One of six themes that emerged from the EOLE 2026 online kick-off workshop (25 June). Background: see the kick-off topic.
Why it matters for sovereignty. Sovereignty money is flowing, but “if money for sovereignty means giving money to big companies that do not foster free and open source software, we will have a problem”. How public funds are structured decides whether they build commons or new dependencies.
What came up at the workshop. This cluster (public money, funding for sustainability, procurement and governance, mutualisation) drew strong support on the board. Two working patterns were described. In France, government funds part of a software vendor’s development on condition that what is publicly funded is opened, while staying compatible with the vendor’s business model. In Spain, the “innovation contract” used in Barcelona takes another route: instead of assigning IP to the administration, the IP stays with the developer, with an obligation to open source the result. This was connected to the idea of “echo copyleft”: rights stay attached to the software via the licence, so desired outcomes are driven by incentives rather than regulation. A recurring tension: public bodies opening everything they fund must be complemented by what private open source editors do, an emerging and not yet mapped practice.
What already exists to build on. FSFE’s Public Money? Public Code!; the Sovereign Tech Fund / Sovereign Tech Agency model; innovation and pre-commercial procurement contracts (Spain / EU); French public open source practice (DINUM-type approaches, co-funding by public banks); mutualisation between administrations.
Open questions. How to “make it rain money on forgotten yet fundamental projects”? Which model contract clauses pair “developer keeps IP” with an obligation to open? How to mutualise investments across administrations? How to attach an estimated strategic value to projects regardless of their headcount?
How to contribute. Reply below with mechanisms, clauses, worked examples and failures worth learning from, ideally by end of September 2026. Rapporteurs welcome for the Barcelona event (November 2026): volunteer by replying below or by direct message on this forum. Possible outputs: a clause toolkit and a short catalogue of funding mechanisms with worked examples.