The Linux Foundation has published the World Open source report in Europe 2025. The non -profit organization describes open source as a Strategic advantage for Europebut warns that the lack of cohesion, the acceptance of the leaders and the alignment of policies, could stop the progress of the continent.
The report, presented at the European open source summit, is based on the perspectives of more than 300 IT leaders and concludes stating that the open source has not only been widely adopted, but has become Essential for Europe’s digital sovereignty. Despite this, the study warns that, without greater investment, a greater executive commitment and political frameworks that foster innovation, Europe runs the risk of not reaching its potential to lead global open innovation.
«With the evolution of European policies and regulations, open source communities and ecosystems face a critical transformation moment»says Gabriele Columbro, general manager of the Linux Foundation Europe.
The report reaffirms that the European public and private sectors recognize the value of the open source, not only as a vehicle for the innovation and independence of suppliers, but also as Base for digital sovereignty and economic opportunities. However, without an equivalent strategic investment, a commitment to senior management and a favorable climate to entrepreneurship, Europe runs the risk of losing the opportunity to take advantage of global digital heritage as the most powerful tool to achieve digital autonomy and compete in the global technological scene.
World Open Source Report in Europe 2025, Lights and Shadows
The Open Source is one of the most important movements of world technology and offers business models that accelerate the development of entire industries and create de facto standards. A software and business innovation center that has not stopped growing and expanding objectives, also in AI, the most important technology of today.
The Linux Foundation report leaves us an interesting image of the open source status in Europe, its evolution and implementation, but also its difficulties in the face of the closed and owner code. The main survey data are:
– Los adoption levels Throughout Europe they are high. Operating systems are positioned as the most used open source technology with 64%, followed by cloud technologies and containers with 55%, web development and applications with 54%and artificial intelligence and automatic learning with 41%.
– More than 90 percent of organizations reported a sustained or increased value Open source, indicating that the approach must now change from simply adopting tools to achieve operational excellence.
– The survey indicated that 75 percent of respondents believe that open source produces higher quality softwarewhile 69 percent say it improves competitiveness.
– 63 percent of respondents believe that Productivity gains They are the main benefit, followed by the reduction of supplier dependence (62 percent) and lower costs owned by the software (58 percent).
– Facing the future, 58 percent of organizations claim that innovation will benefit more than a greater investment, and 38 percent prioritize AI and automatic learning as support areas.
EU Sovereign Technology Agency
The geopolitical environment is also transforming perceptions. Open source has gone from being seen as a technical option to be seen as a strategic lever for digital sovereignty.
Some experts ask for the creation of a Sovereign Technology Agency at the EU level to finance the maintenance of open -source critic software. The updates of the Cyber Report and the Law of AI already demonstrate the role of the regulation to balance innovation and responsibility.
“Open source advantages include standardization, collaborative innovation and promoted by the community, profitability, faster commercialization thanks to accelerated implementation, and also offers an answer to the geopolitical challenges we face”explains Philippe Desarguet, Vice President of Orange Engineering and member of the Board of Directors of Linux Foundation Europe. “If it depends on specific suppliers, it could be at risk, and a way to mitigate it is to focus on open source”.
Open source deficiencies in Europe
Despite their high adoption, they persist deficiencies in the way organizations strategically address open source. Only 34% of European organizations have an open source formal strategy and only 22% have established open source programs offices. Both figures are below the world average.
The commitment at the executive level is also deficient: less level C leaders recognize the long -term value of the open source compared to its personnel that directly implements it. «The responses of the survey clearly show that the European open source ecosystem is rich in talent and technical adoption, But he is still maturing in strategic commitment«Said Hilary Carter, senior investigation vice president of the Linux Foundation.
«Technological leadership and sustained innovation of Europe depend on the fact that we close this maturity gap with intentional actions, with sufficient resources and a Support from open source software«. concludes.
You can download the World Open Source Report in Europe 2025 (complete and free) in this link.
