OpenForum Europe

Open Source and the European Union | Denmark | OFE Capital Series
2025-10-23 12:45 - 18:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Danish Parliament (Christiansborg) – Landstingssal, Folketinget Christiansborg, Copenhagen, 1218, Denmark
Sign up now to join OpenForum Europe and partners for the next edition of the Capital Series events, taking place in Copenhagen on 23 October 2025.
Marking the seventh instalment of our cyclical events, Capital Series Denmark will bring Brussels-level discussions of open source policy directly to Copenhagen. This event will provide a unique opportunity for the local open source community to directly engage with EU and national policymakers to better understand policies that impact the Danish market.
Capital Series events are single-day, high-level policy gatherings dedicated to advancing open source policy priorities in alignment with the objectives of the member states holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Series builds on the OFE’s annual EU Open Source Policy Summit in Brussels to further connect the dots between the EU and national policy cycles.
Where?
Folketinget Christiansborg, Landstingssal, 1218, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Due to limited venue capacity, we encourage you to register at your earliest convenience.

Solving the Standardisation Dilemma
2025-10-22 16:30 - 18:30 (Europe/Brussels)
Europe’s digital policy agenda is expanding rapidly, with legislative initiatives such as the Cyber Resilience Act and the AI Act placing new and urgent demands on the production of harmonised standards. A central dilemma is emerging: how can the European Standardisation System (ESS) move fast enough to meet policy and market needs, while ensuring inclusive processes that reflect diverse expertise and interests?
A structural driver of the demand for reform is the shift to a software-defined world. The ESS was built around the needs of hardware development, but today’s standards increasingly concern software systems that evolve through agile and iterative processes. Standardisation bodies are struggling to keep pace, raising questions about whether the system can adapt—or whether a new approach is needed.
This roundtable will explore how openness, as practised in collaborative innovation models such as open source development, can offer a pathway through this dilemma. By embracing openness in governance and process—transparency, inclusiveness, and modular iteration—the ESS can become more responsive without sacrificing legitimacy. This is not only a matter of technical process but of strategic significance: Europe’s ability to shape global technology standards, maintain digital sovereignty, and remain competitive depends on it.
The event will bring together policymakers, industry experts, and the broader technology community to examine how openness can help align the ESS with the demands of a software-driven economy and a rapidly evolving political landscape. The event is held under Chatham House Rule.
Where? Maison de la Poste, Rue Picard 7, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
When? 22 October 2025, 16:30 – 18:30, followed by networking drinks with the Code & Compliance participants.

Open Source and the European Union | Poland | OFE Capital Series
2025-06-11 12:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Belvedere Restaurant, Agrykola 1, Warsaw, 00-460, Poland
Sign up now to join OpenForum Europe and partners for the next edition of the Capital Series events, taking place in Warsaw on 11 June 2025 under the auspices of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Marking the sixth instalment of our cyclical events, Capital Series Poland will bring Brussels-level discussions of open source policy directly to Warsaw under the title “Open Source and the European Union”. This will provide a unique opportunity for the local open source community to directly engage with EU and national policymakers to better understand policies that impact the Polish market, and how Poland leverages open source to solve its political challenges. The discussions will cover digitalisation, cybersecurity, AI, skills, and digital sovereignty in the context of the Polish Presidency of the Council.
Capital Series events are single-day, high-level policy gatherings dedicated to advancing open source policy priorities in alignment with the objectives of the member states holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Series builds on the OFE’s annual EU Open Source Policy Summit in Brussels to further connect the dots between the EU and national policy cycles.

Where?
Restaurant Belvedere Nowa Oranżeria, Agrykola 1, 00-460 Warszawa, Poland
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Also, don’t miss the European Open Source Business Association APELL’s Ideas Conference the day before, also in Warsaw.

