Event report: ‘Advancing Digital Sovereignty Initiatives in Belgium’

On Thursday, May 7, 2026, BeLibre and the Knowledge Centre Data & Society, organised the event Advancing Digital Sovereignty Initiatives in Belgium. Central themes were open-source software, the role of interest groups and companies in digital autonomy, and the obstacles that companies, governments, and countries experience in taking steps towards digital sovereignty.

The event opened with a conversation between Jurgen Gaeremyn of BeLibre, Alain Reul van EduCode en Christopher Peeters, the driver of the provisionally unnamed Belgian opensource business alliance (OSBA).

• BeLibre is a Belgian organisation that invites individuals and organisations to think critically about their technological choices and the individual and societal consequences of those choices. 
• EduCode is a Brussels-based non-profit and conference initiative focused on digital education, strongly linked to open source.
• OSBA is an association of open source companies, which often serve as a point of contact regarding open source software and an advocate for companies offering open source software.

The central theme of the panel discussion was free and open-source software (FOSS). FOSS is software that—whether available for free or not—allows users to view, use, and modify the source code under the conditions set out in the open-source licence. FOSS can help achieve digital autonomy by:

• More transparency. FOSS clarifies how software works. You are less tied to a single vendor and can adapt the software to local needs.
• Strong in the long term. Objections to FOSS often arise from short-term thinking. In the longer term, FOSS protects you against problems such as vendor lock-in, discontinued products, rising costs, or unexpected geopolitical impact (for example, when access to software is suddenly restricted, as happened to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court).
• More ownership and creativity in education. With FOSS, students do not just use digital tools; they can also get to work with them themselves. This stimulates creativity and gives them more control and insight.

In a co-creation session, participants reflected on the potential obstacles to achieving greater digital autonomy. The exercise proceeded as follows. Imagine this: you are working towards greater autonomy as a company, government, or country, but you receive a message from the future that your project has failed. Time for a premortem autopsy: why did our project die? The attendees performed the thought exercise in small groups at the levels of countries, governments, and companies.

Country Level

At the country level, many potential obstacles were discussed. At the top are concerns regarding the fragmentation of levels of authority and the lack of technical skills to move away from SaaS, as well as concerns about the politicisation of digital autonomy.

Government Level

At the public services level, the same, but also different, concerns were expressed.  For instance, governments are often bound by specific contracts, or there is very little internal willingness to change. Additionally, there is insufficient knowledge within government services to properly engage with FOSS alternatives. Above all, a long-term strategy and the political will to implement it are often lacking.

Company Level

At the company level, various concerns emerged. A company is just one player within a large, global context. Broader geopolitical and economic trends could quickly obstruct the path to digital autonomy. However, a company's objectives and structure can also stand in the way. A company often has to justify itself to shareholders and compete with other companies, which can lead to short-term thinking overshadowing the long-term vision needed for digital autonomy. A lack of knowledge and expertise within the company also constitutes a real obstacle.

From the north, Bram Buys of the Dutch OSBA (DOSBA) came to explain the lessons learned. After two false starts (in 1999 and 2009), DOSBA has grown significantly in recent years.

Since 2020, the Dutch government has had a policy of ‘Open Source, unless…’. According to DOSBA, the success of FOSS can largely be understood by the convergence of a number of factors, such as the broad recognition that cloud lock-in is a serious problem, the geopolitical upheavals of recent years, and the pan-European mobilisation for FOSS. In the Dutch context, the case of the International Criminal Court was very impactful.

Their advice for a Belgian OSBA? Do not be guided by ideological puritanism, but accept support from anyone who thinks FOSS is important. Additionally, ensure that you are the phone number everyone can call for advice regarding FOSS.

The event concluded with an overview by Katrien Bernaerts of the Digisprong Knowledge Centre regarding the journey of FOSS within Flemish education. From a modest start with e-leren.be (2008) and Toll-net (2011), the Xerte Online Toolkit became available, allowing teachers to create their own tools. This is further supported by the Digisprong Knowledge Centre, which provides training on digital skills.

From the Department of Education, Digisprong also collaborated on KlasCement.be, where high-quality learning materials can be built and shared by teachers. This year, this approach is being continued, and investments are being made in the rollout of a comprehensive learning environment regarding open-source tools and how they can be used in both the classroom and school contexts. What began as a quiet build-up is now becoming a powerful lever for sustainable and innovative education.

Want to know more about this topic? Then take a look at our digital sovereignty dossier page. Here you will find publications and tools to better understand digital sovereignty and make informed choices about it.

Cover image by Nadia Piet & Archival Images of AI + AIxDESIGN via betterimagesofai.org.