[Qgis-psc] Call for evidence - impact of open source

Tue Feb 3 11:54:07 PST 2026

Hi everyone, thanks a lot for all the work! I finalised the document and
submitted it.

It is now visible at
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems/F33370573_en

Cheers
Marco

On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 at 08:34, Marco Bernasocchi <marco at qgis.org> wrote:

> Cool, thanks.
>
> I will submit tomorrow and send tonthe mailing list too.
>
> Thanks for all the efforts
>
> On a side note, the commission officer at fossdem working on this said
> thay already had gotten over 2000 submissions
>
> Marco Bernasocchi
>
> QGIS.org Chair
> OSGEO.org VP Europe
> OPENGIS.ch CEO
> http://berna.io
>
> On Mon, 2 Feb 2026, 08:29 Saber Razmjooei, <
> saber.razmjooei at lutraconsulting.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Thanks Anita, Regis and Marco for your comments and editions.
>>
>> There are a couple of comments from Anita, once resolved, I am happy to
>> be submitted. Just for the record, it may be a good idea (similar to what
>> Regis posted from software heritage foundation), to publish the final
>> submitted version to the mailing list.
>>
>> Kind regards
>> Saber
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 at 00:56, Marco Bernasocchi <marco at qgis.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks all for all the input. I'm just back from Fossdem where this
>>> subject was quite present.
>>>
>>> I've added all my points and Anita has been reviewing the whole
>>> submition.
>>>
>>> I would go over all corrections tomorrow evening and then submit on
>>> tuesday mornings in the PSC' name. Is that ok with you (especially Saber,
>>> you put a lot of work in there?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> Marco Bernasocchi
>>>
>>> QGIS.org Chair
>>> OSGEO.org VP Europe
>>> OPENGIS.ch CEO
>>> http://berna.io
>>>
>>> On Tue, 27 Jan 2026, 08:56 Emma Hain via QGIS-PSC, <
>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi All
>>>> Though not European, I believe this will pave the way for other reqions
>>>> - here are my thoughts:
>>>>
>>>>    1. Australia has tax incentives for R&D
>>>>    <https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/incentives-and-concessions/research-and-development-tax-incentive-and-concessions/research-and-development-tax-incentive>.
>>>>    In reading the response, I see mention of grants, but no tax incentives,
>>>>    2. Education is super important - adaptation in curriculum and the
>>>>    later Higher Education course development should be a focus on
>>>>    sustainability
>>>>
>>>> Kind regards
>>>> Em
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 at 23:19, Saber Razmjooei via QGIS-PSC <
>>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Regis,
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for those examples. They are very concise and nicely worded.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think QGIS is not a generic tool and can be linked with some of the
>>>>> EU specific policies (e.g. EUDR, Data Spaces, Inspire) and highlight the
>>>>> importance of it from those aspects.
>>>>>
>>>>> The format of response can change, but first we need to gather all the
>>>>> ideas/comments in one place.
>>>>>
>>>>> Kind regards
>>>>> Saber
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2026 at 14:10, Régis Haubourg <regis at qgis.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi there,
>>>>>> I am following the freedesktop foundations mailing list [0],  which
>>>>>> is dedicated to collaboration between open source projects.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> They pushed a response to europe with many interesting points. The
>>>>>> form of the document is really nice to read and summarized with a short
>>>>>> operational recommandations.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A copy of the response here :
>>>>>> https://nx57269.your-storageshare.de/s/XmF44Cqx96GKibf
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [0] see https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/foundations
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>> Régis
>>>>>>
>>>>>> https://nx57269.your-storageshare.de/s/XmF44Cqx96GKibf
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Le 21 janvier 2026 13:31:48 GMT+01:00, Saber Razmjooei
>>>>>> <saber.razmjooei at lutraconsulting.co.uk>
>>>>>> <saber.razmjooei at lutraconsulting.co.uk> a écrit :
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks for your interest. I have shared with the interested parties
>>>>>>> a document for the draft response. Feel free to share further and add your
>>>>>>> comments/ideas.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Kind regards
>>>>>>> Saber
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2026 at 13:19, Marco Bernasocchi via QGIS-PSC <
>>>>>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi All,
>>>>>>>> I've also started reading this in detail an preparing some notes.
>>>>>>>> @Régis Haubourg <regis at qgis.org> you had a collaborative MD
>>>>>>>> hedgehog somewhere?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I could dump my toughts there.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Marco Bernasocchi
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> QGIS.org Chair
>>>>>>>> OSGEO.org VP Europe
>>>>>>>> OPENGIS.ch CEO
>>>>>>>> http://berna.io
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2026, 12:10 Régis Haubourg via QGIS-PSC, <
>>>>>>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>>> I agree too that we need to raise our voices. I had a deep look,
>>>>>>>>> and fitting into European formalism is not that easy, but worth the try.
>>>>>>>>> I also think that we should debate what could be pragmatically
>>>>>>>>> improved with european public policies regarding our project.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> From my corner, having been on the side of public funder,
>>>>>>>>> contributor in a company, and now benevolent in a research institute that
>>>>>>>>> uses QGIS, I see these bottlenecks :
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - The IT culture around open source is very low, and many IT
>>>>>>>>> departement, or even public market try to fit open source business into the
>>>>>>>>> mold of closed source habits. Europe could improve things by a directive
>>>>>>>>> that forces countries to change their public market rules to allow open
>>>>>>>>> source service buying for any contract. This would secure a lot of
>>>>>>>>> contracts. And allow those contracts to be more agile, because open source
>>>>>>>>> moves fast.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - The cyber stuff pushes us back into a vendor pattern, where we
>>>>>>>>> are a lot more responsible of our distribution packages than the GPL
>>>>>>>>> licence for our own code says.  This increases infra and administrative
