Ossbig Austria

What Ossbig Austria does

OSSBIG Austria (Open Source Software Business Innovation Group) is a Vienna-based non-profit association (Verein, ZVR 515247821) that serves as the coordinating interest community for leading IT managers from Austrian business, science, and public administration. Its stated mission is to position Open Source as a pillar of European digital strategy, advance digital sovereignty, and institutionalize Open Source governance models across the Austrian economy. The organization brings together a high-prestige member roster spanning central government (BMBWF, Stadt Wien, Land Oberösterreich), critical infrastructure (Austrian Power Grid, EVN, Bundesrechenzentrum), finance (Österreichische Nationalbank), broadcasting (ORF), and standards bodies (Austrian Standards International), with leadership drawn from the CIO ranks of those institutions.

Commercially, OSSBIG does not sell software products. Its offering is a community and advocacy platform delivered through working groups (EUDI Wallet, Atlassian/VMware alternatives, Open Source Governance, SOUVERÄNITÄTS-Index, SOUVERÄNITÄTS-Strategie, openDesk), webinars, conferences, policy publications, and a member-only cloud storage platform (OSSBIG Cloud at cloud.ossbig.at). The association coordinates cross-vendor Open Source substitution projects that align member demand with European initiatives such as Gaia-X, EUDI Wallet, and ZenDIS.

The revenue model is that of a non-profit association: recurring membership dues from ordinary (juridical) members, event and conference revenue, donations, and public funding and grants. The operating footprint is Austrian-national with explicit European engagement via partnerships with Gaia-X, OSB Alliance, Eclipse Foundation, CH Open, OSPO Alliance, VOICE, and Industrie 4.0 Österreich. The paid secretariat is small (1-10 employees), with offices at a coworking location in Vienna's 2nd district.

Name

Ossbig Austria

Legal name

OSSBIG Austria (Open Source Software Business Innovation Group)

Website

https://ossbig.at

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

OSSBIG Austria is a Vienna-based non-profit association that convenes leading Austrian IT managers from business, science, and public administration to advance Open Source adoption, digital sovereignty, and European digital strategy through working groups, publications, and events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Breitenfurt Bei Wien

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: The association is funded through membership fees from corporate and institutional members. The statutes indicate that membership dues (Mitgliedsbeiträge) are the primary means of raising material resources.
2. Event Revenue: Revenue generated from organizing conferences and events. The statutes mention 'Erträgen aus Veranstaltungen' (earnings from events) as a funding source.
3. Donations and Public Funding: The association receives donations, public funding (öffentlichen Förderungen), and other contributions as supplementary funding sources for activities.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OSSBIG Austria is a non-profit association (Verein) that convenes senior IT managers from Austrian business, science, and public administration to advocate for Open Source as a pillar of European digital strategy. Its core offerings are community advocacy, conferences, webinars, working groups, and policy publications, supplemented by a members-only cloud storage platform (OSSBIG Cloud) and projects covering Open Source alternatives to enterprise software, the EUDI Wallet, and Gaia-X.

Product overview

OSSBIG Austria is a non-profit association (Open Source Software Business Innovation Group) focused on advocacy and positioning Open Source as a pillar of European digital strategy. The organization does not develop commercial software products; instead, it serves as an interest community for IT managers advocating for digital sovereignty, Open Source adoption, and Open Source governance. The primary offerings include publications (manifestos, whitepapers, policy documents), webinars, and a members-only cloud platform. The organization coordinates projects related to Open Source alternatives for enterprise software (Atlassian, VMware, Microsoft) and digital identity infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OSSBIG Austria: Open Source – Europas Modell für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und digitale Souveränität. The association's main brand identity representing their mission for digital sovereignty through open source.

