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January 16-17, 2024

The Hague (the Netherlands)

A new EC-funded NGI project, which has been conceived and organised with an ambition to ensure integration and alignment with national and European digital/internet commons policies, was officially launched last week at the project kick-off meeting held in The Hague.

NGI Commons is a three-year Coordination and Support Action (CSA) answering to the HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-04 Call: Next Generation Internet Commons Policy (Call). In the next 36 months, the project will be elaborating on a long-term strategy for digital/internet commons, which are critical for Europe’s sovereignty and trust. The project will help overcome fragmentation and close the gap between grassroot commoners’ initiatives and top-down sovereignty policies. This will serve the purpose of creating a more coherent European funding landscape across both public and private sectors. As stressed by the representatives of the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at the European Commission who attended the kick-off meeting, the importance of the NGI Commons project lies in its potential to shape the way NGI will evolve in the future.

What are digital/internet commons? Project scope and ambition

Digital/internet commons are a form of commons involving the distribution and communal ownership of information resources and technology. Examples of digital/internet commons include open-source software, open hardware, open design, open licensing, open standards, and open data. Over the last few decades, digital/internet commons have become essential components supporting sovereignty, trust, democratic values, and fundamental digital rights and principles, such as privacy and data protection, open knowledge and participation, user control over personal data, decentralisation, inclusiveness, and a green transition, among others. Their economic and geopolitical importance has been growing exponentially, gathering increasing momentum across several communities, in line with the Digital Decade principles. But while digital/internet commons are critical in our digital life, their importance is not fully reflected at the strategic level with little representation of the communities involved, lack of structure, gaps between grassroot commoners and top-down sovereignty policies, and a fragmented funding landscape. The NGI Commons project was established as a response to the above-mentioned points. The project will contribute to the following outcomes expected by the Call:

• stronger integration of the NGI initiative and its vision and ecosystem with the digital/internet commons policies at the national and European levels,
• a long-term strategy for digital/internet commons based on a clear mapping of existing communities of commoners and commons,
• smooth articulation of bottom-up activities of European commoners’ communities and top-down policy priorities (e.g., reuse of commons, avoiding overlaps), and
• a more coherent funding landscape integrating national and European dimensions from public and private sectors.

As outlined by Monique Calisti, the CEO of Martel Innovate, “the NGI Commons project has been built on a clear comprehension of the technological, research, socio-economic, legal, and policy-related factors relevant to the broader NGI ecosystem, and the planned activities have been designed to not only facilitate access to the NGI resources and funding to grow digital commons/internet commons initiatives but also generate value for the wider group of NGI stakeholders.” 

This value-generation-driven approach will be supported by the consortium’s in-depth understanding and privileged access to the NGI tools and mechanisms, a thorough understanding of the European policy landscape, and the partners’ direct involvement in the European digital/internet commons and open-source scenes. By liaising with bottom-up initiatives in the digital/internet commons and open-source scenes and engaging with top-down policy and regulatory efforts and experts, the ambition of the NGI Commons project is to pave the way for digital/internet commons as core building blocks of Europe’s digital sovereignty.

Who’s in

Led by Martel (the Netherlands), the NGI Commons consortium comprises experts, including Paul Keller, Open Future Foundation (the Netherlands), who, together with his team will map digital sovereignty policy initiatives of relevance, injecting into the development of a strategic agenda for support to the digital/internet commons ecosystem and investment in public digital infrastructure; Astor Nummelin Carlberg, OpenForum Europe (Belgium) who will engage experts to identify priorities for further development of digital/internet commons, curate synergies with relevant initiatives, and provide support to commoners to navigate the EC funding opportunities; Mirko Boehm, Linux Foundation Europe (Belgium) who will measure the leverage effect of NGI funding and identify efforts, technology blocks, projects, and results of past and ongoing NGI projects feeding into digita/internet commons initiatives; Melanie Dulong de Rosnay, CNRS (France) whose team will map relevant initiatives and elaborate on governance models for future digital commons; and Monique Calisti, Martel Innovate (Switzerland), who, taking advantage of her experience, position, and deep understanding of the NGI needs and evolution will lead the effort of engaging experts to analyse the NGI portfolio.

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For immediate release: 4/12/2023

EU Cyber Resilience Act Takes a Leap Forward: 

Further Clarifying Responsibilities for FOSS Next Step

Major improvements with regard to the scope of applying the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) to free and open source software were made by the co-legislators when agreeing on the final text. The 2022 proposal raised concerns that “commercial” would be interpreted broadly and then all acts of publishing and sharing software and source code would trigger legal questions, obligations and the risk of fines. However, the Commission, Parliament and Council have now agreed to a crucial clarification that “the provision of free and open-source software products with digital elements that are not monetised by their manufacturers is not considered a commercial activity”.

This is in addition to the clarification that “The mere circumstances under which the product has been developed, or how the development has been financed should therefore not be taken into account when determining the commercial or non-commercial nature of [making free and open-source software available on the market].” This wording will give clarity to a lot of contributors, both commercial and non-commercial, and will prevent the obligations from extending to certain areas where they could be counterproductive.