>>>>>>>>> tasks a lot, and only big projects can follow the flow and our obligation.
>>>>>>>>>  The CRA open source stewardship stuff releases the legal pressure, but
>>>>>>>>> customers will still treat open source as vendors and will expect the same
>>>>>>>>> level of reactivity over disclosures. That means we need to secure our
>>>>>>>>> package process, anticipate scanner issues, have a proactive security
>>>>>>>>> strategy. That means more QGIS.org funded work in the long run. What can
>>>>>>>>> Europe do? Find ways to secure the funding of open source stewards, but
>>>>>>>>> how? Communication and budget helpers can help, but it is already done
>>>>>>>>> currently. If we are in a new IT cold war, I would be in favor of a tax on
>>>>>>>>> numeric giants that would be funding open source foundations.  The real
>>>>>>>>> political question would then be the way this money can be redistributed (
>>>>>>>>> I'd rather let the economy find its way and not depend too much on polical
>>>>>>>>> choices, but I'm afraid that doesn't work fast enough) .
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - Github centralization fears me too. Funding codeberg
>>>>>>>>> sufficiently so that they are strong enough to allow project have decent CI
>>>>>>>>> minutes, on par features, so that open source project can grow without
>>>>>>>>> paying the AI/closed system toll in Europe would also be necessary. An open
>>>>>>>>> source tool, with one majors strong public funded instance.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> -  Renewing the motivation to contribute to open source in
>>>>>>>>> schools. I think modern centralized IT platform, and AI move contributors
>>>>>>>>> away from the project. I can only see a public educational program to
>>>>>>>>> mitigate this. Open source basics, contribution basics should be pushed in
>>>>>>>>> educational programs (in France, a team is doing a great job currently with
>>>>>>>>> a long term strategy based on open source and commons :
>>>>>>>>> https://www.education.gouv.fr/feuilles-de-route-450426 ) . To me
>>>>>>>>> Europe should also launch a funded program alike the Google Summer of Code,
>>>>>>>>> publicly funded.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> - Finally, Europe should push rules to forbid IT tools that block
>>>>>>>>> real interoperability and lock users in companies in closed ecosystem. We
>>>>>>>>> have shy initiatives around RGPD data portability. Europe should go further
>>>>>>>>> and set up a "vendor locking" score, added to all the IT audits I see.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> @Saber if you take the lead to write something, maybe we could
>>>>>>>>> share a collaborative pad to gather our notes and ideas?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Best regards
>>>>>>>>> Régis
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 1/21/26 08:49, Andreas Neumann via QGIS-PSC wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Yes - I agree it is important.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> It is pretty obvious for us (and the European governments), that
>>>>>>>>> the US government (with a lot of influence on the US economy) is not
>>>>>>>>> anymore a reliable partner. So I believe Open Source and other European
>>>>>>>>> software alternatives to US commercial software where Europe is dependent
>>>>>>>>> on is probably of quite some importance.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> PSC will try to submit something before the deadline.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Andreas
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2026 at 05:20, Valentin Buira via QGIS-PSC <
>>>>>>>>> qgis-psc at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Hi Saber
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Thanks a lot for bringing the topic, I submitted my feedback as
>>>>>>>>>> an individual.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Now I strongly suggest the PSC to do so as well for QGIS. Because
>>>>>>>>>> from the way the call for evidence is worded, it is very obvious (and
>>>>>>>>>> explicit even) that it's preliminary work for a new a new law on open
>>>>>>>>>> source.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> QGIS has this unique ability to trickle down on so many
>>>>>>>>>> disciplines, and in the end on the life of people
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> *If the EU is putting open source software on its strategic road
>>>>>>>>>> map*, this could mean securing new funding for QGIS. And it would benefit
>>>>>>>>>> to the QGIS project worldwide.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> And it could also help to deter side effects of this future
>>>>>>>>>> regulation. What I mean by that, it would be cool to avoid the same burden
>>>>>>>>>> as the Cyber Resilience Act(CRA)
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> P.S: The deadline for submitting a feedback is on 3 February, so
>>>>>>>>>> it's getting closer. [1]
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> P.P.S: I also recently suggested the creation of a Europe QGIS
>>>>>>>>>> user group with potential perks for the EU [2]
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>>>> Valentin
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> [1]
>>>>>>>>>> https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/16213-European-Open-Digital-Ecosystems_en
>>>>>>>>>> [2]
>>>>>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/qgis-user/2026-January/055990.html
>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Andreas Neumann
>>>>>>>>> QGIS.ORG board member (treasurer)
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing listQGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.orghttps://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>>>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> Saber Razmjooei
>>>>>
>>>>> CO-Founder
>>>>>
>>>>> lutraconsulting.co.uk
>>>>>
>>>>>  [image: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/]
>>>>> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/>
>>>>> <https://www.youtube.com/@LutraConsulting>
>>>>> <https://github.com/lutraconsulting>
>>>>>
>>>>> <https://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk/>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> QGIS-PSC mailing list
>>>> QGIS-PSC at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-psc
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Saber Razmjooei
>>
>> CO-Founder
>>
>> lutraconsulting.co.uk
>>
>>  [image: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/]
>> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/saber-razmjooei/>
>> <https://www.youtube.com/@LutraConsulting>
>> <https://github.com/lutraconsulting>
>>
>> <https://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk/>
>>
>

-- 
Marco Bernasocchi

QGIS.org Chair
OSGEO.org VP Europe
OPENGIS.ch CEO
http://berna.io
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