Products and services

• OSSBIG Conferences and Congresses Conferences and congresses organized by OSSBIG Austria for IT managers, members, and stakeholders to discuss Open Source, digital sovereignty, and European digital strategy.
• OSSBIG Webinar Series Regular webinar series featuring technology presentations, member experience sharing, and product demonstrations on Open Source solutions for members and the wider community.
• OSSBIG Publications and Whitepapers Policy papers, strategy documents, legal opinions, and guidelines on Open Source adoption, digital sovereignty, and related European digital strategy topics, published for download.
• OSSBIG Cloud Cloud storage platform provided to OSSBIG Austria members for data hosting, described as 'a safe home for all your data', accessible via login at cloud.ossbig.at.
• Open Source Akademie Open Source Akademie offered by OSSBIG Austria for know-how building and expertise contribution on Open Source adoption and digital sovereignty.
• OSSBIG Membership Membership program for Austrian organizations (ordinary members) and individual experts (Friends of OSSBIG) providing access to the association's community, working groups, events, publications, and the OSSBIG Cloud platform.

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gaia-XcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean initiative for a federated, sovereign data infrastructure. OSSBIG Austria participates in Gaia-X to promote digital sovereignty through interoperable, open data spaces.
• Gaia-X Hub AustriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational hub for Gaia-X implementation in Austria, coordinating Austrian participation in the European data infrastructure initiative.
• CH OpenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Open Source association fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange in the German-speaking region.
• Eclipse FoundationcoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor Open Source software foundation supporting the Eclipse ecosystem. Partnership promotes Open Source governance models and project engagement.
• ZenDIScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustrian initiative for digital sovereignty, developing sovereign workplace solutions like openDesk as alternatives to proprietary software.
• OSB AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman-speaking Open Source Business Alliance promoting Open Source in the DACH region economy and public sector.
• OSPO AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network promoting Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) in organizations to institutionalize Open Source governance.
• Industrie 4.0 ÖsterreichminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustrian platform for Industry 4.0 digital transformation, exploring Open Source contributions to industrial digitization.
• VOICEminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAustrian IT industry association representing ICT companies and professionals.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Open Source Initiative (OSI): Global non-profit that defines and advocates open source standards. Comparable in advocacy and standards-promotion role but operates globally rather than at national level.
• Linux Foundation: Largest global open source foundation. Comparable in promoting open source adoption and governance, but operates globally with a very different scale, funding model and project portfolio than OSSBIG.
• Eclipse Foundation: Major global open source software foundation supporting the Eclipse ecosystem and broader OSS governance. Comparable in OSS advocacy scope but vastly larger in scale and global footprint; already an OSSBIG partner.

Direct peers

• Free Software Foundation Europe: European non-profit advocating free software and digital freedom across the EU. Comparable mission of policy advocacy and community building around open source, though with a stronger free-software ideological framing.
• CH Open (Swiss Open Source): Swiss non-profit association promoting open source adoption among Swiss enterprises and public administration. Directly comparable in mandate, membership structure, advocacy focus and DACH cultural context; OSSBIG is an explicit partner.
• OSPO Alliance: International network of organizations promoting Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs). Comparable as a community-of-practice advocacy network focused on institutionalizing open source governance, and already partnered with OSSBIG.
• OSB Alliance (Open Source Business Alliance): The DACH-wide open source business alliance of enterprises and public-sector institutions. Highly comparable to OSSBIG in mission (promoting open source adoption), membership model (corporate/public-sector members), and DACH regional focus; OSSBIG is already partnered with OSB Alliance.
• ZenDIS: Austrian initiative for digital sovereignty developing sovereign workplace solutions (openDesk) as Microsoft alternatives. Directly comparable as an Austrian digital-sovereignty vehicle and confirmed OSSBIG partner.
• Open Forum Europe: European not-for-profit advocating open source policy and digital sovereignty at the EU level. Comparable in advocacy mission and stakeholder base, though operating at EU rather than national level.

Regional players

• Linux Foundation Europe: European entity of the Linux Foundation focused on EU open source policy and projects. Comparable in promoting open source at the European level but as a much larger, externally funded organization rather than a member association.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ossbig.at%2F
• Xx.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ossbig.at%2F
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ossbig

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Ossbig Austria