OpenForum Europe

Name

OpenForum Europe

Legal name

OpenForum Europe aisbl

Website

https://openforumeurope.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Policy Advocacy and Research

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Professional Organizations (81392), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

Keywords

• Open source policy advocacy
• Digital sovereignty research
• EU policy convening
• Open technology events
• Public sector open source

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership and Support: OpenForum Europe is supported by major IT suppliers, SMEs, user and consumer organisations, and national partners across Europe. The organization is registered as a Belgian international non-profit association (aisbl) and likely operates through membership fees and project funding from the European Commission.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OpenForum Europe is a Belgian international non-profit association (aisbl) that conducts policy advocacy, research, and stakeholder convening around open source software and digital sovereignty in Europe. It produces policy briefs, research publications, and convening events (EU Open Source Policy Summit, Capital Series, OpenForum Academy Symposium) targeted at EU institutions, national governments, open source foundations, and technology suppliers.

Product overview

OpenForum Europe is a Belgian international non-profit association (aisbl) that serves as a policy advocacy organization for open technologies in Europe. It does not offer a software product in the traditional sense. Its offerings consist of high-level policy events (EU Open Source Policy Summit, Capital Series, OpenForum Academy Symposium), research publications including the OSOR Handbook for public administrations, and policy briefs on semiconductor industry and digital sovereignty topics produced under the ALLPROS.EU project. The organization focuses on driving open source adoption in EU digital policy through convening stakeholders, producing research, and advocating for open standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EU Open Source Policy Summit: The premier forum for open source policy discussions at the highest level in Europe, focusing on embedding open source in EU digital policy and strategy
• Capital Series
• OpenForum Academy (OFA)
• Open Source Observatory (OSOR)

Products and services

• EU Open Source Policy Summit

Quantifiable outcome

• Four collaborations with the UN on Open Source Week initiatives
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Linux Foundation EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026Linux Foundation Europe is a key co-organizer of the EU Open Source Policy Summit and collaborates on initiatives including Open Technology Research with OpenForum Europe and Open Source Initiative. The partnership supports advancement of open source in European digital policy.
• Eclipse FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026Eclipse Foundation sponsors the EU Open Source Policy Summit and collaborates on policy discussions related to open source governance, automotive software, and European digital sovereignty.
• Red HatcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026Red Hat is a Gold sponsor of the EU Open Source Policy Summit and contributes speakers and expertise to panel discussions on open source policy and digital sovereignty.
• SUSEcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026SUSE is a Gold sponsor of the EU Open Source Policy Summit with Frank Feldmann serving as Chief Strategy Officer and keynote speaker at the event.
• GitHubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026GitHub is a Gold sponsor of the EU Open Source Policy Summit with Felix Reda serving as Senior Director of Developer Policy and keynote speaker.
• Open Source InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026Open Source Initiative collaborated on the global launch of Open Technology Research initiative alongside OpenForum Europe and Open Knowledge Foundation at the 2026 Summit.
• Open Knowledge FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026Open Knowledge Foundation co-launched the Open Technology Research initiative with OpenForum Europe and Open Source Initiative at the 2026 Summit.
• European Commission (OSOR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026OpenForum Europe regularly contributes to the European Commission's Open Source Observatory (OSOR), including co-authoring the OSOR Handbook for public administrations. OFE has produced multiple reports under commission including the Local Government Open Source Adoption study.
• United NationsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025OpenForum Europe has collaborated with the UN on four consecutive Open Source Week conferences (2023-2026). OFE launched the UN Open Source Week 2025 Conference Report at the EU Open Source Policy Summit 2026, marking a significant international collaboration on open source policy.
• TODO GroupminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 November 2023TODO Group co-hosted the Open Source Driving the European Digital Decade event in Madrid, Spain in November 2023 as part of the Capital Series.
• BitergiaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 November 2023Bitergia co-hosted the Open Source Driving the European Digital Decade event in Madrid in November 2023, bringing analytics expertise to the Capital Series event.
• ALLPROS.EU ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022OpenForum Europe has created a series of policy briefs for the ALLPROS.EU project, examining semiconductor industry topics including open source silicon, chip design, AI in chips, and EU/Europe regional strengths. The project supports the European semiconductor ecosystem.
• Digital Public Goods AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiv Marte Nordhaug, CEO of Digital Public Goods Alliance, participated as a speaker at the EU Open Source Policy Summit 2026.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Linux Foundation Europe: Europe-focused open source foundation that co-organizes the EU Open Source Policy Summit with OFE and engages in EU digital policy advocacy. Directly comparable as a Brussels-engaged open source policy actor with foundation backing, and a natural partner-competitor for member mindshare and policy influence.
• Eclipse Foundation: Open source foundation sponsoring the EU Open Source Policy Summit and engaging on EU policy topics including automotive software and digital sovereignty. Directly comparable given its open source governance mission, EU policy engagement, and overlapping partnership ecosystem with OFE.
• Open Source Initiative (OSI): Global open source advocacy organization that co-launched the Open Technology Research initiative with OFE and Open Knowledge Foundation at the 2026 Summit. Directly comparable as a peer open source policy advocate with overlapping convening and standards-defining functions.
• Open Knowledge Foundation: UK- and Germany-based non-profit advocating for open knowledge, open data, and open source. Directly comparable as a mission-aligned non-profit using policy advocacy, research, and convening to advance open technology principles in Europe.
• Digital Public Goods Alliance: Multi-stakeholder initiative supporting the discovery and deployment of digital public goods, with its CEO speaking at the EU Open Source Policy Summit 2026. Directly comparable as a non-profit operating in the open source / digital public goods policy space with international scope.
• Free Software Foundation Europe: European non-profit advocating for Free Software in politics, law, and society. Directly comparable as a fellow Europe-based non-profit focused on open source policy advocacy, with overlapping engagement of EU institutions and member-state governments.

Broad incumbents

• Apache Software Foundation: Large global open source foundation mentioned among OFE's ecosystem partners. Comparable as a major open source steward with broader scope than OFE, but less focused on EU-specific policy advocacy.
• DigitalEurope: Brussels-based trade association representing the European digital technology industry. Comparable as a Brussels-headquartered policy advocacy organization engaging EU institutions on digital policy, though with a broader commercial-tech industry mandate than OFE's open source focus.

Emerging players

• TODO Group: Open source program office (OSPO) community co-hosting OFE's Capital Series events in Madrid. Comparable as an open source governance and policy-adjacent organization with overlapping focus on OSPO adoption in public administrations.
• Bitergia: Open source analytics company that co-hosted OFE's Madrid Capital Series event. Partially comparable given its open source ecosystem focus, though it operates as a commercial analytics provider rather than a policy advocacy organization.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OpenForum Europe