The European Commission has given the green light to the creation of a new pan-European body in the EUwith the aim of promoting the development of open source software, digital infrastructure and the technological sovereignty of the EU. It is about Digital Commons EDIC, o DC-EDICwhat does it mean European Common Digital Infrastructure Consortium; and which was created in order to reduce Europe’s dependence on non-European technologies. Especially from the Americans.
This consortium, which will have its legal headquarters in Paris, is led by France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. It will deal with the development of open European alternatives in technological fields considered critical. Such as AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity and social networks.
Its official name will be EDIC, or European Common Digital Infrastructure Consortium, and its members will be responsible for designing a sustainable financing mechanism to support the production and long-term maintenance of open source software.
Its creation seems to be directly related, therefore, to the open letter that several dozen organizations and companies in the open source software sector have recently sent to the European Union to request the creation of an EU fund focused on support and investment in open source software.
The members who will initially be in charge of its direction will not be the only members the group will have. For now, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Poland will join the initiative as observers. Other EU member states have expressed interest in participating in it, although at a later date. For now, it is unknown which states want to join EDIC in the future.
The official launch of EDIC will be in December 2025
The The official inauguration of the consortium is scheduled for December 11 in The Hagueafter its founding documents were officially presented last July pending the creation of the group as such, which has just occurred.
Approving and launching this initiative represents a very relevant milestone for the European open source community, which has been asking for greater support from the European Union for quite some time. Furthermore, the regional policymakers who have participated in its creation have framed it as part of a broader effort to strengthen digital sovereignty.
All measures in this direction address geopolitical concerns about the excessive dependence of EU countries on technology suppliers from outside the area. Especially from Americans. With the EDIC, Europe takes the first steps to correct this, and also places open source software as the basis of a future with greater digital sovereignty.
Its mission will be to implement a multi-country project focused on common digital tools, addressing the challenges of common data infrastructure and services in Europe, as well as what is known as connected public administration. It will use resources from Member States, which it will bring together and coordinate with the different communities to develop, maintain and scale digital commons, as well as to facilitate their implementation and deployment.
The EDIC will also be responsible for the development of a community of public, private and social actors; in addition to facilitating access to financing through a single window, both physical and online, as well as a specialized knowledge center. It will also offer technical and legal support for maintenance and escalation, and advice on policy and awareness. On the other hand, it will be in charge of coordination and participation in certain projects in which several countries take part and that are focused on digital commons.
First steps and organization
In practice, its assembly of members will adopt an implementation strategy that will be supported in its first steps by a Strategy Committee specific implementation. It will have a management team, which will supervise the daily management and coordination between the parties. It will also have a Board of advisors, which may adopt strategic guidelines, and which will be supported by working groups when necessary.
Access to DC-EDIC infrastructure and activities will be open, transparent and non-discriminatory. Also to its testing and experimentation facilities. To maximize transparency and reuse of the software, all jointly developed software will be released by default with open and open source licenses.
Acquisition in DC-EDIC will follow non-discrimination principles, and the data policy that will follow will contemplate the practices necessary to comply with the GDPR. Among them, agreements for the investigation of security breaches.
There are already several milestones on the roadmap for the implementation of the initiative. Among them, the official signing of the Director of DC-EDIC and its founding team, as well as the launch of a project to support the Digital Europe Program (DEP).
To 2027, DC-EDIC will provide a central point and expert centerin addition to have a Prize and a Digital Commons Forumand to prepare an annual report on the State of the Digital Commons. All with the aim of opening a new stage for Europe’s digital future and helping administrations, companies and citizens to take advantage of building blocks developed in and for Europe that are digital and reusable, as well as interoperable and reliable.
