Open Source at the Heart of Europe’s (and the World’s) Digital Future

Every year, FOSDEM – the Free and Open Source Developers’ European Meeting – turns Brussels into a global meeting point for the Free and Open Source software community. In 2026, that energy extended well beyond the university halls, as policymakers, foundations, developers, and civil society gathered to confront a shared reality: Open Source is no longer operating at the margins of technology policy. It is foundational to Europe’s digital sovereignty, security, and resilience.

From Code & Compliance and the EU Open Source Academy Awards and Policy Summit, to multiple FOSDEM devrooms, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) engaged directly with the community throughout the week, convening conversations, contributing expertise, and reinforcing the importance of open governance in an increasingly regulated digital landscape.

Turning Regulation into Practice at Code & Compliance

The week began on January 29 in Brussels with the Code & Compliance conference, organized by the Eclipse Foundation. The event brought together Open Source leaders, engineers, and policymakers to focus on the practical implications of the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), from compliance and security to automation, standards, and software supply chain trust.

ClearlyDefined Steering Committee members Philippe Ombredanne and Qing Tomlinson presented “Sharing Is Caring: Open Data for Open Source Compliance.” Their session highlighted how open, community-curated compliance data can reduce duplicated effort, improve the accuracy of licensing and security analysis, and enable scalable, automated compliance across the ecosystem.

Celebrating Open Source excellence at the European Open Source Academy Awards

OSI was also present at the European Open Source Academy awards, an event which celebrates outstanding contributions of Europeans to Open Source. Last year, we joined the Academy as knowledge partners. This year, Linux maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman, Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek, Open Science hardware advocate, Dr. Jenny Molloy, Tiny Tapeout founder Matthew Venn, and Software Heritage co-founders Roberto Di Cosmo and Stefano Zacchiroli won awards for their contributions to Open Source! Congratulations to them!

Open Source and Digital Sovereignty at the EU Policy Summit

On January 30, OSI joined public- and private-sector leaders at the EU Open Source Policy Summit, organized by OpenForum Europe. The Summit examined how Open Source underpins Europe’s digital sovereignty, competitiveness, and resilience, with discussions spanning cloud and AI infrastructure, automotive software, public sector capacity, procurement, standardisation, and semiconductor innovation. It was opened by European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen.

OSI Interim Executive Director Deb Bryant and OSI Board Director and Apache Software Foundation president Ruth Suehle participated in the panel “Europe as the World’s Home for Open Source,” which explored whether Europe can position itself as a global hub for Open Source excellence. The discussion examined the interaction between regulation, investment, and research policy, including initiatives such as the EU Sovereign Tech Fund and legislation like the DMA, AI Act, and CRA, alongside the importance of open governance, skills, and institutional capacity. Deb’s comments included encouraging a participatory culture across all sectors, and advocating for the model of international cooperation that underpins Open Source.

During the Summit, Deb Bryant also joined Astor Carlberg (OpenForum Europe) and Renata Avila (Open Knowledge Foundation) to announce the official launch of Open Technology Research (OTR), a new initiative aimed at strengthening independent research and evidence-based policymaking in support of open technologies.

OSI’s Leadership at FOSDEM 2026

From January 31 to February 1, thousands of developers, maintainers, foundations, and policymakers gathered for FOSDEM 2026, one of the world’s largest free and Open Source software events. OSI played a particularly prominent role across the program.

A highlight was the Open Source & EU Policy devroom, one of the main events OSI organized at FOSDEM. Coordinated by OSI EU Policy Analyst Jordan Maris in close collaboration with APELL, the Eclipse Foundation, the Linux Foundation, Mozilla, OpenForum Europe, and OpenSSF, the devroom offered a full day of high-level discussion at the intersection of Open Source and European digital policy, featuring policy-makers, Open Source advocates, and developers.

The program tackled some of the most pressing issues facing the ecosystem today, including digital sovereignty, public procurement, cloud interoperability, data spaces, platform regulation under the DMA and DSA, cryptography, age verification, standardisation, and the Cyber Resilience Act. Sessions combined policy analysis with hands-on perspectives from developers, foundations, civil society, and public institutions, grounding regulatory debates in real-world Open Source practice.

OSI voices were present throughout the day. Jordan Maris spoke in multiple sessions on topics such as engaging policymakers, the Digital Services Act, and standardisation around the CRA. Simon Phipps, OSI Director of Standards & Policy, contributed to discussions on effective standard-setting and CRA-related standardisation, reinforcing OSI’s leadership in open, implementable standards. Thierry Carrez, OSI Board Member, participated in the opening debate on global collaboration and Europe’s digital sovereignty goals, bringing an international governance perspective to the conversation. Notably there was strong participation from lawmakers such as Alexandra Geese MEP and former MEP Marcel Kolaja, parliamentary staff, European Commission staff, national regulators and even senior figures from European Standards organisations ETSI and CEN/CENELEC.

Beyond this devroom, OSI leaders contributed across FOSDEM’s broader program. In the Legal & Policy devroom, Deb Bryant participated in “Unique Challenges in Elected Governing Bodies for FOSS,” examining the limitations of common governance models and the complexities of democratic structures in Open Source communities. In the Community devroom, Ruth Suehle took part in “Building on Success: Sustainability of Open Source,” exploring sustainability not only as a funding challenge, but also through the lenses of policy, security, and long-term community health.

Additionally, Deb Bryant and Philippe Ombredanne signed a Memorandum of Understanding between OSI and AboutCode at FOSDEM, establishing a new collaborative approach to stewarding and sustaining the ClearlyDefined project. Under the agreement, OSI remains the steward of the project, the community retains governance, and AboutCode assumes responsibility for day-to-day operations, including stakeholder coordination, modernizing the technical stack, and significantly reducing infrastructure costs, all within ClearlyDefined’s existing open governance model.

From Europe to the World: Looking Ahead

Across conferences, summits, and devrooms, one message resonated clearly: Open Source has become essential infrastructure for Europe’s digital future, but its strength depends on thoughtful policy, strong governance, and sustained, global collaboration. OSI’s participation throughout FOSDEM 2026 and related events reflected a deep commitment to ensuring that Open Source remains not only compliant and secure, but fundamentally community-driven, inclusive, and resilient.

What emerged in Brussels was not a Europe-only conversation, but a global one. The regulatory, governance, and sustainability questions being tackled in Europe today will shape Open Source practice worldwide tomorrow. As these frameworks continue to evolve, OSI will keep working alongside developers, policymakers, foundations, and partners across regions to translate European leadership into globally beneficial outcomes, and to ensure that Open Source continues to serve as a shared foundation for trust, innovation, and progress around the world. Software freedom matters now more than ever.