2026-03-17 –, bUm Box
We have conducted an in-depth study into the political, legal and economic feasibility of an EU Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF), a fund for the maintenance of open source infrastructure, building on the successful example of the German Sovereign Tech Agency. Learn about our findings and how you can help us make the EU-STF a reality.
This talk is a call-to-action to join our campaign to convince the European Union that, in order to secure its digital future, it should invest in open source maintenance via an EU Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF).
Right now, the EU is negotiating its multi-year budget for the period of 2028-2034. Traditionally, the EU budget has been focused on regional development and agriculture, but more and more policymakers are realizing that investment in our digital infrastructure is just as important as maintaining physical roads and bridges. We have conducted an in-depth study into the political, legal and economic feasibility of an EU fund for open source maintenance, building on the successful example of the German Sovereign Tech Agency. We assembled a coalition of supporters from industry and civil society, and we have presented our proposal to the European Parliament and Member States.
Now it’s time to take the campaign to the next level and we need your support to make it happen. The goal of this session is to present the high-level design principles of the EU-STF and demonstrate why mission-driven investment, coordinated by the public sector, is important for the diversification of Europe’s funding landscape. It will demonstrate how such a proposal can directly improve the sustainability and health of the open source community globally, and why this is so important for Europe in achieving its digital future.
Felix Reda (he/they) is Senior Director of Developer Policy at GitHub. He has been shaping digital policy for over ten years, including serving as a Member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2019. His areas of interest encompass copyright, freedom of expression, and the sustainability of the open-source ecosystem. Felix serves on the board of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF). He holds an M.A. in Political Science and Communications Science from the University of Mainz, Germany.
Nicholas (Nick‘) Gates is a Senior Policy Advisor at OpenForum Europe (OFE), where he leads OFE’s policy advocacy work on the EU-funded NGI Commons and OSAwards.eu projects, as well as coordinates OFE's research work and organise the annual OpenForum Academy Symposium. He works primarily on open source software, particularly adoption and use in the public sector, funding and sustainability challenges, and the use of open source for social good. Nick has significant experience in digital government and tech policy research and advocacy, particularly around open source, public goods, public financial management, and digital service delivery.