OpenForum Europe (OFE) is a European open source software and open standard not-for-profit

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

. Its key objective is to contribute to achieve an open and competitive

digital ecosystem A digital ecosystem is a distributed system, distributed, adaptive, open socio-technical system with properties of self-organisation, scalability and sustainability inspired from natural ecosystems. Digital ecosystem models are informed by knowledge ...

in Europe. Based in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, it launched its operations in 2002 and currently conducts research on topics such as Open Source,

Open standards An open standard is a standard that is openly accessible and usable by anyone. It is also a prerequisite to use open license, non-discrimination and extensibility. Typically, anybody can participate in the development. There is no single definitio ...

, Digital Government, public procurement, ⁣

Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

cloud computing Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mu ...

and Internet policy. Founded by Graham Taylor, Basil Cousins and Robert Blatchford, the current Executive Director is Astor Nummelin Carlberg.

Activities

OFE is a registered interest group with the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

and the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. OFE advises European policymakers and legislators on the merits of openness in computing and provides technical analysis and explanation. OFE promotes open source software, as well as openness more generally, as part of a vision to facilitate open, competitive choice for technology users. OFE works closely with the

, national and local governments both directly and via its national partners. It follows five openness objectives to help direct its work : User centricity, Competition, Flexibility, Sustainability, and Community.

Economic Impact of Open Source Software

In 2021, OFE, in collaboration with Fraunhofer ISI, conducted a study on the impact of open source software and hardware on technological independence, competitiveness, and innovation in Europe for the

The EU Open Source Policy Summit

Started in 2015, OFE organises the EU Open Source Policy Summit . Started as just a few people workshop, its 2022 edition gathered 600 participants and 38 speakers. Topics tackled during the sessions at the Summit included: public sector’s capacity in Open Source, Open Source Software security, Economics of Open Source and supporting the green transition through Open Source solutions.

OpenForum Academy

OpenForum Academy is an independent programme established by OpenForum Europe with the aim to create a link between academias and policymaker. In order to provide new input and insight into the key issues which impact the openness of the IT market, the programme gathers researchers from various countries.

References

{{reflist

External links

OpenForum Europe
Free and open-source software organizations Information technology organizations based in Europe Intellectual property activism Organizations established in 2002