November is just around the corner, and for Afliant it means one thing: SFScon is coming.
SFScon, a “Conference all about Free Software”, is a meeting point of the European open-source community, a stage where ideas grow into shared projects and this year we will be there to talk about TANGO. Not to discuss abstract theory on trustworthy AI, but the concrete work that transforms TANGO into a living, breathing ecosystem.
From research project to ecosystem
Every research project has its frameworks, pillars, and proofs of concept. But what truly defi nes its legacy is what stands once the funding ends.
For Afliant, our goal in TANGO has been clear from the very beginning: to ensure the project goes beyond prototypes, but evolves into an ecosystem that developers, clinicians, or policymakers can genuinely use.
This means working on integration points, building bridges between modules, and stress-testing the platform in conditions close to production. It also means keeping an eye on the community: how the documentation is structured, how the code is packaged, how simple it is for someone outside the consortium to join in and contribute.
For us, TANGO certainly means building the platform, but above all creating the conditions for its adoption.
Why open source is the only way
In our daily work at Afliant we have seen how fragile trust can be when systems are closed. Black-box models may be powerful, but they do not invite collaboration. They do not scale beyond the laboratory because no one knows what lies inside.
That is why TANGO’s Apache 2.0 licence is not a technical detail: it is a commitment to openness. It means that every module, every Docker image, every line of code is available for inspection, reuse, and improvement.
For Afliant, this resonates deeply with our DNA. We call ourselves artisans of intelligence, because intelligence, like craft, thrives when it is shared, forked, and reinvented. And open
source is much more than a distribution model: it is what allows innovation to remain alive even when the spotlight of a research project fades.
Destination Bolzano
Why SFScon? Because it is the natural arena for this conversation.
On 7–8 November Marco Angheben and Stefano Tavonatti will take the stage at NOI Techpark to present how TANGO is building a modular Python stack where humans and machines (AIs) share decision-making authority. But above all, we will show how openness turns that stack into something greater than the sum of its parts.
We will talk about the ecosystem mindset: how to move from “a nice demo” to “a tool that anyone can run with a single docker-compose up.”
And we will make an invitation: fork it, test it, break it, improve it. To set AI free from academic silos and let it live within communities, where code is debated line by line and ideas emerge from real exchange.
Looking ahead
For Afliant, TANGO is much more than a research partnership. It is a testing ground for the values we want to see in AI: fairness, transparency and, above all, openness.
In Bolzano, our aim is twofold: to present what has been achieved and to help shape what is to come. A community that takes up TANGO, extends it, and makes it its own. A project that does not simply end, but transforms into an ecosystem.
That is why we are part of TANGO. And that is why we will be on stage at SFScon: to remind everyone that the future of AI is not built in isolation, it is forked, contributed, and co-created.
See you in Bolzano!
Written by: Giorgia Visonà, AFLIANT