Open Future Foundation

What Open Future Foundation does

Open Future Foundation is a Dutch non-profit foundation established in 2020 and headquartered in Amsterdam, operating as a policy research and advocacy organization rather than a product company. Its mission is to shape European digital sovereignty policy around Digital Commons, Public AI, copyright infrastructure, and sustainable information ecosystems, working in close coordination with EU institutions (European Commission, Parliament, AI Act Advisory Forum), civil society networks (EDRi, Digital Public Goods Alliance, Wikimedia Europe), cultural heritage institutions (Europeana, European Libraries), and research funders (Bertelsmann Stiftung, NGI Commons Consortium). The organization is structured around five work areas: Copyright Infrastructure, Public AI, Public Digital Infrastructure, Steering AI Investment, and Sustainable Information Ecosystem.

The foundation's primary technical output is the CommonsDB initiative — a prototype registry of public domain and openly licensed works, paired with the CommonsDB Explorer tool that retrieves rights information via content fingerprinting. By early 2026, CommonsDB Explorer had ingested over 700,000 rights declarations from data partners. The foundation's broader output consists of white papers, policy briefs, and analyses (notably the 2025 Public AI white paper with Bertelsmann Stiftung, the "Paradox of Open" essay, and the NOODL report on equitable data licensing), all distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License. It also maintains a research feed, a Mastodon account on the EU policy social instance eupolicy.social, a LinkedIn presence, and a Bluesky profile, with content syndicated via RSS.

The business model is foundation grant-funded rather than commercial. Open Future sustains operations through EU program funding, project-based grants, and support from private foundations (including Collaborative AI for the Steering AI Investment work area), and does not sell products or services. Leadership comprises a small specialist bench: Paul Keller (Policy Director, IETF AI Preferences editor), Zuzanna Warso (Director of Research, AI Act Advisory Forum representative), Aditya Singh and Jan Krewer (Senior Policy Analysts on NGI Commons), Mila T Samdub (Research Fellow), and co-founder Alek Tarkowski (Director of Openness; Wikimedia Europe Board director).

Name

Open Future Foundation

Legal name

Open Future Foundation

Website

https://openfuture.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Open Future Foundation is a Dutch non-profit policy foundation (est. 2020, Amsterdam) that researches and advocates on Digital Commons, Public AI, copyright, and digital sovereignty for EU institutions, civil society, cultural heritage institutions, and open source communities, funded through grants and operating the CommonsDB rights registry.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Policy Advocacy

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

OER Licensing, Rights & Open Policy Support (Creative Commons) (EDAGAJAO), Developer & Open-Source Communities (MPACAJAK)

Keywords

• Digital policy advocacy
• Open source policy
• Public digital infrastructure
• Copyright infrastructure research
• Digital commons research

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation grants and institutional funding: As a foundation, Open Future operates primarily through grants, institutional funding, and project-based support from EU programs and private foundations to sustain policy research and advocacy activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Open Future Foundation is a European policy research and advocacy foundation that produces publications, policy briefs, white papers, and analysis on Digital Commons, Public AI, copyright infrastructure, and EU digital sovereignty. It builds coalitions with EU institutions, civil society, and open source communities to shape digital policy. Its only operational software offering is the CommonsDB prototype registry and the CommonsDB Explorer tool, which together enable verification of rights status for digital works through content fingerprinting, ingesting rights declarations from multiple data partners.

Product overview

Open Future Foundation is a policy research and advocacy organization focused on Digital Commons, Public AI, Public Digital Infrastructure, and Copyright Infrastructure. The organization produces publications, policy briefs, white papers, and analysis on digital sovereignty and open technology. Its primary product offering is the CommonsDB initiative, which includes the CommonsDB registry (a prototype registry of public domain and openly licensed works) and the CommonsDB Explorer tool for querying rights information via content fingerprinting. The organization's work is organized around five areas: Copyright Infrastructure, Public AI, Public Digital Infrastructure, Steering AI Investment, and Sustainable Information Ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CommonsDB

Quantifiable outcome

• The organization has shaped EU policy debates on Public AI and Digital Commons, with their white paper on Public AI gaining traction across EU institutions.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, key and secondary.

