Matrix Conference 2024

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Alexander Smolianitski
  • Working in a Purple Submarine: Matrix in openDesk
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Alexey "Kitsune" Rusakov

Known as Kitsune Ral in the Matrix community (nickname invented for the project), Alexey joined it in 2016, shortly after the public federation of homeservers was launched. He leads the projects under the Quotient umbrella: libQuotient, the Qt-based library for Matrix clients, and Quaternion, the reference implementation of a client on top of it. He's also a community representative in the Spec Core Team, and a technical advisor to startups that want to use Matrix as a part of their technology. When not messing with Matrix, Qt or startups, Alexey works for Red Hat as a telco IT technologist, and plays competitive table tennis. He's based in Amsterdam.

  • Stop calling Matrix APIs (directly)
  • Quotient workshop
  • Brain of the community: Matrix as a viable system
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Amandine Le Pape

COO and co-founder of Element (https://element.io) which delivers Matrix solutions to millions of users, including the German Armed Forces, the US Navy, NATO, and private companies like Mozilla.

Guardian of the Matrix.org Foundation, and co-founder of Matrix. Looking to bring the power back to the user on choosing who they trust with their data and how they want to communicate.

  • Element X Launch!
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Amsha Kalra

Amsha is currently based in London, working as the Head of Design @ Element where she is working on technology for good and helping government agencies across Europe and America communicate securely.

Before this, she was leading end-to-end designs to ideate, validate and incubate new businesses for Fortune 500 companies @ Boston Consulting Group in New York.

  • Element X Launch!
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Andrew Morgan

pronouns: he/him
fluent in: English

Hi there! I'm anoa. I'm a member of the Matrix Spec Core Team and a Senior Backend Engineer at Element.

I work mainly on server-side projects such as Synapse, Sygnal and Sydent, and in a past life Dendrite. As part of my Spec Core Team work, I review Matrix Spec Changes (MSCs) from the community, and write the occasional PR against the spec.

My preferred programming languages are Python, Rust and Golang.

  • MSC Process Guidance
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Anna Engström

Product owner of SAFOS at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.

Proud of and appreciate the opportunity to be part of a team focused on meaningful development. Sees the value of collaboration with Swedish public authorities to meet their needs.

  • Försäkringskassan, Matrix and Sweden’s public sector
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Benedict Benken

Maintainer of Trixnity and co-founder of connect2x.

  • So Long, and Thanks for All the SDKs: Meet Trixnity!
  • Tammy - a modular Matrix messenger
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Benjamin Bouvier

A fervent member of the Rust Evangelizing Striking Force, Benjamin is a software engineer in the Rust SDK team at Element. Before that, he worked at Embark Studios and Mozilla, where he did work on compilers written in Rust. When he's not working, you can find him contributing to open-source software (like Kresus), teaching people how to protect their digital lives online, or playing the piano.

  • Strengthening the Base: Laying the Groundwork for a more robust Rust SDK
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Bram

After having been introduced to Matrix as a digital activist, Bram became the founder & lead developer of the Elm SDK and represents the Matrix ecosystem on the governing board.

  • Elm SDK - your favourite SDK you'll never use
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Carla Griggio

Carla is a tenure-track assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, where she researches and teaches Human-Computer Interaction. Her main research studies how communication technologies, especially messaging apps, affect interpersonal relationships. She conducts empirical studies to understand how people adapt software to fit their communication needs and builds prototypes that explore ways of providing them with richer control over their expression and relationship maintenance. She currently studies interoperability between messaging apps, exploring alternative software models to “apps” for online communication.

  • The Walled Garden Dilemma: Privacy vs. App Choice in Messaging Ecosystems
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Danielle Kirkwood
  • From Protocol to Product: Taking Matrix into a typical workplace environment
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David Négrier

David is CTO and cofounder of WorkAdventure. Passionate with web development and open-source software, he will never shy away from a good discussion about his favorite topics: Typescript, PHP, WebRTC, frameworks and game engines!

  • Implementing a Matrix client inside WorkAdventure - A developer feedback
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deepbluev7

Developer of Nheko for fun and because its bugs annoyed me.
Employed by Famedly to work on Matrix stuff, because I am annoyed at communication getting lost in healthcare and to support a multi-vendor ecosystem around Matrix.
Involved too deeply in moderation stuff because I got offered some noodles.
Very noisy when I feel something needs a voice, often that just ends up being my own opinion though.
Recently elected as a member of the Matrix Foundation Board as an ecosystem representative and honestly somewhat scared of the responsibility.
If you have something to talk with me about, please do! I don't always have the time and energy for that, but I often do things wrong and need to be told why!
This biography stuff is getting longer each year and that is somewhat concerning... Congrats to anyone who made it to the end!