Does the EU need a New European Standardisation Organisation?
2025-05-21 16:30 - 19:15 (Europe/Brussels) | Avenue des Arts 56, 1000 Brussels, Avenue des Arts 56, Brussels, 1000, Belgium
Europe’s legislative landscape is shifting through regulations like the Cyber Resilience Act, the AI Act, and the Data Act, which increasingly impact software. As software development increasingly relies on open source and agile methodologies, existing standardisation bodies face difficulties adapting their processes to meet these needs. This event will explore whether the European Standardisation System can adapt or if a new entity is required to address the specific needs of IT standardisation.
Is there a need to establish a new European Standards Organisation (ESO) to handle the increasingly software-driven nature of IT standardisation and legal requirements from EU software legislation? While historically successful, current structures and processes of the existing ESOs are seen by many in the IT and open source communities as ill-suited for the fast-evolving demands of software. This roundtable will bring together a broad range of participants from industry, policy, and the open technology community to openly discuss challenges in IT standardisation and the need for a new ESO and the potential requirements for such an organisation.

Where? Avenue des Arts 56, DaVinci room
When? 16:30 – 19:15

EU Open Source Policy Summit
2025-01-31
The EU Open Source Policy Summit is Europe’s premier event for high-level open source policy discussions. This Summit provides a platform for the new EU administration to engage in meaningful dialogue with the European open source community. As authorities on the innovation model powering the digital domain, our speakers will explore ways to harness open source and global collaborative innovation to establish a competitive and sovereign digital environment. The event will feature insights from leading policymakers, OSS business leaders, software stewards, advocates, and academics. Together, they will share their perspectives and propose strategies for shaping the digital policy framework over the next five years.

OpenForum Academy Symposium 2024
2024-11-13 - 2024-11-14 | Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard
Visit the dedicated
Symposium website

Open Tech Afterwork @ OSPOs for Good
2024-07-09 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Bierhaus NYC, 712 3rd Ave, At 45th Street, New York City, NY, United States
Join us for our Open Tech Afterwork in New York, a social event on Tuesday 9 July for all attendees of the UN’s OSPOs for Good 2024 conference. The Governments of Kenya and Germany, along with the UN’s Tech Envoy and the UN Office of ICT, have brought the open source communities to the UN’s headquarters. Now let’s bring the UN to an open source social!
Date: 9 July 2024
Time: 18:00 – 20:00
Venue: Bierhaus NYC, 712 3rd Ave, At 45th Street, New York City, NY (subject to change)
In this spirit, several open source organisations have collaborated to crowdfund and co-organise this occasion. We extend extra gratitude to Mozilla for their significant contribution!
Sponsors

OSPOs for Good 2024: Open Source Networks as Enablers of Global Digital Cooperation
2024-07-09 - 2024-07-10 | Headquarters of the United Nations, 405 E 45th St, New York City, NY, 10017, United States
OpenForum Europe (OFE) is thrilled to be co-organizing the OSPOs for Good 2024 Conference at the United Nations!
This second edition of the OSPOs for Good symposium will be a multi-day conference held on 9th and 10th July 2024 at the UN headquarters in New York City, with a richer global presence of diverse open source thinkers, and with bigger ambitions and strides for championing OSPOs as a global network for good. This is a fully UN-hosted conference which has been co-organized by OFE, alongside the UN Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (UNOICT), and OSPO++, and in conjunction with the German Federal Chancellery and the Government of Kenya.
While the 2024 conference will of course focus on the role of Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs) like last year’s event, this conference will expand the scope to focus on how the conversation around OSPOs are enabling new forms of global cooperation around open source for good in countries. In delivering on this ambition, the 2024 conference is set to be ‘bigger and better’ in every way, serving as a high-level coming out party for open source in the UN system. It will deliver high-level thematic tracks that address key areas of open source policy, as well as highlight emerging examples of ‘open source for good’ from across the globe.
For more information and to register, head on over to the UN website.

