DC-EDIC Launch in The Hague

DOSBA had the privilege of being invited to the launch of the Digital Commons European Digital Infrastructure Consortium on December 11th.

The Digital Commons EDIC (DC-EDIC) aims to build a European community around digital commons by facilitating access to funding, supporting development and scale-up, strengthening public contributions, and participating in digital commons projects. It will function as a one-stop shop for stakeholders such as open-source communities, public administrations, and developers, act as an incubator for strategic digital commons, and accelerate joint projects (for example, a European digital workplace).

The morning programme consisted of speeches by the Member States that have joined DC-EDIC or are currently observing with a view to joining. The event concluded with the official launch by the Dutch deputy Minister of the Interior. The level of ambition and expectations among the participating Member States is high. All expressed their intention to work closely with open-source communities as well as with the market.

In the afternoon, Bert Hubert gave a presentation on the risks associated with using services from non-European cloud providers. He also emphasised that migration to alternative solutions must fully meet end-user needs; otherwise, projects risk losing user trust. This was followed by two panel discussions, one of which included DOSBA. Our message was clear: we welcome the ambition and the willingness to collaborate with the market. From both a Dutch and a European perspective (DOSBA is also a member of APELL), our businesses strongly welcome these initiatives and are ready to work together on the development and implementation of digital commons in Europe.