EC projects

Working with the newly established Open Source Programme Office (OSPO) of the European Commission on the development of a funding mechanism to sustain the critical open-source software used in the European sector, as well as innovation of new open-source software created by individuals, startups and micro communities who are currently not supported financially. Non-financial sustainability issues and possible solutions are an integral part of this exercise.

This project is part of the Commission's new Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023 'Think Open'. The Open Source Programme Office (OSPO) at DIGIT is the facilitator of this strategy and action plan, involving all directorates-general.

The Open Source Observatory (previously OSOR: Open Source Repository and Observatory) is a collaborative platform created by the European Commission and funded by the European Union via the Interoperability Solutions for Public Administrations (ISA) Programme. It aims to facilitate professionals in exchanging information, experiences and best practices around open-source solutions for use in public administrations, and support them in finding, choosing, re-using, developing, and implementing open-source software, interoperability solutions, and semantic interoperability assets.

The EU-FOSSA project — short for Free and Open Source Software Auditing — aims to increase the security and integrity of critical open-source software. It was launched by the European Commission at the instigation of the European Parliament after the discovery of the Heartbleed bug in 2014.

Following the success of the initial pilot, the project was renewed for another three years. EU-FOSSA 2 builds on the pilot project by extending the auditing of free and open-source software through setting up bug bounty programmes, organising hackathons and conferences, and engaging with developer communities. In addition, EU-FOSSA 2 expanded its scope to a wider range of software projects and communities.

The ePractice project is created by the European Commission for the professional community of eGovernment, eInclusion and eHealth practitioners. It is an interactive platform that allows its users to discuss and influence open government, policy making and how public administrations operate and deliver services.