NGI Commons Workshop 2024: Co-Creating Digital Commons Priorities for Europe's Digital Decade
2024-06-05 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Amsterdam) | Tolhuistuin, IJpromenade 2,, Amsterdam, 1031 KT, Netherlands
Have you ever thought in detail about what a more open Internet might look like? Have you wondered how governments might work more in the open alongside the rest of society? Or perhaps you’ve considered what it might look like to more intentionally co-create Europe’s digital future by developing shared, public interest digital resources and infrastructures?
If so, the NGI Commons project would like to invite you to join a unique one-day workshop in Amsterdam, in the lead up to the PublicSpaces Conference 2024. This exploratory workshop will inform participants about what digital commons are and their increasing relevance in the European digital policy landscape, as well as work with attendees to co-create priorities for digital commons policymaking during the rest of Europe’s digital decade. The event will also raise awareness around opportunities for funding for digital commons projects in the Next Generation Internet (NGI) ecosystem.
The workshop is an input into the research and policy work of the NGI Commons Initiative, with the outputs being summarized in a detailed policy report that will inform future activities of the initiative. In the morning, we will catch participants up to speed on digital commons policies, the Next Generation Internet (NGI) Initiative, and the state of the digital commons ecosystem through interactive presentations and seminars. In the afternoon, we will engage participants to brainstorm priorities, topics, and technologies that could be of relevance to future digital commons policymaking in the EU.
Throughout the day, we will consider questions like:

Which ongoing initiatives are underway in Europe that seek to impact the policy landscape for digital commons?
Which European values and principles are key to uphold through new policies around digital commons?
What should the future of the digital commons landscape look like in Europe and how might that differ according to the needs of different groups (e.g., national governments, civil society, private sector, development partners, etc)?

This workshop will take place in-person at Tolhuistuin on 5 June from 09:00-17:00 in Amsterdam. If you wish to attend, please register at the link on the NGI Commons website. We hope that participants will also take the opportunity to join us in Amsterdam at the PublicSpaces Conference 2024, which is happening in the two days after the workshop.

Open Tech Afterwork Brussels
2024-04-04 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/Brussels) | BrewDog, Putterie 20, Brussels, Belgium
Open Tech Afterwork is back again to connect the open source enthusiasts and digital policy experts in Brussels. This time, we continue the conversations after the OFE Capital Series Belgium, giving you a chance to network and exchange thoughts after the event. Can’t make it to the main event of the day? Doesn’t matter, join us anyway. The concept is very simple: show up, grab a drink, and start making some friends (or catch up with the old ones).
Address: BrewDog, Putterie 20, 1000 Bruxelles

OFE Capital Series | Belgium
2024-04-04 15:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Bozar, Rue Baron Horta 11, Brussels, Belgium
Welcoming innovators, policymakers, and enthusiasts to OFE’s Capital Series event in Brussels, discussing Belgium’s efforts to realise a future of a digitalised, open Europe. Organised under the auspices of the Belgian Presidency, this event will emphasise the critical role of Member States in steering this vision. Belgium, through its EU presidency and “Embracing Openness” campaign, exemplifies this shift, setting a precedent for how nations can navigate the digital future with open source principles at the core. Together with the Belgian Presidency, we want to highlight the possibilities for enhanced innovation, competitiveness and digital sovereignty through open source and open technologies.
Honouring Belgium’s multilingual model, we have invited national experts to present their work, featuring panels in English, French and Flemish. Please mind that there will be no translation provided.
Kindly be aware that we’ll send an RSVP to verify your attendance, as this event is exclusively in person.
Take a look at earlier iterations of the event series here:

Spain
Sweden
Czechia

OFE Lounge 2024: Standardisation and Open Source in the Age of Software Regulation
2024-04-03 16:30 - 19:00 (Europe/Brussels)
This webinar series is organised under the umbrella of StandICT.eu 2026.
The OFE Lounge 2024 seeks to bridge standardisation and open source organisations, creating a platform to discuss the changing dynamics of software development and ICT standardisation. Drawing from previous iterations of the OFE Lounge Series, as well as studies such as the JRC’s “The Relationship Between Open Source Software and Standard Setting” and OFE’s study “Standardisation and Open Source – Bringing them together” for the European Commission, this series aims to facilitate knowledge transfer between significant open source and standardisation entities, as well as the European Commission. For this iteration of the series, we will focus on the standardisation activities following new EU regulation with implications for software development, such as the Cyber Resilience Act and the AI Act.
All sessions will adhere to the Chatham House Rule.

