The InfoQ Podcast

Bridging the Open Source Gap: From Funding Paradoxes to Digital Sovereignty

Dec 8, 2025
Guest
Gabriele Colombo
Gabriele Colombo, the General Manager of Linux Foundation Europe, dives into the open-source landscape, highlighting Europe's contributor strength amid a funding gap compared to the US and China. He discusses the importance of local collaboration for global innovation and uses Neonethos as an example of successful EU-funded projects. Gabriele also addresses the Cyber Resilience Act's implications for small businesses and the need for diversified funding. Lastly, he touches on the emerging relationship between AI and open source, paving the way for future opportunities.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Europe's Contribution–Capture Imbalance

  • Europe has more open source contributors than the US or China but captures far less commercial value and funding.
  • This creates a gap where European projects and founders often relocate to the US for better funding and exits.
INSIGHT

Local Sovereignty, Global Collaboration

  • Linux Foundation Europe aims to 'collaborate locally, innovate globally' to address EU legal and sovereignty needs while keeping projects global.
  • Hosting projects in Europe helps meet digital sovereignty requirements without fragmenting the global open source ecosystem.
INSIGHT

Digital Sovereignty Is Not Isolation

  • Digital sovereignty is an evolution of avoiding vendor lock-in and should not create isolated 'national' open source stacks.
  • The goal is sovereign control without fragmenting upstream collaboration and shared building blocks like Kubernetes.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app