What to expect from KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2022

What to expect

First of all, we can expect the CNCF to resonate its central message i.e the organisation exists to ‘make cloud ubiquitous’ and always underlines its position as the open source vendor-neutral hub for cloud-native computing, hosting (as it does) projects like Kubernetes and Prometheus with the aim of making cloud native computing not only universal, but also sustainable.

It’s actually quite emotional i.e. looking back at some of the images (such as this one – and this one) previewing this year’s event and thinking about the conference last year – so many of us wearing facemasks almost 24×7 and preferring elbow bumps to handshakes. These were the photo shots of last year that the CNCF had at its disposal, so these are the ones it used.

Still using the hashtag #TeamCloudNative and Tweeting at @CloudNativeFdn, the CNCF is no doubt anticipating a more tactile event this year. It’s worth noting that the 2021 was among the most conscientiously controlled tech conferences of last year, staff were on hand to question everyone’s wellbeing status at airport-style security gates across the venue at all times.

Masks still (sensibly) required

This year, but more comprehensively vaccinated, the rules are as follows:

All attendees must show proof of Covid-19 vaccination OR (1) negative Covid-19 test to enter the event. The conference staff will no longer conduct daily temperature checks upon entry for attendees, but masks are still required at all times unless actively eating or drinking or in designated areas.

“As the pandemic evolves, we want to ensure our protocols do as well. By allowing attendees to provide a negative test result instead of vaccination, we believe it is possible to allow more people the option to participate in person without putting vaccinated participants at additional risk. By removing the daily temperature check, we will reduce check-in time, re-entry lines and frustrations,” notes the organisation, in a health & safety statement.

Interestingly, data from this event’s European parallel gathering (KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe in Valencia) where masks were also mandated showed 121 positive tests (and zero serious cases) representing 1.7% of total onsite attendees.

What tech to expect

The conference itself has three co-chairs (Ed: should that be tri-chairs?) and the names on the list are pretty compelling, purely based on who they are and what they do.

Front and centre is Emily Fox in her role as engineer for cloud security services & compliance at Apple – Emily is joined by Ricardo Rocha in his role as computing engineer at CERN – and both are joined by Frederick Kautz (a software supply chain specialist with no defined job title or defined limits on his expansive vision for the cloud native world of software engineering) of Carelon, a US-based healthcare provider.

Readers can view one of Emily’s previous keynotes ‘The Cloud Native Chasm’ at this link.

In total, there are 17+ co-located events at this year’s show and a total of 84 sessions hosted by project maintainers. These sessions will provide high-level overviews, social topics, end user case studies, demos and technical deep dives and more besides.

Key trends will likely encompass cloud native software application development in all its forms, across all platforms, through all layers of the IT stack and with all manner of tools, toolsets and tooling. More specifically, we do know that CNCF members will talk about edge computing and the Internet of Things, security, community, project updates and developer experience.

CNCF GM: Priyanka Sharma

Last year’s event saw Priyanka Sharma, general manager at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation explain how good it was to see that the cloud native community had not only survived (through the previous year of pandemic disruption), but also thrived, helping governments, businesses and individuals harness the power of technology to better human lives.

“I’m counting down the days until KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America because there’s a special kind of magic when we’re gathered in person,” enthused Sharma. “I know we’re going to make significant headway in Detroit, driving cloud native forward at all levels of the ecosystem by making maintainers’ and end users’ lives easier. For example, the CTO Summit will build significant end user research at the highest levels of operation, while Contribfest will help maintainers discover net new contributors. Plus we’re focussing on supporting growing security needs across the Projects with Security Slam.”

Sharma enthuses here and says that TeamCloudNative is at its best when everyone is able to work together.

“That working together element is so important, whether it be in-person or virtually, to create the type of community we’re proud to call home,” said Sharma. “I’ve been so delighted to watch this community overcome global challenges over the past few years to build the next generation of software that will continue to change the world. KubeCon + CloudNativeCon is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together and not only plan for the future, but reflect on all the amazing progress we’ve made.”

CNCF once again states that cloud native computing empowers organisations to build and run scalable applications with an open source software stack in public, private and hybrid clouds.

As well as Computer Weekly’s own coverage, other information can be found on the CNCF blog and CNCF Twitter.