Organizations leveraging open source software (OSS) face a critical strategic question: simply consume it, or actively contribute upstream? Recent economic modeling reveals that contributing to OSS delivers a 2-5x return on investment. Beyond financial returns, active upstream engagement is becoming a regulatory imperative. With the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) demanding stricter security and vulnerability management, relying on private forks, which cost organizations an average of 5,160 labor hours per release cycle to maintain, creates unsustainable technical debt and security risks.

Join experts from Ericsson, ActiveState, and The Linux Foundation to explore the intersection of the 2026 Open Source ROI Report, CRA compliance, and the OpenSSF’s Upstream Collaboration Guide. We will discuss how an upstream-first approach reduces technical debt, speeds up security issue resolution, and helps organizations stay ahead of vulnerability patching requirements.