Europe is entering a new geopolitical and economic phase. Resilience, competitiveness, and digital sovereignty are moving to the centre of public debate. In that context, open source is no longer seen only as a software development model or a community ethos. It is becoming part of how Europe thinks about digital capacity and sovereignty.

For the geospatial community, this shift matters deeply. Open-source geospatial software forms part of the operational backbone through which data is processed, interpreted, and turned into public value. Despite Europe’s strong communities, mature projects, and world-class technical leadership, cybersecurity, scaling and long-term sustainability remains fragile. This is now being recognised more explicitly at European level, including through the European Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy and the Horizon 2026 Work Programme. The former is a component of the upcoming European Commission’s Technological Sovereignty package, whose adoption is expected for Q2 2026; the latter offers an opportunity for the community to address sustainability considerations through economic leadership.

This talk reflects on that changing landscape through the lens of research, innovation, and Europe’s evolving strategic context. It explores how emerging debates on digital sovereignty, AI, and open digital ecosystems are beginning to reshape the wider landscape for FOSS4G in Europe. Together, we will discuss what digital sovereignty may mean in practice for geospatial open source, what kinds of support structures are needed to move from individual project success to durable ecosystem capacity, and how developers, communities, institutions, and companies can help define models of sustainability that preserve openness while strengthening European capacity.

The aim is to look beyond policy slogans and consider the deeper shift now underway. If geospatial open source is becoming part of Europe’s strategic future, would the community be ready to respond, and how? What are the existing gaps to fill, challenges to address, and opportunities to be aware of? And what kind of European digital future does it want to help build?

• Call for Evidence on the European Open Digital Ecosystem Strategy: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en

• A services and business incubator for geospatial open-source developments: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL6-2026-03-GOVERNANCE-06?keywords=incubator&isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502,31094503&programmePeriod=2021%20-%202027&frameworkProgramme=43108390&order=DESC&pageNumber=1&pageSize=50&sortBy=relevance

• Di Marco D., Thabit S., Kotsev A., Christensen A., Minghini M. et al., Open but Not Powerless:
  Towards a Common Understanding of EU Digital Sovereignty, European Commission Ispra, 2025, JRC144908: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC144908

Europe is undergoing a significant transformation in its policy landscape, driven by the rapid pace of technological advancements, increasing geopolitical pressures, and growing concerns regarding digital sovereignty. Concurrently, the Competitiveness Compass has introduced a simplification agenda aimed at streamlining the regulatory environment and reducing the administrative burden on both businesses and public administrations. The Data Union Strategy, adopted in late 2025, prioritises initiatives that facilitate data access, enhance data reuse for artificial intelligence, and safeguard EU data sovereignty.
Within this complex context, the European Commission has proposed a major revision of the INSPIRE Directive, which has been in force since 2007, as part of a broader package of initiatives known as the Environmental Omnibus, designed to simplify environmental legislation. Over the years, INSPIRE has established a unique and comprehensive framework for public sector geospatial data sharing in the EU, serving as a global benchmark for similar Spatial Data Infrastructure initiatives. The proposed revision, currently under negotiation with the Parliament and Council, seeks to modernise and streamline the Directive, aligning it with today’s political and technological landscape that has undergone considerable changes since the Directive's inception two decades ago. This modernisation effort involves simplifying various legal requirements and aligning them with those outlined in the Open Data Directive and its Implementing Act on high-value datasets, which establish an open data regime for several public sector datasets, including geospatial data.
The talk will provide a retrospective analysis of INSPIRE's achievements and lessons learned to date, offer a comprehensive overview of the current European policy framework governing geospatial data sharing, and examine the evolution of INSPIRE, covering its past, present, and future developments, while highlighting specific opportunities for stakeholders and identifying key challenges that need to be addressed.