The EU Open Source Policy Summit 2024
2024-02-02 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Brussels)

OpenForum Academy Symposium 2023
2023-11-28 09:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Brussels) | TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany
The OFA Symposium is the only academic conference covering questions relating to the social, political and economic impact of Open Source. The Symposium enables the linking of research agendas, growth of the research community, and the understanding of the societal value of Open Source.
The 2023 edition of the OFA Symposium at TU Berlin set the OFA’s agenda for Open Source research for the coming years. The 2024 edition is hosted by the Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard to evolve the concept even further and raise the ambition level of the quality and impact of academic open source research.
The OFA Symposium will bring together an interdisciplinary set of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from around the world to Harvard Business School, Boston, in order to explore the transformative power of Open Source software and hardware.
Under the theme Open Source in the Global Digital Economy the OFA Symposium will focus on the social, political, and economic implications of open source. We will examine how open source is changing the way we work, communicate, and interact with each other, and how it is shaping the future of technology and society.
We look forward to you joining us for this unique event, and look forward to exploring the social, political, and economic impact of Open Source together.
The OFA Symposium 2024 will be hosted by the Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard and located in Boston at Harvard Business School as an in-person event
Visit the dedicated
Symposium website

Open Source Driving the European Digital Decade | Spain
2023-11-16 14:30 - 20:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Hotel Eurostars Madrid Tower, Hotel Eurostars Madrid Tower, 259 B, Paseo de la Castellana, La Paz, Fuencarral-El Pardo, Madrid, Community of Madrid, 28046, Spain

OSPOs for Good: Building & Designing Cooperative Digital Infrastructure
2023-06-21 09:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) | UN Headquarters New York, 405 E 42nd St, New York, NY, 10017, United States
In-person event, June 21, 2023 at the UN Headquarters New York
Seats are limited, but if you are interested in joining this event, email events@openforumeurope.org.

OSOR Webinar: Mapping the public sector needs
2023-06-13 13:00 - 15:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Virtual
The European Commission’s Open Source Observatory (OSOR) is organising a series of webinars to share collective knowledge on the use of Open Source Software (OSS) in public administration. This second webinar is scheduled on Tuesday 13 June, from 1 to 3pm CET, and is focused on “Mapping the public sector needs”. The webinar aims to summarize the dialogues between private and public sector. After a first workshop which discussed challenges, the second workshop focussed on possible ways forward. Be it implementing new solutions, adapting existing systems to local contexts, fulfilling local legal requirements or finding the right tools, good collaboration between the public and private sector can greatly facilitate development of open administrations.
The webinar is open to all and would be of interest to anyone involved in making IT policy and decisions in public administration, implementers, open source providers and so on.
The series of webinars aims to spread the knowledge to a large audience, both on the day of the webinar and through the recording and materials produced after the webinar. Interested individuals can register for the webinar through the link provided.
Agenda:
To be published soon.
Find out more here.