While we welcome these improvements, it’s important to recognise that the CRA still presents a regulatory challenge for businesses involved in monetising software. For the vitality of the free and open source software ecosystem, and the robustness of the European IT infrastructure that heavily relies on open source, it’s essential that these businesses remain sustainable. Moreover, for the EU’s cybersecurity and digital sovereignty, keeping development within the EU is crucial.

In the coming months and years, efforts are needed to further clarify the CRA’s obligations and to establish efficient, cooperative processes. These will ensure ease of compliance while maintaining the right to modify, share, and commercialise the software.

With the legislative phase drawing to a close, attention now turns to the development of implementation standards as required by the regulation. Concurrently, discussions will commence in the business community to facilitate a smoother compliance process.

OpenForum Europe would like to express its appreciation to the officials and staff of the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission for their engagement in discussions with representatives of the free and open source software community. We also acknowledge the hard work of the free and open source software stakeholder representatives, whose collective efforts have been vital in reaching this outcome.

For further information please contact:

Ciarán O’Riordan, Senior Policy Advisor
ciaran@openforumeurope.org and CC euteam@openforumeurope.org

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Brussels is a hub of open technology and digital policy discussions as of late. OFE organises the EU Open Source Policy Summit on 1 February, but the main momentum for this week comes from the renowned Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting (FOSDEM), a fixture in Brussels that has engendered an ever increasing number of ancillary activities and events. OpenForum Europe’s team and partners will participate in various capacities throughout the week, whether as speakers or as attendees absorbing knowledge and insights.

So, while we make no claims of being the organisers of everything below, we feel like an umbrella term is needed. So mark your calendars: The Brussels Open Tech Week 2024, from 31 January to 5 February. It promises to be an eventful week for all enthusiasts and professionals engaged in the open tech landscape and EU policy.

We keep this post updated as we find more events and activities that might interest the community (and have we missed something, let us know)!

31 January – Wednesday

Antitrust, Regulation, and the Next World Order
The digital regulation experiment has started. But we are also going through simultaneous major paradigm shifts in antitrust, industrial policy and trade. Competition is not a silo. Join us for a gathering of top regulators, judges, legislators and academics to discuss challenges and goals.

1 February – Thursday

European Commission’s Open Source Workshops
Three Directorates-General from the European Commission (Connect, DIGIT and GROW) are joining forces to organize a physical event in Brussels to discuss Open Source in four key areas for Digital Autonomy.

CHAOSScon EU 2024
Learn about and discuss open source project health metrics and tools used by open source projects, communities, OSPOs and others.

OSSci @ FOSDEM: Advancing science through open source and AI
OSSci will be in town for FOSDEM, CHAOSSCon, and the EU Open Source Policy Summit 2024. Join this meetup to explore the intersections of open source, AI, and scientific research.

2 February – Friday

EU Open Source Policy Summit
Our event is largest assembly of policymakers, Open Source businesses, community members, developers, foundations, and experts engaged in diverse digital policy matters. Registration is currently open for those interested in attending. In-person registrations are closed, but you can join online.

3 February – Saturday

FOSDEM Day 1 + Legal & Policy DevRoom
Join the main event of the week. FOSDEM is a two-day event organised by volunteers to promote the widespread use of free and open source software. FOSDEM is widely recognised as the best such conference in Europe.

4 February – Sunday

FOSDEM Day 2 + Foundations’ Policy DevRoom
The EU Policy Devroom will take place for a full day (09:00-17:00), on Sunday 4 February 2024, and will be an in-person event in a room to be announced later.The goal of the devroom is for FOSS Community Members and European policy makers to meet and understand each other so as to ensure future legislation does no harm to the valuable open source sector, and ideally advances the development and use of open source.

5 February – Monday

OFE Policy Workshop
This event is now full. An internal meeting of the people we worked with in 2023 on policy files. To work with us in 2024, contact Ciarán and meet us at the Summit or at FOSDEM.

OpenForum Europe invites all interested in the future of open tech and digital policy, especially those who seek to understand the EU’s approach, to schedule a whole week in Brussels early next year. Whether you are an industry veteran, a policy maker, an academic, or simply a curious mind, the Brussels Open Tech Week 2024 looks to become an unmissable opportunity.

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We are arguably witnessing the end of this cycle within the software industry: a once open period of innovation, exploration, and discovery has resulted in market winners and governmental bodies coalescing to make it more structured, and perhaps more rigid. It appears that we’re in the middle of the transition into a state of regulation and institutionalisation. Though this may sound deterministic, the results of this process remain uncertain. Who will be the winners and losers among nations and corporations? Which innovation model will prevail after decades of competition: closed or open?

