Since the announcement of the Rust Innovation Lab at RustConf last September, we’ve been working hard to onboard rustls as our inaugural project (as well as celebrating rustls being shortlisted for two OpenUK awards!) and thinking about what kinds of projects we’d like to support next. As a reminder, the…

As the steward of the Rust programming language, the Rust Foundation plays a pivotal role in advancing the language and supporting its ecosystem. By exploring the Rust Foundation's initiatives, developers can gain insights into community governance models, ecosystem sustainability strategies, and educational outreach efforts. They can also learn about contributing to open-source projects, participating in working groups, and promoting the adoption of Rust in various industries.

Rust Foundation

The Rust Foundation outlines the direction of its Rust Innovation Lab (RIL), a program that hosts and funds Rust projects filling ecosystem gaps or showcasing Rust's strengths. The RIL's inaugural project, rustls (a memory-safe TLS implementation), is highlighted as a model candidate. The Foundation describes three criteria for RIL projects: showcasing Rust's strengths, filling developer needs, and benefiting uniquely from Foundation support. Projects can be mature or experimental, temporary or permanent residents of the Lab, and receive funding, security guidance, marketing, and developer recruitment support. Maintainers of qualifying projects are encouraged to apply.

What’s Next for the Rust Innovation Lab?