Mr. Ritter, last year the Berlin Senate adopted an open-source strategy aimed at strengthening innovation and digital sovereignty in the state sustainably. Once again, open source appears to be the answer to digital sovereignty – is that realistic?

International power relations and dependencies are currently undergoing profound changes. This affects administrations and public projects at their core, as well as companies that want to be as independent as possible from proprietary platforms and closed ecosystems. Open source is neither a panacea nor an end in itself. However, if you want digital sovereignty, open source is essential.It's about control, transparency, and the ability to design your own digital infrastructures – or at least to do so more independently. In this respect, we are excited and optimistic about the concrete measures that will result from the new open-source strategy. However, it is important to note that open source does not automatically equate to independence. Those who only have source code, but lack acommunity, maintenance, security and processes, are not yet sovereign. This is why open source is a building block, not a panacea, for digital self-determination.

In your view, what makes a good open source strategy?

A good strategy focuses on both technology and people. Vibrant communities lie at the heart of every sustainable open-source solution. Companies and organisations involved, whether as users or maintainers, need a reliable framework with clear rules to cooperate successfully in open-source projects. We therefore invest considerable effort in community building, for example withinthe Eclipse Foundation, where I am a member of the Board of Directors. There, we observe how transparent processes and sharedcommitment foster innovation and security, as demonstrated by the implementation of the EU Cyber Resilience Act. Without these participatory structures, open source remains an empty shell.

Nevertheless, many companies and local authorities are still wondering: Which license and business model are right for them?

These are common questions, and there are no universal solutions. The choice of license and model must align with the company's or authority's objectives. We regularly provide advice on this topic, ranging from strict copyleft licenses, such as GPL, which ensure openness, to flexible models, such as MIT or BSD, which enable innovation and rapid dissemination. There is also a wide range of business models, including support, open core, and cloud solutions. Clear governance processes are important, i.e., a reliable framework for compliance, security, and managing vulnerabilities and updates. This includes defined responsibilities, transparent release and update strategies, and actively maintaining and further developing solutions. We have successfully implemented all of these processes in our projects and support organizations in selecting and integrating them.

Will open source have an impact in Europe?

Yes, I'm certain it will. However, it's difficult to estimate how quickly this will happen. Open source is gaining significant political importance. In addition to Berlin's open source strategy, the German government recently addressed the issue at the November 2025 European Summit on Digital Sovereignty. That was an important signal. The European open-source industry is also ready to enable digital sovereignty and drive innovation. Additionally, there are early pioneers in the municipal sector. For example, the state of Schleswig-Holstein is consistently converting its administration to open source, which makes it an important driving force. A recent study by Fraunhofer FOKUS on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization (BMDS) showed that the federal administration predominantly uses interchangeable, open-source-based solutions developed in-house for large AI language models, or LLMs. Although there is still a lack of coherent strategies, investment, and determination overall, I have the impression that the advantages of open source are becoming a strong pull factor. As an application-oriented research institute, we have long contributed to strengthening the open-source approach as a sustainable market solution.

What specific steps are you taking to achieve this?

For over 20 years, Fraunhofer FOKUS has been active in international open source communities, including the Eclipse Foundation and the global open source software community OW2. Our approximately 450 Fraunhofer FOKUS employees contribute technical expertise to numerous open-source projects, including the development of data and service ecosystems, simulation environments for mobility, and open-source solutions for public administration, such as the piveau® solution. We develop reference implementations for secure data rooms, design standards for open data, and support the formation of new communities, such as Thinq Qrisp for quantum computing. It's important to note that our approach is not only to provide political and strategic advice, but also to deliver concrete technical solutions.