The Cyber Resilience Act and Open Source Software
2023-05-25 08:30 - 10:30 (Europe/Brussels) | Avenue des Arts 56, 1000 Brussels, Avenue des Arts 56, Brussels, 1000, Belgium
08:30 – Registration and Breakfast
09:00 – Opening Statement & Panel
10:00 – Q&A

OSOR Webinar: Policy & Strategy Aspects of OSS in Public Administration
2023-05-04 14:00 - 16:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Virtual
The European Commission’s Open Source Observatory (OSOR) is organising a series of webinars to share collective knowledge on the use of Open Source Software (OSS) in public administration. The first webinar is scheduled on Thursday 4 May, from 2pm to 4pm CET, and is focused on the “Policy & Strategy Aspects of OSS in Public Administration”. The webinar aims to summarize the dialogues with thirty local experts on the difficulties and solutions encountered with procurement, selecting software, releasing in-house software, managing migrations, finding data, and collaboration between cities.
The webinar is open to all and would be of interest to anyone involved in making IT policy and decisions in public administration. The later webinars in the series will involve a mix of public sector, private sector, and service providers. The topics covered in this webinar include decision frameworks, procurement, communication with users, and budgeting.
The series of webinars aims to spread the knowledge to a large audience, both on the day of the webinar and through the recording and materials produced after the webinar. Interested individuals can register for the webinar through the link provided.
Agenda:
14:00 – 14:10: Welcome and introduction by Open Source Observatory (OSOR) and the European Commission
(Ciáran O’Riordan, OSOR & Monika Sowinska, Project Officer, European Commission, DG Informatics)
14:10 – 14:40: Presentation of the output of the workshop on Open Source in public administration
(Ciarán O’Riordan, OSOR)
14:40 – 14:55: National level – Luxembourgish efforts
(Francois Thill, Director of CyberSecurity and Digital Technologies at the Ministry of the Economy, Luxembourg)
14:55 – 15:10: City level – Open Source in Échirolles
(Nicolas Vivant, Digital & Culture Strategy Manager, City of Échirolles, France)
15:10 – 15:25: Regional collaboration – Open Source program office in Brno
(Lucie Smolka, Open Cities, Czech Republic)
15:25 – 15:40: The economic impact of Open Source policies in the public sector
(Paula Grzegorzewska, OSOR)
15:40 – 16:00: Q&A final notes, OSOR opportunities and closing
(Ciarán O’Riordan, OSOR)
Find out more here.

Open Source Driving the European Digital Decade | Sweden
2023-04-18 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Internetstiftelsen, Hammarby Kaj 10D, Stockholm, 12030, Sweden
Due to high demand to participate, we only accept registrations for in-person to a waiting list.
The event will be live streamed.
On 18 April, 2023, OpenForum Europe, the Swedish Internet Foundation, NOSAD (Network Open Source and Data), Open Source Sweden, Red Hat and the Foundation for Public Code are hosting a one-day conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Following the events in Toulouse, France, and Brno, Czech Republic, we are now bringing together European actors in the Nordic capital to continue the discussion of the role of open technologies in shaping our shared digital future.
At the European level, the discussions of open source as a tool to tackle our shared digital challenges have matured. There is broad agreement that the relevance goes beyond cost-savings for the public sector. Today, open source plays a central role in strategies for increased sovereignty, competitiveness and innovation.
Venue: Internetstiftelsen, Hammarby kaj 10D, Stockholm, Sweden.

The EU Open Source Policy Summit 2023
2023-02-03 09:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Brussels)
Europe’s key to success is collaboration. In the digital sphere, collaboration can be spelled Open Source. Open Source is intricately linked to Europe’s collaborative culture. This has made Europe an Open Source champion. With the Open Source innovation model being a fundamental building block of our digital reality, Europe is well-placed to achieve its digital policy goals using Open Source as a strategic tool.
The EU Open Source Policy Summit 2023 will explore Europe’s opportunities when levering these modes of technological collaboration at scale. Looking at digital policy through this lens, open and collaborative innovation is a source of optimism.
2023 will be the ninth year OpenForum Europe hosts its Open Source policy event right before FOSDEM. While Europe and the EU is our vantage point, this hybrid event welcomes speakers and participants from across the globe.

