Discussion
The EU has a special purpose organization type (“legal person” in the business sense) called an EDIC. They are composed of EU member states and approved by the Commission to enable international collaboration.
A new EC-EDIC with FR, DE, NL, IT as initial members was announced at the end of October and seems meant to fill the open source public funding gap with the NGI program’s evolution.
Context:
• https://ngi.eu/download/ngi-forum-2025-final-press-release/?wpdmdl=67542&ref=activitypub
Getting started now. There were issues with live streaming. It will be recorded and provided later, I think.
Dr Monique Calisti (CEO of Martel Innovate and NGI Commons Coordinator) kicked off by referencing the Franco-German summit earlier this week.
"We import 80% of our digital services from the US and China. Europe needs to own technological solutions, not just better regulations! Do we have technology made in Europe that incarnates EU values?"
Fabrizia Benini, Head of unit at the European Commission DG CNECT E: Next Generation Internet opened with many wonderful policy admissions that deserved more than just the applause she got at the end.
She mentioned the importance of FOSS finding “sustainable funding models” based on support, training, and managed services. The EU support must change to support “market integration” (deployment, UX, security, performance) and not just the research and development stage.
Fabrizia Benini continued with championing “public money, public code” and prioritizing FOSS in government procurement. She wants an open source procurement office to help administrations draft outcome-based tenders, assess solutions, and support suppliers in meeting the EU security and interoperability expectations.
Fabrizia Benini closed with the most powerful call for engagement from FOSS developers I have ever heard from the Commission.
~“Your input is crucial. Help identify which digital commons are most strategic for open Internet stack. Share experiences with sustainable governance models that have a chance of making it in the European market. We can align policy and funding. We can turn this strength into a competitive advantage. I count on your ideas and frank feedback today and tomorrow.”
Next a panel is Digital Sovereignty: The Role of the EU Budget and public investment in Shaping the Internet
Moderator Zuzanna Warso (Director of Research at Open Future Foundation): EU is changing FOSS funding goal to a “single investment journey from research to deployment.”
Dr Sergey Lagodinsky (MEP): ~“Disappointed by how DE government talks about regulations. Saying the EU is too complicated, too burdensome is strategically problematic and I don’t think this is the case.”
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate
