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Open source in Europe is mature enough to be treated as strategic infrastructure, but not yet mature enough to rely on consistent institutional support. A September 2024 Linux Foundation Research report found rising perceived value, security confidence and strategic importance. It also identified skills shortages, procurement practices, limited maintenance funding and organisational inertia as barriers to making adoption durable. The opportunity is clearest in public administration, where interest is high but formal strategies remain uncommon.
How mature is open source in Europe?
Europe’s open source ecosystem has moved beyond experimentation in many organisations: respondents to the Linux Foundation Research 2024 survey reported increasing value from both using and contributing to open source software (OSS). But adoption is uneven. Many organisations still lack the strategy, people, procurement practices and long-term funding needed to make open source a dependable part of their operations.
The report, Open Source Maturity in Europe: Milestones, Opportunities, and Pathways in 2024, was published in September 2024. It is the third year of the study and combines a Europe-focused survey with interviews involving industry experts, policymakers, community leaders and practitioners. The percentages below are survey findings, not measurements of every European organisation. The report’s sample sizes differ by question; the cited 2024 questions generally drew roughly 180 to 328 responses.
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| 2024 survey finding | What it indicates |
|---|---|
| 64% said the business value their organisation received from using OSS had increased compared with the prior year. | Perceived value has risen across the study’s 2022, 2023 and 2024 waves, with more than half reporting an increase in each year. |
| 52% said the benefits their organisation received from contributing to OSS had increased. | This matched the 2023 result, suggesting that contribution benefits were sustained rather than rising in that year. |
| 66% selected industry standards and interoperability as an area that would benefit from open source; 66% also selected innovation. | Respondents see open source as a way to connect systems and enable development, not only as a software acquisition choice. |
| 55% selected productivity as an area that would benefit from open source. | Productivity was another prominent expected benefit, though the survey does not establish a universal productivity gain. |
These are respondent views about value and potential benefits; they are not audited savings or causal estimates. The report also found that 66% said OSS often lowers software ownership costs and 47% reported reduced IT operations costs. Those findings support a business case worth assessing, not a guarantee that every migration will be cheaper.
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What were Europe’s open source milestones in 2024?
The report’s central milestone is a shift in how respondents describe open source: as valuable, strategically relevant infrastructure whose benefits can compound over time. The findings also show growing confidence in security and strong interest in open development for AI and machine learning. These are signs of demand, not proof that every organisation has the capacity to act on it.
Security confidence increased
In the Linux Foundation Research 2024 survey, 76% of respondents said OSS is more secure than closed-source software, compared with 73% in 2023. This measures respondents’ assessment, not a controlled comparison of software vulnerabilities or security outcomes. Open code can make inspection and collaboration possible; it does not ensure that a project is well maintained, reviewed or configured securely.
Interest in open source AI is high, with a transparency caveat
Forty-three percent of respondents selected AI/ML as the area that would benefit most from being open source. The report cautions that “open source AI” is not consistently defined. If essential model components are unavailable, publication of some code or materials alone may not provide meaningful transparency or make a system fully auditable.
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In the same 2024 study, 82% of respondents agreed with the principle that software developed with public funds should be open source. That is an expression of support among survey respondents, not a description of a legal requirement applying to all publicly funded software.
Which sectors benefit most from open source?
The survey asked which sectors would benefit most from further investment in open source. Its results point to both established technology use and a sizeable public-sector opportunity.
| Sector named | Share selecting it | How to read the finding |
|---|---|---|
| IT | 37% | Ranked first for potential benefit from further open source investment. |
| Government | 36% | Ranked second, close to IT in this measure of perceived opportunity. |
| Higher education | 30% | Ranked third, reflecting interest in open technology in education and research settings. |
These are 2024 respondent selections about where additional investment could have the greatest benefit; they do not rank the sectors by current adoption or quantify the impact of investment. The report’s organisation-level findings underline the gap between opportunity and formal commitment: 30% of public-sector organisations and 17% of education-sector organisations reported having a formal open source strategy.
Why government is a particularly important opportunity
Public administrations buy and operate systems that must work across agencies, vendors and long time horizons. Open standards, shared components and reusable public digital assets can help reduce dependence on a single supplier and make collaboration easier. However, these benefits depend on the capacity to evaluate software, manage security and licensing, fund maintenance, and procure services that support open solutions rather than treating proprietary products as the default.
What is the EU doing to support open source?
The European Commission’s current Open Source Strategy page, updated on 3 June 2026, describes a policy direction that combines adoption, public-sector capability, project sustainability and market development. It builds on a broader European ecosystem rather than a single funding programme. The Commission’s 2024 Open Source Observatory (OSOR) publication adds qualitative policy analysis across 15 European and non-European countries; it provides context, not a replacement for the survey’s quantitative findings.
Public administrations, procurement and shared assets
The strategy points toward more open-source-friendly tendering, stronger networks of public-sector Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs), reusable public digital assets, and checks for openness and digital sovereignty in investment decisions. The 2024 Linux Foundation report also calls for procurement reform and names Germany’s Zentrum Digitale Souveränität (ZenDiS) and France’s Open Source Programme Office as examples. It cites collaboration between public bodies in Sweden and Denmark on shared projects.
European programmes and market uptake
The Commission lists the Next Generation Internet Initiative (NGI), SIMPL middleware for European data spaces, GenAI4EU and the Chips Joint Undertaking among existing supports. The strategy also identifies startup accelerators, legal and licensing assistance, procurement opportunities, an Open Internet Stack catalogue, collaboration through Digital Commons EDIC, and international promotion of EU-developed tools as ways to strengthen uptake. Programme scope, eligibility and calls can change, so organisations should check the relevant programme’s current official information before planning around a specific opportunity.
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Skills, education and contributor mobility
The EU strategy includes support for open source development and contributor mobility through initiatives such as Erasmus+ 2027, alongside investment in learning for schools, universities, civil servants and other groups. The report’s survey offers a reason to treat skills as part of core infrastructure: among individual respondents, 74% said learning and personal development were a very influential reason to contribute to open source.
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Long-term stewardship and maintenance
The strategy proposes measures such as stewardship, dependency analysis, security baselines, mirroring and an Open Source Maintenance Instrument. These address a common weakness in open source adoption: funding an initial release or pilot without providing the people and resources needed to maintain dependencies, fix defects and respond to security issues over time.
How can a public administration adopt open source?
A sound adoption path starts with a service need and a plan for its full lifecycle, not a blanket rule to replace every proprietary product. The following sequence translates the report’s recommendations into a practical institutional approach.
- Set a mandate and accountable owner. Establish an open source strategy that explains when OSS is appropriate, how decisions are made and who is accountable. An OSPO can coordinate policy, expertise and reusable practices across departments.
- Map the service and its dependencies. Record the software, data, interfaces, licences and external components involved. Identify interoperability needs, critical dependencies and any requirements that limit deployment choices.
- Evaluate options against outcomes. Compare candidate solutions on functionality, interoperability, security, accessibility, lifecycle cost, support and the ability to exit or change providers. Do not treat source availability alone as proof that a solution meets the service’s needs.
- Adapt procurement to permit open solutions. Specify required outcomes and open standards where suitable, and make room for different delivery and support models. Evaluate suppliers on their ability to contribute to or maintain shared components as well as deliver a working service.
- Fund operations and maintenance. Budget for hosting, upgrades, security work, user support and maintenance of dependencies. Decide whether the administration will contribute directly, contract for support, work with other public bodies or use a combination.
- Build staff capability and governance. Provide training and define processes for code review, licence compliance, vulnerability handling and community participation. Assign responsibility for decisions rather than assuming that a volunteer community will provide operational support.
- Measure the result and reuse what works. Track service outcomes, interoperability, costs and maintenance needs. Where reuse is lawful and practical, publish or share public digital assets so other administrations can evaluate and adapt them.
The sequence is a governance framework, not a legal checklist. Procurement, security, privacy and licensing obligations depend on the jurisdiction, system and deployment. The report notes that procurement and governance practices often remain poorly adapted to open source; it does not replace current legal or sector-specific guidance.
What is an OSPO, and why does it matter?
An Open Source Programme Office is an organisational function that coordinates open source use and contribution. Depending on its remit, it can help teams choose and manage OSS, establish licensing and security practices, support contributions, and connect technical work with procurement and leadership. A public-sector OSPO can also help agencies reuse shared assets instead of solving common problems separately.
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An OSPO is not a substitute for engineering, legal, procurement or security teams. It is a mechanism for making their responsibilities and decisions more coherent. That matters because the report identifies institutional capacity—not lack of interest alone—as a major constraint on moving from experimentation to durable services.
Is open source software more secure?
There is no universal security verdict based solely on whether software is open source or closed source. The 2024 survey records confidence: 76% of respondents considered OSS more secure than closed-source software. It does not show that open software is always safer, or compare particular products under the same conditions.
Security depends on how a project is developed and operated: whether it has capable maintainers, review and release practices, timely vulnerability handling, secure configuration and a support path appropriate to the system’s criticality. Publicly available code may make inspection and independent collaboration possible, but those possibilities create value only when people and processes use them. For public administrations, security assessment should be part of procurement and lifecycle governance, not inferred from a licence label.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What are the barriers to open source adoption in Europe?
The report’s key barriers are institutional. They help explain why favourable views and reported benefits have not translated into formal strategies everywhere.
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- Organisational inertia: established processes, vendor relationships and internal habits can make unfamiliar delivery models difficult to adopt.
- Procurement rules and practices: requirements designed around conventional vendor arrangements may make open solutions or shared development harder to assess and buy.
- Limited long-term funding: a project can attract money for initial development while lacking resources for maintenance, security response and ongoing stewardship.
- Regulatory uncertainty: organisations and volunteer communities need clarity about how obligations apply to their roles, software and ways of distributing or supporting it.
- Contributor sustainability: projects can depend on a small number of people. Without mentoring, recognition and funded maintenance, their ability to sustain critical software is at risk.
Respondents also described strong personal reasons for contributing: 68% were attracted to projects they found fascinating or used regularly, while 59% said enjoyment of collaboration with peers and the community was a very influential motivator. These factors help sustain participation, but they do not replace institutional support for work that organisations depend on.
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How should organisations think about regulation and governance?
The report describes 2023 as a watershed because free and open source software received prominent attention in the Cyber Resilience Act. It frames regulation as both an opportunity to strengthen cybersecurity and competition and a compliance challenge, particularly for volunteer-driven communities. The AI Act adds context for collaboration on open models, safety and data access.
Survey perceptions and policy analysis are not legal advice, and a general report cannot determine which obligations apply to a specific project or organisation. Requirements depend on current law, the software’s purpose, the organisation’s role and how a product or service is placed on the market or deployed. Before making a compliance decision, consult current implementation guidance and qualified legal or regulatory advice relevant to the case.
Where can open source investment have the most durable impact?
The report’s findings suggest that successful investment should match a sector’s needs to a mechanism that can sustain the outcome. A one-off pilot is not equivalent to an operational service, and a new codebase is not the only useful result: maintenance, skills, governance and procurement capacity can determine whether an existing project becomes dependable infrastructure.
| Investment pathway | Best-fit need | Institutional mechanism | Time horizon and risk to manage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public administration adoption | Interoperability, reusable services and reduced dependence on a single supplier | OSPO capability, open-friendly procurement and cross-agency collaboration | Move from pilot to deployment with a funded support and maintenance plan; manage procurement and governance constraints. |
| Skills and contributor development | Capacity to evaluate, build, secure and maintain open technology | Education, mentorship, staff development and contributor mobility | Develop capability over time; ensure participation is inclusive and not dependent on unpaid effort alone. |
| Project stewardship | Reliability of software that organisations depend on | Maintenance funding, dependency analysis, security baselines and stewardship | Support the lifecycle, not just initial development; account for the risk of concentrated maintainer workloads. |
| Open development in AI and other critical fields | Innovation and collaboration in AI, cybersecurity, cloud and edge, operating systems, semiconductors and future internet architectures | Research and development programmes, shared infrastructure and clear governance | Build transparency and auditability into the work; define what is actually open and address safety and regulatory concerns. |
| European market uptake | Routes for startups, public bodies and users to discover and adopt EU-developed tools | Accelerators, legal support, procurement opportunities, catalogues and collaborative programmes | Link programme support to real deployments and continuing support; verify current eligibility and programme terms. |
What the evidence says—and what it does not
The 2024 study documents reported perceptions, motivations and organisational practices, alongside expert and practitioner interviews. It shows substantial interest in open source and repeated reports of value, while identifying practical weaknesses in procurement, skills, strategy and sustainability. It does not establish that OSS is automatically cheaper, more secure or more suitable than a closed alternative in every case, nor does it measure the outcome of every EU programme described above.
For European organisations, the maturity question is therefore less about whether open source has a role and more about whether institutions can adopt it responsibly: choose it for appropriate needs, procure it fairly, build capability, and support the people and projects on which critical services rely.
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