Open Source as Sustainable Digital Infrastructure
2022-11-21 10:00 - 14:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Waterfront Congress Centre, Stockholm, Sweden, Nils Ericsons Plan 4, Stockholm, 111 64, Sweden
As part of the Internet Days in Stockholm, Sweden, OpenForum Europe, together with the Swedish Public Sector Network Open Source and Data, are organising a track on Cybersecurity Security, sustainability and Digital Sovereignty. Open source software is a critical and extensive part of our common digital infrastructure. It presents both opportunities and risks. Opportunities such as enhanced interoperability of infrastructure and services within and across borders, as well as reducing dependencies and lock-in to individual vendors and system solutions. The risks stem from sustainability issues and include the fact that many open source applications are maintained by volunteers and there is a general under-investment in maintenance. This in a rapidly changing geopolitical and digital environment, where vulnerabilities, introduced knowingly or unknowingly, are increasingly at risk of being exploited by malicious third parties with potentially major consequences.
As the public sector intends to reuse more of each other’s digital infrastructure, there is a growing need to ensure that what we do is secure. Therefore, this thematic track aims to show the extent of open source software in our own and shared digital infrastructure, and its importance for our digital sovereignty and cybersecurity.
In January 2023, Sweden will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. Already today, we can see some challenges and areas that will be important to address in the public sector in the coming years.
This track will look at these questions from an international perspective and the work being done globally within, for example, the US government in collaboration with the technology industry, the cross-sector collaboration taking place in the private sector, and the transatlantic work between North American and European countries that is beginning to take shape. This will be followed by a panel taking a European perspective. Finally, we will delve deeper into how Sweden can lead and contribute to the development of a sustainable digital infrastructure with open software as a central building block.

Making the AI Act Work: Views on Standardisation and Open Source
2022-10-25 17:00 - 19:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Avenue des Arts 56, 1000 Brussels, Avenue des Arts 56, Brussels, 1000, Belgium
This event will take place in-person in Brussels at Avenue des Arts 56 and will be followed by social drinks.
The AI Act is clearly one of the most complex pieces of legislation to recently arrive in the Parliament, with intense debate on how to fulfil the regulation’s objectives and ensure that effective enforcement is possible. It has required understanding not only of what AI is today, but also consideration for what is needed to allow the development of the AI of tomorrow and how to be ready for its consequences. Standardisation and Open Source are where regulation meets the technology.
MEP Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens) will give an opening statement, which will then be followed by two panels:
Our first panel will explore the question of how existing standards and standards organisations will play a role for the effectiveness of the AI Act. The speakers will touch on the implications of the current proposals being negotiated, but also the future compliance of the AI Act.
Our second panel will explore the implications of the AI Act for open source development. Open source communities today are developing best practices for responsible AI, practices that can inform “state of the art” compliance in the Act. At the same time, the Act presents challenges to developers building open source AI components and systems.

Open Source Driving the European Digital Decade | Czech Presidency
2022-09-16 09:30 - 18:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Faculty of Informatics Masaryk University, Botanická 68A, Brno, Brno-Královo Pole-Ponava, 602 00, Czech Republic

OSPOs! New Approaches to Public Sector Open Source
2022-06-20 18:00 - 21:00 (Europe/Brussels) | Hotel Mercure Toulouse Centre Compans, Boulevard Lascrosses, 8 Esp. Compans Caffarelli, Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, 31000, France
OFE is excited to invite you to the release event of our report on Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs) in Government. The paper will be discussed over cocktails at the Hotel Mercure Toulouse Centre Compans in Toulouse (France), the evening before the Digital Assembly, the event co-hosted by the French Government and the European Commission.
It is an opportunity for stakeholders in the European digital universe to discuss and share their experiences regarding progress on the digital single market and digital policies.
During this event, we will present and discuss our soon-to-be-published report. Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs) are being built in the public sector (such as the City of Paris, the European Commission and the French government) in order to provide the capacity, skills and engagement needed to be a part of the open source ecosystem in a meaningful way. For policymakers and especially CIOs they are a tool for executing on policy objectives where open source can be an enabler, such as digital sovereignty, cybersecurity and public sector innovation in general. As such, they can help deliver value for citizens around the world at scale.
Following the panel debate with members of the report’s expert group, we invite you to the cocktail reception at the same venue.
Please respect the current COVID19 regulations and stay at home if you feel unwell or might have contracted the virus.