  • How to fix security issues in a decentralized system with multiple vendors
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Denise Almeida

I am a privacy, policy and regulation professional, currently working on the future of decentralised communication at Element as a DPO and Head of Policy and Compliance. Before joining Element in May 2020, I was a Senior Data Protection Officer for a multinational digital transformation and technology group, having joined in early 2018, a few months before the GDPR enforcement date.

Alongside work I am also in the final stages of writing my PhD thesis on technology workers attitudes and behaviours towards change, particularly in the context of privacy and information management. My main research interests are centred on privacy, change, human rights, privilege and power, ethics, and algorithmic accountability, particularly around how these areas interact with different social, demographic and contextual factors.

  • Regulatory compliance in decentralised environments
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Emil

In my role as the Director at Acter, a non-profit organization, I'm driven by the mission of providing critical digital infrastructure to support secure and effective organizing for frontline activists and movements. At the heart of Acter's mission is a commitment to creating a secure digital space for civil society, facilitating the coordination of collective action, fostering engagement, and expediting efforts in tackling global challenges, including the climate and biodiversity crisis, human rights, and issues of inequality.

  • Empowering activists and human rights defenders with Matrix
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Fabian Becker

Student, Developer of Alertrix, Voluntary Fire Fighter since 2019

  • Using matrix to coordinate Emergency Services
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Florian Heese

Florian has always been a passionate supporter of Matrix and deeply resonates with the Matrix Manifesto. After working extensively on centralized (video) communication systems, he now focuses on the exciting challenge of expanding (video) communication to decentralized systems, with Matrix being the obvious choice. In his role as Expert Cluster Lead at Element, Florian is actively driving this vision of decentralized communication with industry leading end-to-end encryption forward.

An expert in audio signal processing and real-time communication, Florian holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University. He has contributed to VoIP technologies with patents in jitter buffer optimization and acoustic feedback reduction. His extensive industry experience includes leading the development of key audio technologies like WebRTC, MCU Conference Engine, and SFU, as well as pioneering research in perceptual jitter buffers and spatial audio. His work has powered platforms like GotoMeeting and GotoWebinar, supporting millions of users globally.

  • Element Call
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George-Petru Ciordas-Hertel

George is part of the architecture management team at FITKO, the central coordination and networking office for digitization projects in public administration in Germany.

  • Beyond Instant Messaging: Matrix in the Public Sector
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Hans Hüppelshäuser

Consultant / Architect

IBMer since 2018

Working with Matrix since 2020

Enthusiast for Hybrid Cloud and Openshift, OpenSource, Healthcare and Public

  • Running a large-scale matrix messenger at university medical center mainz
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Inga Greiner-Bild
  • Beyond Instant Messaging: Matrix in the Public Sector
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Ivan Enderlin

Young Ivan has met its first computer at 12 years. Since then, young Ivan became old Ivan, with a PhD in Computer Science and numerous contributions to various open source projects. I have worked for different companies like Mozilla, Automattic, Wasmer, with Element being the current one (damn red pill).
I am a Rust Task Force member, a low-level hacker, an FFI wizard. When I’m not behind a split keyboard, I do wood working and I improve my self-sufficient straw-wood-made house.

  • Simplified Sliding Sync
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Jan Kohnert

Hi, I'm Jan, and I'm excited to introduce myself and share a bit about my background with you.
With extensive experience in healthcare IT, I've had the opportunity to work on various aspects of software engineering, specializing in product design, DevOps, and architecture. Currently, I serve as the Product Owner for the TI Messenger at Gematik GmbH, where I'm dedicated to enhancing communication within the healthcare sector. Prior to this role, I've held positions such as Technical Lead at 3M Health Information Systems and Software Architect at Roche Diagnostics, contributing to innovative solutions in healthcare technology.

  • The TI-Messenger: Advancing Secure Healthcare Communication within Germany
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Jayesh Nirve (td)

td does matrix and webrtc stuff at Famedly. More at: technodisaster.com

  • State of the Matrix Dart SDK 2024
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Jeroen Franssen

I work as a community manager in the InnovationBranch of Allied Command Transformation in NATO.
One of my projects is NI2CE messenger, an experiment to use Matrix as a daily non-classified communication solution for the NATO enterprise.
Besides my role as product owner, I also work on emergent innovation and other IT related projects.

