DPDK Governing Board Meeting Summary – September 16, 2026
Meeting Overview and Minutes Approval
The DPDK Governing Board convened virtually on Tuesday, September 16, 2026. Nathan Southern (The Linux Foundation) opened the meeting, displayed the Linux Foundation Antitrust Policy, and established quorum with eight of the ten board members present.
Board Chair Tim O’Driscoll (Intel) led the meeting. The board formally voted on and approved the minutes from the joint Technical and Governing Board meeting held on August 25, 2026.
Financial Update
Board Treasurer Keesang Song (AMD) delivered an update on the DPDK project’s financial standing as it approaches the end of Q3 2026:
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Financial Health & Retention: The project maintains a solid financial foundation as it rounds out the third quarter. For the fourth consecutive year, DPDK achieved 100% corporate member retention.
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Revenue & Budget Allocation: Revenues continue to be driven primarily by annual membership dues, along with event proceeds and quarterly interest disbursements. Annual budget allocations remain focused heavily on Community Engagement and Development/Community Support, with smaller portions dedicated to Staff & Operations and General & Administrative overhead.
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Major Investments: Key expenditures during the fiscal year include costs associated with the Stockholm Summit (inclusive of board travel coverage) and ongoing quarterly operational payments for the UNH Community Lab and DTS developers.
Operations and Ecosystem Updates
Nathan Southern outlined several upcoming operational milestones and strategic outreach plans:
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Budget & Renewal Season: The leadership team is preparing budget drafts for the upcoming year. As in past cycles, the board will vote separately on baseline operational necessities (PMO, marketing, UNH lab) and elective options (future summits, DTS developers). Member renewal notices will be issued in October. Early check-ins with member organizations have yielded positive responses and strong alignment on technical priorities.
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Upcoming Elections: Elections will launch in January for four key roles: Board Chair, Board Vice Chair, Board Treasurer, and the Silver Member Representative. All current incumbents are eligible to run.
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Ecosystem Expansion: Efforts to expand DPDK’s global footprint continue, including translating key membership materials into Mandarin to aid APAC outreach, as well as holding early discussions with a major cloud provider regarding deeper collaboration.
Marketing Updates
Ben Thomas (The Linux Foundation) summarized recent promotional activities and strategic initiatives:
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Semi-Annual Reporting & Website Growth: The H1 2026 Report and H2 2026 Plan are available, highlighting strong online engagement and website traffic improvements following recent design updates.
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Community Conversion: To convert mailing list participants into active code reviewers, an automated Call to Action (CTA) mechanism is being developed alongside lead maintainer Thomas Monjalon.
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APAC Engagement & Content: Monthly outreach calls and local channels (WeChat, Bilibili, Maimai) are active for the APAC region, along with localized newsletter content. An updated membership presentation deck is also being prepared.
2027 Summit Planning
Evi Harmon (The Linux Foundation) presented two primary options for the 2027 DPDK Summit:
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Brussels, Belgium (Late January): Timed to precede FOSDEM to leverage broader developer attendance, though constrained by a tight promotional window and proximity to the Chinese New Year.
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Vienna, Austria (Early May): Offers significantly more lead time for promotion and planning, though it enters a busier spring open-source conference schedule.
The board ended in an even split during the initial vote. Nathan Southern will collect the remaining offline votes from absent members via email to help decide the final location and timing.
