I spoke on a panel at #DigitalCommonsPolicySummit2025 about how free software commons projects like F-Droid sustain themselves organized by the #EuropeanCommission and @NGICommons
https://www.youtube.com/live/831Vohsqyhk?si=LDXC7JZomUVG4XZU&t=8459
#FreeSoftware #FOSS #sustainability #DigitalCommons #DigitalEurope #OpenSource #EDIC #DCPS25
I spoke on a panel at #DigitalCommonsPolicySummit2025 about how free software commons projects like F-Droid sustain themselves organized by the #EuropeanCommission and @NGICommons
https://www.youtube.com/live/831Vohsqyhk?si=LDXC7JZomUVG4XZU&t=8459
#FreeSoftware #FOSS #sustainability #DigitalCommons #DigitalEurope #OpenSource #EDIC #DCPS25
Next panel is “EDIC & Member States: How to Operationalize Digital Commons at Scale” with:
• Bartek Tokarz, Legal Officer at European Commission
• Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe, Senior Researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
• Emma Ghariani, Head of the Open Source and Digital Commons Division | French Prime Minister Services
• Adriana Groh, CEO of the Sovereign Tech Agency
• Moderator Zuzanna Warso, Director of Research at Open Future Foundation
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
RE: https://eupolicy.social/@NGICommons/115580812452004048
I will be live blogging from the European Commission in Brussels today and tomorrow.
Mute this thread, #DCPS25, or me for 2 days if nerds talking with government leaders about free and open source software is not of interest to you at the moment.
Sachiko Muto: ~”We’ve heard the Commission talk about business model for the commons. Is there a tension or clash there?” (Great question!)
Mirko Presser referenced “I am not a Supplier” blog post and the challenge of moving a community building freely to become a commercial entity to support itself.
https://www.softwaremaxims.com/blog/not-a-supplier?ref=activitypub
Sachiko Muto:
~”Open source is no longer a ‘nice to have’. It is strategically important. This is a concern for democracy. We need to widen the circle of people who are concerned about this. The words we use change who feels this is a concern for them.”
She recommended talking about ‘digital public goods’ and the use cases for them.
Gemma started strong re: NGI program transition to Open Internet Stack.
~“There is no Open Internet Stack without the digital commons.”
Funding will shift from exclusively development grants to “deployment”, Commission-speak for software having some commercialization that enables the FOSS to become self-sustaining.
Funding “innovation” is attractive to grantors, but we need grants for maintenance, non-functional requirements, support to increase quality concerns preventing adoption.
Sachiko Muto: ~”We’ve heard the Commission talk about business model for the commons. Is there a tension or clash there?” (Great question!)
Mirko Presser referenced “I am not a Supplier” blog post and the challenge of moving a community building freely to become a commercial entity to support itself.
https://www.softwaremaxims.com/blog/not-a-supplier?ref=activitypub
Gemma started strong re: NGI program transition to Open Internet Stack.
~“There is no Open Internet Stack without the digital commons.”
Funding will shift from exclusively development grants to “deployment”, Commission-speak for software having some commercialization that enables the FOSS to become self-sustaining.
Funding “innovation” is attractive to grantors, but we need grants for maintenance, non-functional requirements, support to increase quality concerns preventing adoption.
~”Independence is not ‘doing it yourself’. It’s ‘not being dependent on one vendor.’” —Adriana Groh, CEO of the Sovereign Tech Agency
The next panel is “Open Internet Stack (OIS): What role can the Commons play in the Stack” with:
• Mirko Presser, Prof at Aarhus University
• Tom Collins, Research Expert at CityMesh
• Moderator: Dr. Monique Calisti, CEO of Martel Innovate, President of Digital for Planet
• Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe, Sr Researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sverige
• Sophie Bloemen, Co-founder & Director of Commons Network
• Gemma Carolillo, Deputy Head of NGI Unit at EC
Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe:
~”Grants are not enough to sustain. The power of procurement is not a new topic. We need the possibility of non-price criteria, to give preference to companies that show they contribute to FOSS in meaningful ways. We need to establish criteria for this together with experts.”
~”Independence is not ‘doing it yourself’. It’s ‘not being dependent on one vendor.’” —Adriana Groh, CEO of the Sovereign Tech Agency
Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe:
~”Many individuals [FOSS developers] who are critical to our digital infrastructure are overwhelmed, underpaid, and close to burnout.”
Context: Psychologist Miranda Heath’s report on the problem of burnout in FOSS.
Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe:
~”Grants are not enough to sustain. The power of procurement is not a new topic. We need the possibility of non-price criteria, to give preference to companies that show they contribute to FOSS in meaningful ways. We need to establish criteria for this together with experts.”
Emma shared the EC-EDIC’s intentions.
~”We don’t yet know the 5, 10 year plans for the EDIC. We have a vision and will deliver step-by-step.”
It will address both supply and demand.
~”What we want to achieve is open source adoption.”
