Honda and KernelCI join the Enabling Linux in Safety Applications (ELISA) Projectto Strengthen the Kernel and Drive Innovation in Functional Safety in Automotives

SAN FRANCISCO, March 17, 2025 – Today, the ELISA (Enabling Linux in Safety Applications) Project welcomes Honda and KernelCI to its ecosystem. This collaboration marks a significant milestone, as both organizations commit to advancing its commitment to Linux and its effective use in safety-critical applications. Hosted by the Linux Foundation, ELISA is an open source initiative that aims to create a shared set of elements, processes, and tools to help companies build and certify Linux-based safety-critical applications and systems.

“The automotive industry heavily relies on open source software, and Linux is becoming a foundational pillar for safety-critical applications,” said Philipp Ahmann, Senior Open Source Software Community Manager at ETAS and Chair of the ELISA Project Technical Steering Committee. “By leveraging rigorous testing, automation, and industry collaboration, we can ensure that Linux meets the strong requirements of functional safety standards while driving innovation, reliability, and maintainability in modern vehicles. With Honda’s ‘power of dreams’ and their technical excellence, we have no doubt that they will help the ELISA Project meet many milestones this year.”

Honda is a mobility company powered by everyone’s dreams, creating mobility that helps and inspires people, in a wide range of fields such as motorcycles, automobiles, power products and aircraft. Honda has been actively integrating Linux-based solutions into its automotive technologies, focusing on enhancing in-vehicle infotainment and connectivity.

“Honda has a remarkable position as the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer and the world’s largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines,” said Shane Coughlan, OpenChain General Manager. “By recently joining the Zephyr Project, OpenChain last year and now the ELISA Project, Honda has underlined its position as a thought leader in open source. We are fortunate to have companies like Honda driving lasting change.”

KernelCI is a community-based open source distributed test automation system focused on building a collaborative ecosystem around upstream kernel development. The primary goal of KernelCI is to use an open testing philosophy to ensure the quality, stability and long-term maintenance of the Linux kernel. The Project is currently working on improved LTS kernel testing and validation; consolidation of existing testing initiatives; quality-of-life improvements to the current service; expanded compute resources; and increased pool of hardware to be tested.

"Collaboration with KernelCI strengthens our commitment to ensuring the reliability and safety of Linux in critical applications,” said Kate Stewart, Vice President of Dependable Embedded Systems. “By working with them to improve code testing coverage, as well as link requirements to tests, we can enhance kernel stability, improve the efficiency of testing changes to the kernel, and drive innovation to enable continuous safety profile compliance across automotive and embedded systems."

"KernelCI is already collaborating with the linux kernel community to build a service and ecosystem to tackle the challenges of testing,” said Don Zickus, Chair of the KernelCI Advisory Board. “Expanding our efforts to include ELISA's goals is a natural fit and we are excited to pursue this journey with them."

Honda joins ELISA Project General Members AISIN, arm, Bosch, Canonical, Codethink, Elektrobit, EMQ, Huawei, Linutronix, Lynx Software Technologies, Nissan Motor Corporation, SAIC Motor and WindRiver. KernelCI joins other associate members Automotive Grade Linux, Institute of Aircraft Systems Engineering and The Regensburg University of Applied Sciences. ELISA Project Premier Members include Boeing and Redhat. Learn more about membership here.

Safety-Critical Software

Open Source Summit North America, scheduled for June 23-25 in Denver, Colorado, offers a rich array of technical content. This conference is an umbrella event for microconferences like the Safety-Critical Software that drives open source innovation and supports the sustainability of the ecosystem. The schedule will go live in April. Register here for early-bird pricing.