Ambassador post originally posted on Medium by Dotan Horovits, CNCF Ambassador
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), recently organized its second-ever KubeDay worldwide, which was held in Israel. Taking place in Tel Aviv in June 2023, this event brought together international and local experts, developers, and practitioners to deliver a quality educational experience for more than 500 attendees. I‘m grateful that the CNCF invited me to co-chair the event’s program committee, together with Dana Rozen. On this post I’d like to share with you some of the story behind KubeDay, and its synergy with the local community.
What’s KubeDays anyway? How’s it different from Kubernetes Community Days?
Many know Kubernetes Community Days (KCD in short), which are community-run events, brought to you by your local ecosystem in dozens of cities around the world. However, KubeDays are less known, and not surprisingly, as they were only launched late last year, and were held so far only in Japan in December 2022, and now in Israel.
Unlike KCD which are community-run, KubeDays are produced by the global CNCF team (the same talented CNCF team that produces KubeCon), to help bridge the global community to emerging and growing regions. After all, not everyone can attend the global KubeCon events. KubeDay events are designed to connect international and local experts in global cities, like Tel Aviv, with adopters, developers, and practitioners, to deliver quality educational experiences. You can read more on the CNCF’s events page.
KubeDay Israel in a Nutshell
KubeDay Israel featured two keynotes and 16 sessions in beginner and advanced tracks, on a variety of topics, including CI/CD, Security, Observability, and FinOps. The agenda covered popular CNCF projects such as OpenTelemetry, ArgoCD, Flux, Crossplane and OPA. We also had talks about Kubernetes, covering new APIs, multi-cluster deployments and other advanced topics.
Many speakers came from the local Israeli community, but we also featured experts from the the global ecosystem, including speakers from the US, India, Germany and even New Zealand. You can find the session recordings on the CNCF YouTube channel.
KubeDay and Israel’s Role in the Cloud Native Ecosystem
To me, the decision to hold KubeDay in Israel is a true vote of confidence in our vibrant local community, and a recognition of Israel’s position at the heart of the global tech scene.
The CTO of CNCF, Chris Aniszczyk, flew to Israel for the occasion and delivered the opening notes of the event. Additionally, he conducted an open “ask-me-anything” session as part of a community meetup (kindly hosted by CNCF member Logz.io), which took place the evening before KubeDay. During his sessions, Chris shared compelling statistics and insights that showcase Israel’s pivotal role in the cloud native ecosystem.
Israel’s contribution to open source was noticeable, with 1.6% of all global contributions originating from Israel, with 10,000 contributions in 2023, per KubeDay’s mid-year event. In particular, Israel leads globally in contributions to open-source projects Kubescape, Teller, Curiefense, and Cloud Deployment Kit for Kubernetes. These contributions demonstrate both the maturity and innovative nature of Israel’s tech scene. Notably, Teller, which just recently joined the CNCF’s sandbox, was created in Tel Aviv, further solidifying Israel’s status as a hub for technological advancements.
In terms of community engagement, the CNCF’s local chapter has been thriving. With over 30 community meetups and hundreds of members on the CNCF community page, Israel has fostered a vibrant cloud native community. The success of the first Kubernetes Community Days (KCD) Israel, held in Tel Aviv in March 2023, is another testament to the growing interest and participation in cloud native technologies. Drawing a sold-out crowd of 400 attendees, the event showcased the enthusiasm and commitment of the local community.
Vendors Play Key Role in the Cloud Native Ecosystem
During the meetup, Chris emphasized the importance of sustainable open-source projects and the role of vendors in contributing to their longevity. While individual contributors are important, he noted that projects ultimately rely on the support and contributions of vendors.
This is another area where Israel is active, with 31 CNCF member companies headquartered in Israel, many of whom are vendors providing commercial offerings leveraging the cloud native stack.
Beyond the open source code contribution discussed above, there are many other ways in which companies can get involved. For example, as the principal developer advocate at Logz.io and a CNCF Ambassador, I help educate the community about CNCF projects in the observability space and foster discussions, through various mediums such as talks, blogs, tutorials and the OpenObservability Talks podcast that just celebrated its 3rd anniversary.
Vendors also offer distros of the open source and downstream versions, which reinforces adoption and innovation of the open source, and ultimately provides choice for the end user community.
KubeDay Brings The Global CNCF Community to Growing Communities
It’s been a privilege to chair this special event. The KubeDay event in Israel not only showcased the latest advancements in cloud native technologies but also celebrated Israel’s growing influence in the global tech landscape. With an active and vibrant community, significant contributions to open-source projects, and successful community meetups and events, Israel has proven itself as a hotbed of innovation in the cloud native space. As CNCF continues to promote and support the development of cloud native technologies, events like KubeDay serve as important platforms for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and fostering the growth of the community.