information on OX Summit 2013.
Earlier this year, Open-Xchange secured $20M in Series C funding to help advance its cloud-based collaboration and office productivity suite. Open-Xchange has raised EUR 27m ($35m) to date, including the recent investment.
