Section 7 of the EU Digital Markets Act requires that today’s large proprietary messaging providers must allow third party interoperability by March 2024 (for DMs), with group conversations following in 2026, all while preserving end-to-end encryption.

Matrix is an open source project defining an open standard for E2EE interoperable communication, and we’ve been following DMA closely. In the run up to March 2024 we’ve been doing a lot of work to ensure today’s Matrix can help with the immediate interoperability challenges - and also contributing heavily to the IETF More Instant Messaging Interoperability (MIMI) working group to provide IETF-track longer-term interoperability specifically for DMA.

By requiring open APIs (or open standards) for communication, the European Commission is effectively creating an entirely new industry on top of today’s communication platforms - which if executed correctly could supplant the public telephone network with a genuinely open communication fabric for everyone: effectively extending Matrix and/or its derivatives to a multi-billion user network.

In this talk, we’ll explain the work we’ve done with with end-to-end-encryption-preserving Matrix bridges, our contributions to MIMI - and the possibility that Matrix 3.0 (yes, 3.0) might end up evolving into compatibility with MIMI, while adding in the full richness and decentralisation of today’s Matrix.

Meanwhile, since introducing the idea of Matrix 2.0 at FOSDEM 2023 (https://archive.fosdem.org/2023/schedule/event/matrix20/), the Matrix core team has been slogging away along the road to actually shipping it: providing secure, open, decentralised communication which can compete with the mainstream proprietary centralised alternatives. As ever, the path has had some unexpected twists and turns along the way - and we’d like to share our progress.

We’ll also cover the latest updates on converging on matrix-rust-sdk as the flagship 3rd generation Matrix client SDK (as showcased by Element X and Fractal 5); rolling out instant login, sync & launch via Sliding Sync; transitioning to OpenID Connect for all authentication; implementing full E2EE scalable VoIP and video via MatrixRTC and LiveKit; and major new Matrix reliability projects including trafficlight (full-end-to-end testing of Matrix clients covering both chat and VoIP) and complement-crypto (a full E2EE torture-test suite exercising matrix-rust-sdk and matrix-js-sdk).

Finally, we’ve also been maturing our governance processes: ensuring the Matrix.org Foundation is operationally independent of other companies (e.g. Element) with Josh Simmons joining as the Foundation’s first employee and Managing Director - we’ll cover the work Josh is doing in formalising a Governing Board and getting the Foundation to stand on its own two feet.