OFE’s Concerns

Simultaneously, as we observe and participate in this process, open source software (OSS) serves as the foundation of our digital world, underpinning the majority of software applications that govern our lives, industries, and societies. With an estimated 80-90% of all software licensed under an open source licence, it’s critical to realise that discussions on software regulation and institutionalisation is inherently a discussion of the future of open source and open innovation. These are delicate ecosystems predicated on a social contract of reciprocity and sharing that has given rise to the most valuable value chain in history.

What’s also noteworthy is that these cycles have historically occurred in verticals, while the software market is horizontal. Consequently, institutionalisation and regulation will have both direct and indirect impacts on all societal sectors. Have the drivers behind this institutionalisation assessed the full impact, one might ask?

Regulatory Developments

Recent years have seen developments indicating we are heading towards institutionalisation, which will shape the future of software. EU legislative proposals like the Cyber Resilience Act, the New Product Liability Directive, and the AI Act are paving the way for future regulatory landscapes. These pieces of legislation propose a comprehensive revision of requirements and obligations for every part of the software ecosystem, from individual developers to large companies creating and using software. Intriguingly, although these laws primarily regulate open source—since most of today’s software is open source—they scarcely reference this innovation model. A number of unintended impacts that would follow have already been identified.

Addressing Old and New Paradigms

These proposals, and their deficiencies, have provoked several reactions. Major open source foundations are responding by hiring policy professionals to liaise with governments and regulators. I interpret this professionalisation of interactions between OSS entities and public bodies as another aspect of the institutionalisation process. Global coordination to respond to governmental attention is in progress.

But there are other new players in this policy field. ‘Traditional’ security-focused think tanks have acknowledged the significance of open source for our infrastructure’s resilience, the geopolitics of open source, and more. We welcome their novel perspectives and analytical tools of their very able and skilled analysts. Bringing open source into the ‘old world’ of trade policy, defence policy, and procurement policy—i.e. national security priorities—is intriguing and important. However, their top concerns might differ from those organisations focused primarily on the open/closed spectrum.

Instead of thrusting the new into the old, by for example extending old liability regimes based in the hardware world to software, we should pursue an institutionalisation that understands the nature of software as replicable intangibles and does not ensure stability by favouring incumbents.

Roles and Reactions of Companies

Within the software market, the emergence of winners or companies at an unprecedented scale may indicate this process’s progression. Historically, market winners coming out of the innovation phases gradually not only embrace regulation—they invite it. A more rigid market is often in the interest of the incumbents.

Large companies have mechanisms to handle governmental attention. For us at OFE, observing how prepared or mature the open source ecosystem is to deal with it will be interesting. Global efforts like the Open Policy Alliance and events such as the Open Source Congress in Geneva this summer aim to foster global dialogue on the evolution of OSS amidst this institutionalisation. Yet, while open source is everywhere, its institutions are small and often non-profits. And if compared to successful tech companies, they are minuscule in terms of revenue and staff.

On a smaller, yet extremely important scale, we’ve observed the formation of APELL – the European Open Source Business Association. We view this as a timely milestone in the political representation of OSS in Europe. APELL strives to protect and promote the interests of open source SMEs—the companies creating software at scale in Europe. Just a few years ago, this group was far removed from political discussions. They are the proverbial canary in the coal mine in this process, and their voices should too be heard.

Beyond Europe

In the United States, proposals for substantial investment to secure the global software supply chain have emerged. Initiatives like OpenSSF and events like the White House Open Source Security Summit indicate the increased political focus on the open source software ecosystem. There’s ongoing dialogue between the White House and large software companies, who comprise a significant part of the OSS ecosystem in the United States.

It’s also worth taking a look at government attention to OSS in China. The Chinese Communist Party has outlined a robust commitment to open source in its latest 5-year plan. It has established a set of distinct goals which encompass nurturing domestic open source communities, alleviating patent risks for new technologies, actively participating in international open source ecosystems, and fostering the development of open source mobile platforms. Additionally, they are putting an emphasis on accelerating the growth of international communities and platforms, alongside the advancement of artificial intelligence through open source communities. This ambitious approach signifies China’s understanding of the strategic advantages and economic opportunities that open source presents.

Is This New? Is This Different?

While these developments mark a significant shift in the digital landscape, they also reflect the evolution of institutional frameworks for past transformational technologies. The key difference is that software is omnipresent and underpinned by an open source ecosystem that few policymakers fully grasp.

At OpenForum Europe, we assert that the design of these institutional frameworks will decide the future winners and losers. As advocates for open source, open technologies, and open innovation, we are committed to help shaping these emerging institutions to preserve the principles that have made open technologies the driving force of innovation it is today.

Keep in mind, however, that this may be uncharted territory for software, but similar transitions have occurred frequently throughout history. Drawing on these historical lessons, OFE aims to collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure that openness remains central to the new software institutions. Our goal is to foster a digital future that is user-centric, competitive, sustainable, and inclusive of broader communities that don’t necessarily fit within the old economy’s regulatory frameworks. That’s how we ensure that our future is resilient, inclusive, and innovative.

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