Rustls Shortlisted for Two 2025 OpenUK Awards
The Rust Foundation is delighted to congratulate Rustls for being shortlisted in the Open Source Software and Security categories of the OpenUK Awards 2025 — and Joe Birr-Pixton, Rustls Creator, for being shortlisted in the Individual category!
These Rustls recognitions highlight not only what the project has already achieved, but the exciting changes ahead as it joins the Rust Foundation’s newly-established Rust Innovation Lab — a program purpose-built to support key Rust-based open-source technology with structure, sustainability, and visibility.
On being shortlisted for an OpenUK Award, Joe Birr-Pixton said:
“I’m delighted to be shortlisted for the OpenUK awards 2025, both personally and collectively along with Rustls’ co-maintainers. Rustls is ten years-old next year, and — with the support of the Rust Innovation Lab – will be around for decades to come.”
About Rustls
Rustls has had a profound impact on secure communication across the Rust ecosystem and beyond. Built on Rust’s safety guarantees and powered by a vibrant community, Rustls provides a modern TLS library that is:
- Memory-safe by design
- Performance-focused
- Actively maintained and widely adopted
- Trusted by developers across diverse industries
Its innovative approach to security — reducing classes of vulnerabilities that have plagued traditional C-based TLS stacks — is a major reason it stands out among the world’s most influential open-source technologies.
Rustls & the Rust Innovation Lab
When the Rust Foundation announced the Rust Innovation Lab earlier this year with Rustls as our inaugural hosted project, we set out to support open source projects that:
- Provide foundational infrastructure to the Rust ecosystem
- Have clear industry traction and operational need
- Are driven by deeply committed maintainers who need space to build
Being part of the Innovation Lab will give Rustls:
- Administrative support, reducing time spent on overhead
- Visibility and relationship support, including industry engagement and amplifying milestones.
- A sustainability framework, freeing maintainers to focus on what matters most: technology and community
Being shortlisted for an OpenUK Award reinforces that Rustls is exactly the kind of impactful, high-leverage project the Rust Foundation is dedicated to supporting.
Honoring Leadership in Open Source
Joe Birr-Pixton’s Individual Award shortlisting recognizes the role of individual maintainers in shaping the future of secure computing.
Joe’s thoughtful and strategic stewardship has helped ensure Rustls remains:
- Technically uncompromising
- Collaboratively built
- Accessible for both new adopters and major platforms
We’re proud to support him as Rustls grows into its next chapter.
A Bright Future for Rustls
This is a moment to celebrate — not just Rustls itself, but the ecosystem and community that make it possible. With the support of the Rust Innovation Lab, Rustls is well-positioned to scale its success even further, reaching more developers and securing more systems worldwide.
We look forward to following the OpenUK Awards – winners will be announced this week. For now, we invite the community to join us in congratulating Rustls and Joe Birr-Pixton!