• NGI Commons ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 December 2023Open Future serves as policy lead for the NGI Commons consortium, developing strategic agenda for Digital Commons policies in the context of EU's multiannual financial framework. The organization publishes policy research and coordinates with open source communities across Europe.
• Bertelsmann StiftungcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership on Public AI white paper, developed together with Bertelsmann Stiftung. This publication made the case for treating AI as public digital infrastructure and gained significant traction across EU institutions, shaping European policy debates on public investment in AI.
• EuropeanakeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint publication on publishing cultural heritage data in the age of AI, proposing a conditional access framework for GLAM institutions. Open Future was commissioned to write an early concept note on AI, cultural heritage, and the public interest that fed into Europeana's white paper on Public AI.
• Digital Commons EDIC (DC EDIC)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with DC EDIC and German Sovereign Tech Agency on piloting open source maintenance approaches. The organization argues DC EDIC needs the mandate and resources to match its potential as an anchor for Digital Commons stewardship in Europe.
• Digital Public Goods AlliancesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen Future joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance as a global steward of digital public goods. The DPGA mission aligns closely with their goals of cultivating Digital Commons and building Digital Public Space.
• EDRi (European Digital Rights)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerFull member of EDRi, strengthening connections between Digital Rights and Access to Knowledge movements. EDRi membership is a crucial element of their strategy to forge alliances across the digital rights community.
• Wikimedia EuropesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlek Tarkowski, one of Open Future's founders, was elected to the Board of Directors at Wikimedia Europe, strengthening collaboration between organizations advancing digital commons and free knowledge initiatives.
• IETF (AI Preferences Working Group)keyTechnology or IntegrationPaul Keller, Policy Director, appointed as editor of the IETF working group draft on machine-readable AI preferences. This ensures EU civil society has a voice in standardization processes otherwise dominated by large technology and publishing interests.
• European Libraries (major European libraries)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative exploratory work on a European Books Data Commons with major European libraries. This library-governed infrastructure aims to provide centralized access to digitized books for AI training while strengthening digital sovereignty.
• CommonsDB Data PartnerskeyTechnology or IntegrationThe CommonsDB project, launched by Open Future, involves multiple data partners contributing rights declarations. By early 2026, the system had ingested over 700,000 rights declarations from data partners for the CommonsDB Explorer tool.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Creative Commons: The global non-profit stewarding Creative Commons licenses and open copyright infrastructure; Open Future publishes under CC BY 4.0 and works on adjacent copyright and AI rights issues. Highly comparable mission and policy-advocacy playbook.
• Internet Society: Global non-profit focused on an open, accessible internet and standards-based internet governance. Overlaps with Open Future on open infrastructure, standards influence (IETF), and policy advocacy for an open internet.
• Center for Democracy & Technology: US- and Brussels-based digital rights think tank producing policy analysis and engaging EU/US regulators on AI and platform policy. Closely comparable as a policy research organization operating in digital rights and AI governance.
• Access Now: International digital rights NGO that advocates at EU institutions and global venues on AI, privacy, and platform regulation; directly comparable advocacy model, policy publications cadence, and coalition building.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: Long-standing digital civil liberties organization that litigates, advocates, and publishes on open internet, copyright, and AI rights. Strong overlap on copyright infrastructure (CommonsDB-like rights work) and Creative Commons-style licensing advocacy.
• Stiftung Neue Verantwortung: German tech policy think tank publishing rigorous analysis on AI, platform regulation, and digital infrastructure; directly comparable as a small EU policy research foundation with similar non-profit funding model.
• Open Knowledge Foundation: A UK-based non-profit advocating for open knowledge and open data, with direct overlap on Digital Commons policy, Creative Commons licensing, and EU-level open data advocacy. Closely comparable in mission, size, and policy research model.
• Wikimedia Europe: European association advancing free knowledge and open content; Open Future co-founder Alek Tarkowski sits on its board. Same European digital commons space, same coalition-based operating model.
• Commons Network: A European think tank focused on digital commons, public infrastructure, and EU digital policy - virtually identical framing to Open Future. Operates at similar scale with comparable civil society coalition approach in Brussels.

Broad incumbents

• Mozilla Foundation: A significantly larger global non-profit advancing a healthy internet, open source, trustworthy AI, and digital inclusion. Overlaps on internet health, open source sustainability, and AI/commons advocacy but operates at much larger scale and resource base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xeupolicy.social/web/@openfuture
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-future-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Open Future Foundation