Category Atom FeedWhat will it take to build an open source Europe and how the Digital Commons EDIC can help
2026-10-14 — Advocacy, EU — Amandine Le PapeA few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that Governments could have dedicated open source and digital commons strategies championed by ministers. But that has changed profoundly: in June, the European Commission unveiled a European Tech Sovereignty Package, which identified some €264 billion spent annually on proprietary, non-European products and services as a strategic risk. The Matrix Foundation has been a driving force in this change. Last week, I was in Paris representing Matrix at an event hosted by the General Directorate for Enterprises to discuss the vital role open source plays in Europe’s digital policy agenda. The event was opened by the French Minister Delegate for AI and Digital affairs Anne Le Henanff and the German State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation (BMDS) Markus Richter. At the same time our Developer Relations lead, Andy Piper, was in Luxembourg speaking on a panel with a new European body that grew out of the Tech Sovereignty Package: the Digital Commons European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (DC-EDIC).
The French and German ministers opened the DGE open source event.
The DC-EDIC was created in December last year with the mission to “develop, maintain, and scale digital commons for Europe”. The finalisation of an open call for expert advisors completed the set-up of a first-of-its-kind governmental body that aims to strengthen European digital sovereignty by building, financing, and deploying open source infrastructure solutions. The DC-EDIC is an exciting opportunity for the whole of Europe to catalyse the use of digital commons and ensure the commons are sustainable.
With 12 years under our belt spent building and maintaining Matrix as an open standard, taking it to the point where it serves as the backbone of communications for millions of European civil servants, we have built a strong understanding of the gaps in the market and ecosystem that hold back the sustainable use of digital commons. Here are our recommendations for how the DC-EDIC can maximise the impact of its five goals.