~”If we support open source ecosystems, but don’t gain users, we don’t make a difference. If we gain users, but don’t support ecosystems, we have an imbalance”
Adriana: ~”If we only let volunteers maintain it, that’s not sustainable and not fair.”
Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe:
~”Many individuals [FOSS developers] who are critical to our digital infrastructure are overwhelmed, underpaid, and close to burnout.”
Context: Psychologist Miranda Heath’s report on the problem of burnout in FOSS.
Adriana Groh, CEO of the Sovereign Tech Agency:
~”Stuff doesn’t get less complicated with more people involved. We need to practice using the instruments we have,” referring to EDICs.
But also:
~”Why don’t we have EU-level foundations and companies?”
This is an excellent question. I support expanding the categories of EU-registered and regulated organization (“legal persons”) types beyond Societas Europaea and Societas Cooperativa Europaea.
Emma shared the EC-EDIC’s intentions.
~”We don’t yet know the 5, 10 year plans for the EDIC. We have a vision and will deliver step-by-step.”
It will address both supply and demand.
~”What we want to achieve is open source adoption.”
~”If we support open source ecosystems, but don’t gain users, we don’t make a difference. If we gain users, but don’t support ecosystems, we have an imbalance”
Adriana: ~”If we only let volunteers maintain it, that’s not sustainable and not fair.”
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
Adriana Groh, CEO of the Sovereign Tech Agency:
~”Stuff doesn’t get less complicated with more people involved. We need to practice using the instruments we have,” referring to EDICs.
But also:
~”Why don’t we have EU-level foundations and companies?”
This is an excellent question. I support expanding the categories of EU-registered and regulated organization (“legal persons”) types beyond Societas Europaea and Societas Cooperativa Europaea.
Next panel is “EDIC & Member States: How to Operationalize Digital Commons at Scale” with:
• Bartek Tokarz, Legal Officer at European Commission
• Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe, Senior Researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
• Emma Ghariani, Head of the Open Source and Digital Commons Division | French Prime Minister Services
• Adriana Groh, CEO of the Sovereign Tech Agency
• Moderator Zuzanna Warso, Director of Research at Open Future Foundation
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
First audience question spanned communism, colonialism, and somehow blockchain. Fabrizia Benini said she asked for “raw, candid, provocative” engagement and got it.
This is my third NGI event. Breaks usually involve people from the Commission trying to escape FOSS nerds who understand how fine the line is between technology aiding or worsening many of humanity’s challenges. It’s often ineloquently expressed, but the concerns are no less valid.
I applaud the panelists for leaning in.
Next panel is “EDIC & Member States: How to Operationalize Digital Commons at Scale” with:
• Bartek Tokarz, Legal Officer at European Commission
• Sachiko Muto, Chair at OpenForum Europe, Senior Researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden
• Emma Ghariani, Head of the Open Source and Digital Commons Division | French Prime Minister Services
• Adriana Groh, CEO of the Sovereign Tech Agency
• Moderator Zuzanna Warso, Director of Research at Open Future Foundation
Dr Lagodinsky went on a valid rant about Parliament needing better information on funding plans.
~“Where is the strategic thinking in having AI gigafactories? Why are we pumping billions into gigafactories when even potential investors can’t identify a business case. We have a lot of GPUs using resources, but doing what?”
He’s right. The EU basically wrote a €30M check to Nvidia instead of addressing more fundamental problem of no EU-made AI hardware.
Context: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_467?ref=activitypub
First audience question spanned communism, colonialism, and somehow blockchain. Fabrizia Benini said she asked for “raw, candid, provocative” engagement and got it.
This is my third NGI event. Breaks usually involve people from the Commission trying to escape FOSS nerds who understand how fine the line is between technology aiding or worsening many of humanity’s challenges. It’s often ineloquently expressed, but the concerns are no less valid.
I applaud the panelists for leaning in.
Dr Sergey Lagodinsky (MEP)
~“When big tech companies kneel before a president, it becomes toxic to work with them and there is no trust any more. Doesn’t mean we are against international cooperation or global solutions.”
(I expected an applause break for this 🎤-drop line, but this is not a very 👏y crowd.)
He then promoted an international democratic tech alliance with countries that share EU’s democratic values.
Dr Lagodinsky went on a valid rant about Parliament needing better information on funding plans.
~“Where is the strategic thinking in having AI gigafactories? Why are we pumping billions into gigafactories when even potential investors can’t identify a business case. We have a lot of GPUs using resources, but doing what?”
He’s right. The EU basically wrote a €30M check to Nvidia instead of addressing more fundamental problem of no EU-made AI hardware.
Context: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_467?ref=activitypub
Benjamin Bögel attended FOSDEM. He recognized how much FOSS is created by individuals and how many libraries don’t have a distinct business case, but still are extremely valuable building blocks. Grants work well for this.
Fabrizia Benini: While NGI program is ending, its cascading grants model for individuals not able to access other kinds of funding due to administrative overhead will continue with the Digital Commons European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (DC-EDIC).