Open Tech Afterwork
2022-04-26 18:30 - 21:30 (Europe/Brussels) | Ginette, Pl. du Luxembourg 5, Brussels, 1050, Belgium
Join the informal afterwork of the Open Tech community in Brussels

Open Strategic Autonomy: Public and Private Sector Perspectives
2022-03-23 16:00 - 18:15 (Europe/Brussels) | Virtual
The increased attention on digital autonomy stems from concerns regarding user-control of IT infrastructures, services and products that our economy depends on. In a soon-to-be-published paper by OpenForum Europe, we outline how these concerns are nothing new to people following the open technology space. Put simply, open technologies, in particular open source and open standards, give the user and developer the control that at a societal level delivers digital autonomy.
At this event, the speakers and panellists will look at how open technologies can deliver digital autonomy from different perspectives, such as that of the public sector, vendors of open technologies and the citizens and consumers that engage with the products or services.
Seen from these different perspectives, particular advantages of open tech emerge. They offer control and autonomy for the user, without limiting an openness to commerce, competition and innovation. They lower barriers for SMEs to enter the market and compete at different levels of the technology stack. They bring transparency, accountability and security to the end user.
That said, there are policy challenges facing both the IT departments of public and private organisations, as well as the policy-making arms of national governments. Culture change, strengthening know-how and capacity, as well as outdated IT procurement laws are currently hindrances, albeit surmountable, to realise autonomy, innovation and economic growth with open technologies.

How can Openness find its place in the Data Act?
2022-03-15 16:00 - 17:30 (Europe/Brussels) | Virtual
Data has a key role in achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal and in the EU Recovery Plan, given its potential for innovation and job creation, as well as its contribution to the efficiency and international competitiveness of industries across all sectors. The Data Act aims to create fairness in the data economy by addressing the challenges of access to and use of data in specific situations, including B2B and B2G contexts.
Part of the file addresses the unfair market practices and vendor lock-in in cloud services. Moreover, it examines potential policy options to prevent abuse of contractual imbalances that hinder fair data sharing between businesses and end users.
With its European strategy for data, published on 19 February 2020, the Commission has formulated a vision for the data economy. It will work towards the creation of a Single Market for data, where data flows between countries and sectors, where data is available for use in full respect of European values and rules, and where there are fair, practical and clear rules for access and use of the data. The Data Strategy also underlined that the EU should ensure an open, but assertive approach towards international data flows, based on European values.
Against this background, the Data Act is expected to lay out a regulatory framework for easier cloud switching and model contract terms, complemented by a contractual fairness test for B2B data sharing.
The event will deep dive into the role of openness. Concretely, the discussion will revolve around how the working-methods of the open source community, such as in drafting internationally accepted and respected data sharing licences based on open source principles, can serve as best practices for the European Commission’s policy options on incentivising data sharing.
Furthermore, the panel will discuss the role of open source for cloud and why it is a fundamental building block for cloud switching, to the benefit of businesses and consumers alike. The role of open standards and open APIs to establish a framework for efficient data interoperability will also be tackled.

The EU Open Source Policy Summit 2022
2022-02-04 09:00 - 18:00 (Europe/Brussels)
At the EU Open Source Policy Summit, global technology and policy leaders come together to discuss how collaboration and competition are being rethought as we are innovating to solve the complex global challenges we are facing collectively.

OFA Symposium 2021: The European Commission Open Source Study
2021-11-16 10:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Brussels)
