I recently participated in the opening panel (online discussion) of the German Open Source Wettbewerb (competition) for 2026. This participation had already triggered my earlier posts on open source and digital sovereignty and, less directly, on a European open source AI strategy.
Now the organizers asked for a short quote to use for further marketing. Here we go!
Digital sovereignty requires public-sector IT organizations to systematically build and expand expertise in the use and development of open-source software.
(German: Digitale Souveränität erfordert, dass die öffentliche IT systematisch Kompetenzen zur Nutzung und Entwicklung von Open-Source-Software aufbaut und stärkt.)
And, for those who can stomach two sentences in a quote, the consequence:
Without these competencies, organizations cannot manage existing and new dependencies and will run into vendor lock-in again.
(German: Ohne diese Kompetenzen kann die öffentliche IT ihre Abhängigkeiten nicht managen und läuft direkt wieder in den Vendor Lock-in.)
Spread the word!
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