At Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), our cloud journey is intrinsically linked with our commitment to open source. Joining the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) extends and compliments our membership with the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS), also a part of the Linux Foundation, and exemplifies our dedication to advancing cloud-native technologies through our involvement with open source and cloud native ecosystems.
Through our work with CNCF, our cloud platform engineering teams actively engage with and contribute to key cloud native projects—both within the CNCF umbrella, such as Backstage, and outside the foundation. This is not just about adopting these technologies but also about bringing our unique perspective to help shape and influence their direction.
Innovating within a regulated landscape
RBC has established a controlled contribution process that adheres to our internal standards and policies. This process allows our developers to engage with the open source ecosystem, fostering innovation while ensuring compliance.
At the heart of our contribution strategy is GitProxy, a tool originally developed by Citi and contributed to FINOS. This proxy interception app uses familiar tools, such as version control systems, and enables our teams to contribute to open source Git repositories while meeting strict security and compliance standards.
Fun fact: we were not content merely submitting the occasional bug report or patch to GitProxy as part of operationalizing our process. Our OSPO, in collaboration with Citi and other FINOS members and collaborators, is a co-maintainer of the project to ensure it continues to thrive. RBC plays a vital role in the ongoing development and enhancement of this project, which is crucial for the enablement of open source development within our organization.
Our open source milestones
Using open source tools such as GitProxy and Backstage, RBC has onboarded 36 open source projects into our secure contribution process, with 15 developers approved across the enterprise to contribute to open source. Since our process went live in July 2024, we’ve successfully contributed code directly to three projects and submitted more than two dozen issues across six repositories on GitHub. This has led to meaningful engagement with those projects, including two within the CNCF ecosystem (Argo CD and Backstage). This progress would not be possible without our small but growing open source development community, which currently includes nine contributors. These milestones reflect not only our technical capabilities but also our strategic intent to weave open source development into our operational framework.
Looking ahead with CNCF
Our open source strategy has been pivotal in our cloud adoption journey. By embracing open source principles, practices, and technologies, we have accelerated our cloud programs, built more resilient systems, and stayed ahead of the curve in a competitive landscape.By actively participating in the development of these essential technologies, we are not only able to meet our own needs today, but also contribute to the sustainability and advancement of these projects for the wider community in the future. This collaborative approach allows us to be part of the driving force behind the innovations we depend on, fostering a symbiotic relationship between RBC and the open source ecosystem.