Solid Symposium 4

Symposium / April 30, 2026 - May 01, 2026, 9:00 – 17:30 Uhr

Solid Symposium 2026: The Next Chapter for Data on the Web

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The 4th Solid Symposium will take place on April 30 and May 1, 2026, in London.

Following the successful events in Nuremberg in 2023, Leuven in 2024, and Leiden in 2025, stakeholders from academia, industry, the public sector, and civil society will gather in London this year to discuss current developments surrounding Solid and related technologies of the interconnected Web.

The symposium offers a platform for exchanging ideas on practical use cases, best practices, and future innovations, and is aimed at anyone who wants to actively shape the further development of an open, interoperable web.

Once again this year, the symposium is being co-organized by Prof. Dr. Andreas Harth and the teams from the Data Spaces & IoT Solutions department at Fraunhofer IIS and the Chair of Business Informatics at FAU. Look forward to a comprehensive program featuring keynotes, panels, sessions, and tutorials.

Prominent Keynote Speakers

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has shaped the Solid movement since its inception. In his keynote, he will share his perspectives on the future of the Web and the role of Solid in a digital ecosystem that prioritizes user self-determination, particularly with regard to data sovereignty and user-centered data control. His book *This is for Everyone*, published in 2025, underscores his commitment to a Web that serves the public good.
Oshani Seneviratne, a leading researcher in the field of Linked Data and web technologies, has been contributing to the development of modern data infrastructures for many years. As an expert in linked data spaces, she combines scientific perspectives on decentralized web and data infrastructures with practical applications and provides valuable insights for the further development of Solid.

Event details

Program

Das vollständige Programm finden Sie hier

Location

London
City St George's University
Clerkenwell Campus
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

Date

April 30, 2026 - May 01, 2026, 9:00 – 17:30 Uhr

Language

Englisch

Sessions 2026 in detail

Once again this year, numerous sessions are planned to facilitate in-depth exploration of specific topics, discussions, and knowledge-sharing within specific communities.

Shaping the Business Value of Trust and Innovating the Business Models of Solid

This session addresses the central question of how organizations can view trust as an economic value and translate it into sustainable business models, thereby contributing to responsible value creation. The discussion will focus on business models that can be adapted from the data space context to Solid, as well as the interplay between technical and economic challenges.

Achieving Adoption of Solid at Scale

How can Solid be integrated into large-scale, productive ecosystems beyond pilot projects? This session identifies challenges and potential solutions—ranging from interoperability and trust mechanisms for apps to the selection of reliable storage services. It offers guidance for organizations looking to adopt Solid for the long term.

Authorizing Solid Applications and related Security Considerations

This session explores authorization and security in Solid—drawing parallels to open, client-side email ecosystems. How can permissions be reliably granted? What risks arise from decentralized data storage? Topics covered include access policies, best practices for securing pods, and practical security considerations that are critical for the widespread adoption of Solid applications.

Solid4FutureProtocols: Using Solid to enable Future Application Protocols

This session explores the intersection between communication protocols and Solid. It will discuss architectures, standards, and technical building blocks that enable the creation of interoperable, more resilient, and more flexible web ecosystems.

4th Privacy & Personal Data Management Session

This session brings together technical, legal, and ethical perspectives on data protection and data governance in Solid. Topics to be discussed include privacy by design, secure data spaces, digital identities, and data wallets, as well as requirements for legally compliant and user-centered data flows.

Decentralised Information Retrieval and AI based on Solid

This session addresses requirements and best practices for privacy-preserving search, information retrieval (IR), and AI using solid-state servers and pods. It demonstrates how AI systems can responsibly process personal data without requiring centralized data storage. It will also discuss research gaps, the need for standardization, trade-offs between performance and privacy, and potential sectors (e.g., healthcare, IoT) that could benefit from IR/AI functionalities.

Practical Uses of Solid for Medical and Health Data

The session focuses on use cases for Solid in the healthcare sector. At its core, it addresses secure data sharing, interoperable patient records, and the use of medical data under strict data protection regulations. The session demonstrates how Solid can improve transparency, security, and efficiency in medical data flows.

From Apps to Autonomy: Operating Systems for True Data Ownership

This session focuses on systems and tools that enable users to achieve true data sovereignty. It explores how operating systems, app ecosystems, and interfaces must be designed to allow people to exercise control over their data and safely manage automated decisions. The goal is to make data accessible, combinable, and reusable for users—while ensuring they retain full control over their own information.

Solid Applications

The session will showcase specific applications built on Solid—ranging from prototypes to production-ready solutions. The focus will be on functional requirements, design principles, user experiences, and the challenges of developing resilient, federated applications.

Solid Future(s) for Digital Heritage: Decentralising Access and Building Trust

This session explores how cultural and historical collections can be made accessible in a decentralized manner using Solid. It will discuss how to improve trust, transparency, and sustainable accessibility to digital cultural assets—particularly within open, distributed infrastructures that span institutional and national boundaries.

Sustainable Knowledge Centre – Ethiopia

This session focuses on building sustainable knowledge infrastructures in Ethiopia. Solid serves as the foundation for making knowledge accessible in a decentralized manner, connecting educational resources, and ensuring the long-term resilience of local data ecosystems.

4. Solid Symposium

Symposium / April 30, 2026 - May 01, 2026, 9:00 – 17:30 Uhr

Solid Symposium 2026: The Next Chapter for Data on the Web

Enterprise Solid Data Space

Event details

Program

Registration

Location

Language

Sessions 2026 in detail

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Prof. Dr. Andreas Harth