  • A messenger for NATO and its members
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Joe Schniebs
  • Data Privacy and Signature Management: Battling Digital Surveillance
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Johannes Marbach

I am a Berlin-based Systems Architect at gematik and part of the team that maintains the so called TI-Messenger standard for interoperable communication in Germany's healthcare system. People might also have seen me active in the Matrix ecosystem in other contexts through my work for Unomed and previously Element.

  • Migrating the gematik TI-Messenger spec from Matrix 1.3 to 1.11
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Josh Simmons

Josh Simmons is the Managing Director of the Matrix.org Foundation. He's a community organiser, web developer, nonprofit geek, and activist based in Petaluma, California. Best known for his time in leadership at the Open Source Initiative, Josh is also on the board of Petaluma Pride, author of the Public Health Pledge, co-organizer of North Bay Python, and an advisor to Independent Federated Trust & Safety (IFTAS). In the past, Josh has worked in community-facing roles focused on open source at Tidelift, Salesforce, Google, and O’Reilly Media.

  • Meet the Governing Board
  • Governing Board Internal Meeting
  • Closing
  • Opening & Welcome
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Julie RIPA

French Intrapeneure for Tchap, the French messaging app for the French government based on Matrix.
Also running addict.
If you have anything to say about Matrix or Marathon, I will be happy to meet at the Conference !

  • Tchap, the French administration federation: past, present and future
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Kegan

Kegan is one of the core engineers who made Matrix back in 2014, and has been working for Element since 2020. He has touched most of the ecosystem, including Synapse, Matrix JS SDK, Dendrite, IRC bridge, Sliding Sync and many others. His recent passion has been around improving the quality of the software in the ecosystem by developing Complement, a black box server test suite similar to Sytest, and most recently Complement-Crypto, a client test suite for testing end-to-end encryption.

  • Unable to decrypt this message
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Kenneth Edwall

IT-architect at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency the last 10+ years. The lead architect behind SAFOS and representative in the swedish eSamverkan "cloud group".

Passionate about creating meaningful solutions and added value in the areas I operate. I love to collaborate with other organisations to exchange experiences and insights.

  • Försäkringskassan, Matrix and Sweden’s public sector
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Kim Brose

Also known online as HarHarLinks. Matrix server host since 2017, Matrix community event organizer since 2022, Matrix.org Foundation governing board member for Matrix Community Events. Co-organizer of this conference. I'm a software engineer working on Matrix and open source software at Nordeck IT + Consulting.

  • Tune Your Chat
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Marco Holz (FITKO)

I have been discussing and designing IT infrastructures in the public sector for several years now, both from a civic tech/FOSS perspective as well as within the public administration at the German Federal IT Cooperation (FITKO).

When it comes to the design of modern IT infrastructures, my focus is on privacy- and security-by-design principles and the social impact of technology design. Cryptography and openness are our friends on the way to achieving these goals.

  • Beyond Instant Messaging: Matrix in the Public Sector
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Matthew Hodgson

Matthew is Project Lead & co-founder of Matrix, and a Guardian of The Matrix.org Foundation. His day job is CEO/CTO at Element; the company founded by the creators of Matrix to support its development.

  • Matrix 2.0 Is Here!
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Michael Thiele

Co-Founder of connect2x, a company dedicated to implementing a TI-Messenger for the German healthcare system. Has 13 years of professional software development under his belt.

  • So Long, and Thanks for All the SDKs: Meet Trixnity!
  • Tammy - a modular Matrix messenger
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Michael Weimann

Matrix Developer @ Nordeck IT + Consulting GmbH, currently working on Matrix Widgets.

  • [matrix] Widget Starter
  • Standalone Matrix-based apps using the Widget API
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Mike Hoye

Mike Hoye a systems administrator, community manager and Flow's Director of Developer Engagement. His secret plan is to change the practice of creating software into a humane, inclusive and empirically and morally defensible discipline for a humane, inclusive and empirically and morally defensible world.

  • The Macroeconomics Of Privacy and Dignity
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Nadine Minagawa
  • designer / UX specialist with over 25 years of industry experience
  • initiator, product lead and UX designer of polychat
  • co-organiser of the matrix community summits, member of the matrix community events team
  • c-base member since 2000
    Nadine advocates for diversity and inclusion in the tech industry, mentoring aspiring designers and championing equitable initiatives. When she doesn't work she does yoga, learns to play the drums, or ferments vegetables :)
  • Polychat - Interoperability for the masses
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Patrick Maier

Patrick is a Senior Product Manager at element since 2022. He is responsible for the product areas backend, ESS and crypto and works with the respective engineering teams every day to shape the product so that it meets customer and community expectations.

