Open source software strategy 2020-2023 of the European Commision

On October 21st, the European Commission approved the new Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023 of the Commission. This is an important step towards achieving the goals of the overarching Digital Strategy of the Commission and contributing to the Digital Europe programme.

The internal strategy, under the theme ‘’Think Open’’, sets out a vision for encouraging and leveraging the transformative, innovative and collaborative power of open source, its principles and development practices. It promotes the sharing and reuse of software solutions, knowledge and expertise, to deliver better European services that benefit society and lower costs to that society. The Commission commits to increasing its use of open source not only in practical areas such as IT, but also in areas where it can be strategic.

The key objectives of the new strategy are to enable the Commission to:

  • Progress towards digital autonomy of Europe’s own, independent digital approach;
  • Implement the European Commission Digital Strategy;
  • Encourage sharing and reuse of software and applications, as well as data, information and knowledge;
  • Contribute to the knowledge society by sharing the Commission’s source code;
  • Build a world-class public service.

The implementation of the strategy will be guided by 6 principles: think open, transform, share, contribute, secure, stay in control. In practice, the Commission aims to reinforce an internal working culture that is already largely based on the principles of open source and achieve the goals of the strategy by the following concrete actions:

  • Set up an Open Source Programme Office in the Commission;
  • Set and promote the inner source default;
  • Enhance the software repository;
  • Revise software distribution practices;
  • Enable and create innovation with open source labs;
  • Develop skills and recruiting expertise;
  • Increase outreach to communities;
  • Integrate open source in internal IT governance;
  • Ensure OSS security;
  • Encourage and promote inner source;

Source: European Commission