diff --git a/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml b/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml
index 6fde6ef2..9144328c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pullrequest.yml
@@ -13,23 +13,24 @@ jobs:
             build:
                 - java: 17
                   profile: codequality
-                - java: 8
-                  profile: java8
+                - java: 11
+                  profile: java11
     name: with Java ${{ matrix.build.java }}
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os}}
     steps:
       - name: Check out the code
         uses: actions/checkout@85e6279cec87321a52edac9c87bce653a07cf6c2
 
-      - name: Set up JDK 8
+      - name: Set up JDK 11
         uses: actions/setup-java@148017a9b0c6af80330bcc5db11d1c670d2e7074
+
         with:
             java-version: ${{ matrix.build.java }}
             distribution: 'temurin'
             cache: maven
 
       - name: Initialize CodeQL
-        uses: github/codeql-action/init@362ef4ce205154842cd1d34794abd82bb8f12cd5
+        uses: github/codeql-action/init@d26c46acea4065b13fc57703621e0a7c8b9e836b
         with:
           languages: java
 
@@ -55,4 +56,4 @@ jobs:
           verbose: true # optional (default = false)
 
       - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
-        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@362ef4ce205154842cd1d34794abd82bb8f12cd5
+        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@d26c46acea4065b13fc57703621e0a7c8b9e836b
diff --git a/.github/workflows/static-code-scanning.yaml b/.github/workflows/static-code-scanning.yaml
index 8e161d75..654d3fff 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/static-code-scanning.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/static-code-scanning.yaml
@@ -33,12 +33,12 @@ jobs:
 
       # Initializes the CodeQL tools for scanning.
       - name: Initialize CodeQL
-        uses: github/codeql-action/init@362ef4ce205154842cd1d34794abd82bb8f12cd5
+        uses: github/codeql-action/init@d26c46acea4065b13fc57703621e0a7c8b9e836b
         with:
           languages: java
 
       - name: Autobuild
-        uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@362ef4ce205154842cd1d34794abd82bb8f12cd5
+        uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@d26c46acea4065b13fc57703621e0a7c8b9e836b
 
       - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
-        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@362ef4ce205154842cd1d34794abd82bb8f12cd5
+        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@d26c46acea4065b13fc57703621e0a7c8b9e836b
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 22d85bd2..8a577e6d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 
 ### Requirements
 
-- Java 8+ (compiler target is 1.8)
+- Java 11+ (compiler target is 11)
 
 Note that this library is intended to be used in server-side contexts and has not been evaluated for use on mobile devices.
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index a725224c..7a7c0c67 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     <properties>
         <toolchain.jdk.version>[17,)</toolchain.jdk.version>
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-        <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
+        <maven.compiler.source>11</maven.compiler.source>
         <maven.compiler.target>${maven.compiler.source}</maven.compiler.target>
         <junit.jupiter.version>5.12.1</junit.jupiter.version>
         <io.cucumber.version>7.22.0</io.cucumber.version>
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@
         <module-name>${project.groupId}.${project.artifactId}</module-name>
         <skip.tests>false</skip.tests>
         <!-- this will throw an error if we use wrong apis -->
-        <maven.compiler.release>8</maven.compiler.release>
+        <maven.compiler.release>11</maven.compiler.release>
+        <lombok.version>1.18.38</lombok.version>
     </properties>
 
     <name>OpenFeature Java SDK</name>
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
             <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
-            <version>1.18.38</version>
+            <version>${lombok.version}</version>
             <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
 
@@ -263,6 +264,15 @@
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                 <version>3.14.0</version>
+                <configuration>
+                    <annotationProcessorPaths>
+                        <annotationProcessorPath>
+                            <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
+                            <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
+                            <version>${lombok.version}</version>
+                        </annotationProcessorPath>
+                    </annotationProcessorPaths>
+                </configuration>
             </plugin>
 
             <plugin>
@@ -473,7 +483,7 @@
                     <plugin>
                         <groupId>com.diffplug.spotless</groupId>
                         <artifactId>spotless-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                        <version>2.44.3</version>
+                        <version>2.44.4</version>
                         <configuration>
                             <!-- optional: limit format enforcement to just the files changed by this feature branch -->
                             <!--                <ratchetFrom>origin/main</ratchetFrom>-->
@@ -646,14 +656,14 @@
                 </plugins>
             </build>
         </profile>
-        <!-- profile for running tests under java 8 (used mostly in CI) -->
-        <!-- selected automatically by JDK activeation (see https://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-profiles.html#implicit-profile-activation) -->
+        <!-- profile for running tests under java 11 (used mostly in CI) -->
+        <!-- selected automatically by JDK activation (see https://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-profiles.html#implicit-profile-activation) -->
         <profile>
-            <id>java8</id>
+            <id>java11</id>
             <!-- with the next block we can define a set of sdks which still support java 8, if any of the sdks is not supporting java 8 anymore -->
             <!--<modules><module></module></modules>-->
             <properties>
-                <toolchain.jdk.version>(1.8,9)</toolchain.jdk.version>
+                <toolchain.jdk.version>[11,)</toolchain.jdk.version>
                 <skip.tests>true</skip.tests>
             </properties>
 
diff --git a/spotbugs-exclusions.xml b/spotbugs-exclusions.xml
index 66032ad0..5988a3a4 100644
--- a/spotbugs-exclusions.xml
+++ b/spotbugs-exclusions.xml
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@
         <Class name="dev.openfeature.sdk.FlagValueType"/>
         <Bug pattern="PI_DO_NOT_REUSE_PUBLIC_IDENTIFIERS_FIELD_NAMES"/>
     </And>
+    <And>
+        we can ignore return values of chainables (builders) here
+        <Class name="dev.openfeature.sdk.hooks.logging.LoggingHook"/>
+        <Bug pattern="RV_RETURN_VALUE_IGNORED" />
+    </And>
 
     <!-- Test class that should be excluded -->
     <Match>
@@ -58,4 +63,4 @@
             <Bug code="IJU" />
         </Not>
     </Match>
-</FindBugsFilter>
\ No newline at end of file
+</FindBugsFilter>
diff --git a/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/hooks/logging/LoggingHook.java b/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/hooks/logging/LoggingHook.java
index 7465aa77..e6dc9b50 100644
--- a/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/hooks/logging/LoggingHook.java
+++ b/src/main/java/dev/openfeature/sdk/hooks/logging/LoggingHook.java
@@ -17,9 +17,6 @@
  * Flag evaluation data is logged at debug and error in before/after stages and error stages, respectively.
  */
 @Slf4j
-@edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.SuppressFBWarnings(
-        value = "RV_RETURN_VALUE_IGNORED",
-        justification = "we can ignore return values of chainables (builders) here")
 public class LoggingHook implements Hook<Object> {
 
     static final String DOMAIN_KEY = "domain";
diff --git a/src/main/java/module-info.java b/src/main/java/module-info.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0079cba0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/module-info.java
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+module dev.openfeature.sdk {
+    requires static lombok;
+    requires org.slf4j;
+    requires com.github.spotbugs.annotations;
+
+    exports dev.openfeature.sdk;
+    exports dev.openfeature.sdk.exceptions;
+    exports dev.openfeature.sdk.hooks.logging;
+    exports dev.openfeature.sdk.providers.memory;
+}