On 13 March 2024 the Digital Security by Design (DSbD) ecosystem of engaged players and stakeholders met at London’s iconic Oval Cricket Ground to discuss recent programme developments, project updates, share knowledge and network. The event also hosted the inaugural Beacon Awards to celebrate DSbD innovators working with and enhancing CheriBSD, one of the notable current breakthroughs made possible by FreeBSD Foundation. Read the press release here. Watch the winners’ interviews here.

Prof. John Goodacre Challenge Director for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) DSbD Challenge opened the ecosystem “All Hands” Conference conveying his appreciation on behalf of Innovate UK to Greg Wallace at FreeBSD for sponsoring the awards.

The Sonata board, a low cost development board with an FPGA that is able to host a small system comprised of the CHERIoT enabled Ibex, a number of peripherals, such as I2C and SPI, was also presented at the gathering. As part of the Sunburst project, 100 boards are available for request from the dedicated area on the DSbD website.

Ultimately, Mike Eftimakis of Codasip, a processor technology company who recently launched the first ever commercial version of a RISC-V CHERI based processor, announced the ongoing creation of the CHERI Alliance: an effort to federate the industry and promote the use and adoption of CHERI security technology, methodology and standards.