  • Federated, not out of control
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Pavel Zoneff

With over a decade of experience working for some of the world’s leading tech brands, Pavel joined the Tor Project in 2023. As Director of Strategic Communications he supports the organization’s global outreach and advocacy efforts to champion unrestricted access to the open web and encrypted technologies.

  • Advancing human rights with Tor
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Peter Klein

I am a Product Manager at Tele2, where I lead the company's Collaboration offering, focusing on developing innovative solutions for the public sector. With a technical background as well as my commercial experience, I led the inception, development and launch of Tele2 Samarbete. My passion lies in understanding and meeting customer needs, ensuring that our communication solutions are secure, compliant, and of the highest quality.

When I'm not working, I love spending time with my family, coaching football, and playing bass in a blues band, all of which allow me to balance my professional life with activities that inspire my creativity and teamwork.

  • Innovating Public Sector Collaboration with Secure, Open-Source Platforms
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Quentin Gliech

Quentin is a software engineer working in the backend team at Element, leading the next-generation authentication for Matrix project.

  • Harder, better, faster, stronger auth with OpenID Connect
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Renato Stalder

CEO of ePost Service AG, a subsidiary of the Swiss Post. Longtime experience in business IT and passionated to change the future of B2C communication in Switzerland.

  • Matrix as enabler for the SwissPost nationwide ePost communication system
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Robert Pascal Gerbauld Catalao

Business developer and value stream lead for product development and customer-driven development.

  • NeoToolSuite: A productivity suite integrated with Matrix
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Ștefan Ceriu

With close to 2 decades of experience in the mobile space Stefan has been involved in several enterprise grade projects. He is now leading the Element X efforts for Apple Platforms at Element.

  • Element X Launch!
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Sumner Evans

I'm a software engineer at Automattic working on Beeper. I've been using Matrix since 2018 and have been working on Matrix projects professionally at Beeper since 2021. I work on the Beeper Platform team maintaining backend infrastructure, bridges, and our Go client SDK.

  • Matrix Cryptographic Key Infrastructure
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The one with the braid (she/her)

I do [matrix] in healthcare, on legacy systems and on desktop.

Living in France ; I like trains.

  • Looking at application performance of Sliding Sync in Dart
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Thiemo Zarth
  • Beyond Instant Messaging: Matrix in the Public Sector
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Timo

I am a software developer at Element where I am working on the mission to make Voice and Video calls the best they can be!

  • MatrixRTC: The (not anymore) missing piece to enable great video conferences
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Travis Ralston

Pronouns: he/him

Travis is the Foundation's Director of Standards Development, Trust & Safety (T&S) technical lead, Spec Core Team (SCT) member, Senior Software Developer at Element, and Owner/Operator of t2bot.io in addition to being a hobbyist Matrix developer in his spare time.

Travis was first introduced to Matrix through his local makerspace in 2016, and has been contributing ever since. In 2018 Travis was hired by Element to facilitate the release of Matrix 1.0, work on Element Web (then Riot), and develop early moderation tooling for the Matrix ecosystem. Travis' role today is dedicated to the Foundation's Trust & Safety team with a subfocus in protocol interoperability through his Standards Development hat.

  • DMA, MIMI, (D)MLS, Linearized Matrix and more…
  • Authenticated media & how to ship spec features
  • MSC Process Guidance
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Valère Fédronic

Crypto Team @ element.io.

  • Invisible Cryptography
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Wenjing Chu

Wenjing Chu is a Senior Director of Technology Strategy at Futurewei Technologies, Inc. He leads new technology development in the future of computing, trust, and trustworthy AI.

He is a founding board member of the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF) and its Technical Advisory Council (TAC). He is also a founding board member of the Trust of IP Foundation (ToIP). In ToIP, he is a primary author of the Trust Spanning Protocol Specification (TSP) and of the Technology Architecture Specification, while serving as Co-Chair for the Trust Spanning Protocol Task Force and for the AI and Metaverse Task Force. He also previously served in leadership roles for the Linux Foundation’s Networking Foundation and the Edge Computing Foundation. Over his career, he had been an entrepreneurial and technical lead in several successful startups including Airespace, Inc. and Sentient Networks, Inc.

  • Introducing decentralised identity to Matrix
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Yan Minagawa

Yan enables people with or through technology; he has a focus on federated and distributed technology and free software. As a part of communities, projects, companies and collectives he likes to connect people and drive transformation. He is active in Matrix eco-system and is commited to the values of the matrix manifesto.

  • Closing
  • Matrix Community Retreat 2024