At LF Energy Summit Europe 2026, Antonello Monti of RWTH Aachen University joined José Ricardo Andrade of INESC TEC, Elissaios Sarmas of EPU-NTUA, Ferdinando Bosco of Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, and Geethu Joseph of CRESYM to examine how research results can move beyond funded projects toward continued use, industrial adoption, and long-term sustainability, and where open source communities can support that process.
Watch “From Research To Market: The Challenge Ahead for Research and Open Source” on YouTube.
The session combined four short presentations with a panel discussion. Each speaker brought a different example of the transition from research projects toward open source communities, followed by a discussion of what is needed to sustain those results after the original funding period ends.
Making research visible and testable through open source
Andrade opened with Predico, a collaborative energy forecasting platform developed from research at INESC TEC.
He described a progression from fundamental research into advanced prototypes developed through European projects, followed by interest from a Belgian transmission system operator in developing a proof of concept. Andrade said having the code available as open source helped potential users see that the work presented through the research projects existed and could be evaluated directly.
“Open source in this case creates not only a visibility layer but also a transparency layer.”
For Andrade, the example showed how open source could provide visibility and transparency as research progressed from fundamental work through European projects and toward an industry setting.
Opening research artifacts to a wider community
Sarmas presented a system-of-systems digital twin developed through CRETE VALLEY, a European research project centered on a renewable energy valley in Crete.
He described a digital approach that brings together forecasting for renewable energy sources, optimization, demand-side applications, congestion management, and planning capabilities across the local energy system.
At the time of the session, Sarmas said the work was in progress for inclusion in LF Energy. He invited others to work with the project as open source and described a goal of growing the community around the work and supporting replication of renewable energy valleys in other locations.
Reusing open source results across funded projects
Bosco brought the perspective of a private technology company and focused on how research outputs can be reused across projects.
He described TwinEU, a European project focused on a federated ecosystem of digital twins for the energy sector. Rather than developing every component again, the project reused an open source connector originating from the earlier OneNet project.
Bosco said the connector was being used across more than 10 TwinEU pilots to support functions including identity management, access control, data exchange, and catalogs for services, data, and models.
For Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, Bosco said open source supports both reuse and the possibility of building business around research outputs. He also emphasized the importance of community for wider adoption and for developing technical assets that can continue to be used in production contexts.
Planning for sustainability before research ends
Joseph approached the question from CRESYM, a nonprofit association that brings together industrial partners and research organizations.
Her focus was the gap between the end of a research project and its possible future adoption. CRESYM is developing CReDIT, or Common Results, Data, Info & Tools, as an approach to supporting the long-term availability and maintenance of research results.
Joseph described HARMONY as a pilot case CRESYM is using to examine how a research result can progress toward longer-term use. She highlighted three areas that need to be considered:
- Technology and industrial readiness: understand industry expectations and whether a research result is mature enough for wider use.
- Open source readiness: consider repositories, documentation, licensing, and governance as part of the research process.
- Long-term sustainability: determine who will maintain the result after project funding ends.
Joseph stressed that these questions should be addressed from the beginning of a research project rather than only when the funding period is ending.
Not every research result follows the same path
Joseph also made clear that CRESYM’s objective is not to move every research result or research project into LF Energy.
If a result is not mature enough, CRESYM can continue supporting its development. A more mature result could be considered for integration with an existing LF Energy project, while a result with industrial relevance and committed maintainers could potentially be proposed as a new project.
The emphasis was on finding a sustainable path based on the maturity of the work, its industrial relevance, open source readiness, and who is prepared to maintain it over time.
What the speakers expect from an open source community
Monti closed the presentations by asking the panel what they expected from LF Energy and why an open source foundation could matter to the future of research results.
Andrade said Predico was not an LF Energy project, that its forecasting engine is open source under an open core model, and that moving it to LF Energy was something the team was considering. He pointed to access to a developer ecosystem, visibility, and maintainability as potential benefits.
Sarmas emphasized bringing laboratories, research institutes, utilities, and other participants together around shared technical artifacts.
Bosco said a strong community was important for reuse, adoption, and expanding the use of data-space technologies. He also connected open source with the ability of a private company to continue developing and building business around research outcomes.
Joseph returned to readiness and sustainability. For CRESYM, the question is not simply whether a project can move into LF Energy, but whether the result is technically and industrially ready, prepared for open source collaboration, and supported by a credible long-term maintenance model.
Together, the examples illustrated different routes research results can take after funded development. Open source was discussed as one mechanism for visibility, reuse, community participation, maintainability, and longer-term sustainability, depending on technology and industrial readiness, open source readiness, and who is prepared to maintain the result.
Watch the session
Watch “From Research To Market: The Challenge Ahead for Research and Open Source” on YouTube.
FAQ
What role did the speakers describe for open source after research funding ends?
The speakers discussed open source in several contexts, including making research results visible and inspectable, enabling reuse across projects, bringing additional contributors around shared technical work, and supporting longer-term maintenance and adoption.
What research examples were presented?
The session included Predico from INESC TEC, a system-of-systems digital twin developed through CRETE VALLEY, reuse of an open source connector from OneNet in TwinEU, and CRESYM’s approach to long-term stewardship through CReDIT and the HARMONY pilot case.
Does every research result need to become an LF Energy project?
No. Joseph explicitly said CRESYM’s objective is not to move every research result or research project to LF Energy. The path depends on technology and industrial readiness, open source readiness, long-term sustainability, and whether maintainers are prepared to support the work.
What did the session identify as important for long-term sustainability?
The discussion covered maintainability, community participation, reuse, documentation, licensing, governance, industrial readiness, and clarity about who will maintain a research result when project funding ends.
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AI Disclosure
This post used artificial intelligence tools for research, structural assistance, or grammatical refinement. The final content was reviewed, edited, and validated by human contributors to LF Energy to ensure accuracy and alignment with our community standards. We remain committed to transparency in the use of generative technologies within the open source ecosystem.
Last updated: November 12, 2026