Open Future Joins Journalistic Investigation into Belgian and Flemish Government AI Spending

We're partnering with Apache on a journalistic investigation into how Belgian and Flemish governments are investing in artificial intelligence. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 11 days ago

Eurosky dawns: Building Infrastructure for Sovereign Social Media

The Eurosky initiative is building European social media infrastructure on the ATProtocol, representing a new step in Europe's digital sovereignty agenda as policymakers seek alternatives to Big Tech platforms that serve public interest rather than commercial imperatives. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 11 days ago

Digital Commons on the EU’s Digital Sovereignty Agenda

Digital Commons are moving to the center of Europe’s digital sovereignty agenda, as policymakers look for coordinated ways to fund, govern and scale shared public-interest digital infrastructure. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 14 days ago

Open Future Joins the European Network for Technological Resilience and Sovereignty

We join ETRS to strengthen Europe's technological resilience and sovereignty through knowledge exchange, strategic analysis of technology dependencies, and evidence-based solutions. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 21 days ago

Open letter calls for EU to use open source AI to strengthen European digital sovereignty

This letter calls on EU leaders to harness open source AI as a key enabler of Europe's digital sovereignty and propose a five-point plan. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 25 days ago

GEMA v OpenAI: Memory is Fragile. Garbage Lasts Forever.

GEMA's lawsuit against OpenAI has reignited the debate about AI training and copyright. This post examines the relationship between AI training and the TDM exceptions. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 25 days ago

Leveraging Article 3 of the CDSM Directive to build public AI models

Article 3 of the CDSM Directive allows EU research organizations and libraries to train AI models on copyrighted works. This analysis explores how this legal framework enables public AI development. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 27 days ago

CommonsDB Explorer goes live at GLAM Wiki

CommonsDB Explorer demonstrates how verifiable rights information can be shared across systems, providing clearer and more reliable rights information for cultural heritage institutions and platforms. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 28 days ago

Public letter calls for EU investment in open source sustainability through an EU Sovereign Tech Fund

We have joined dozens of organizations in signing a public letter that calls for the creation of an EU Sovereign Tech Fund to address chronic under-investment in open source software maintenance. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 1 month ago

Building Digital Sovereignty: What Does Europe Need and How to Achieve It

Europe's digital sovereignty requires purpose and accountability—infrastructure independence means building democratic systems with open-source foundations, federated architectures, and environmental responsibility. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 1 month ago

Purpose, Not Power: Rethinking Europe’s Apply AI Strategy

The EU needs purposeful, open-source, and sustainable public AI—infrastructure that serves the public, not an AI-first race driven by dominant vendors. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 1 month ago

A Step Forward, But Not Far Enough: the EU’s AI Transparency Template

The EU AI Office releases transparency template for AI training data—a step forward that falls short on delivering meaningful accountability. Our analysis reveals critical details missing. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 4 months ago

A First Look at the EU’s Budget Proposal and the Push for “Digital Leadership”

EU commits €51.5B to digital leadership in its 2028-2034 budget. Our analysis examines whether the European Competitiveness Fund represents a fundamental shift from market-driven innovation to strategic public investment in digital infrastructure. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 4 months ago

Licensing, Levies, and the Limits of Copyright

MEP Axel Voss questions his own copyright framework while offering insights on remuneration and transparency for AI. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 4 months ago

Open Joint Letter against the Delaying and Reopening of the AI Act

We have signed an open letter urging the European Commission not to reopen the AI Act through the Digital Simplification package. Instead, we call for proper implementation and enforcement of the existing legislation. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 5 months ago

Alek Tarkowski joins the Board of Wikimedia Europe

Alek Tarkowski has been elected to the Board of Directors at Wikimedia Europe. This volunteer role strengthens collaboration between organizations advancing digital commons, free knowledge, and open movement initiatives in Europe. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 5 months ago

Common Pile and Institutional Books datasets chart two pathways for AI Commons

The newly released Common Pile by Eleuther.ai and Harvard Institutional Data Initiative's Institutional Books 1.0 demonstrate that Public Domain and openly licensed works can power robust AI development while addressing legal concerns. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 5 months ago

Joint Statement on Building a Dynamic, Resilient and Sovereign Technology Ecosystem

We have signed this joint statement urging EU leaders to invest in open, sovereign digital infrastructure and reduce platform dependence. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 5 months ago

Europe Talks Digital Sovereignty

The EU takes steps toward digital sovereignty with new policies, but success requires substantial investment in public digital infrastructure. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 6 months ago

Leveraging Public Spending for Digital Sovereignty

The EU is rethinking how public procurement can drive digital sovereignty. Still, its market-focused approach falls short of what is needed to build public digital infrastructure that serves the public interest. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 6 months ago

IETF working group will further develop our proposal for an opt-out vocabulary

The IETF AI Preferences Working Group has adopted Open Future's opt-out vocabulary proposal as their starting point for developing international standards for expressing AI preferences on the open internet. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 7 months ago

Gutting AI transparency in the name of deregulation will not help Europe

The EU's rush to simplify AI regulation risks weakening transparency rules. This regulatory shift threatens core principles needed for responsible AI development. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 7 months ago

From AI Factories to Public Value

The AI Continent Action Plan needs a stronger vision of purposeful AI deployment if it wants to achieve more than just boost commercial AI development. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 8 months ago

Meet Aditya Singh, our new Senior Policy Analyst

As Senior Policy Analyst at Open Future, Aditya brings nearly a decade of experience in digital rights, data governance, and technology ethics. He will lead our activities in the NGI Commons project. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 8 months ago

Is Web Scraping the Only Copyright Concern for AI?

The EU's AI Code of Practice has a blind spot: it only limits copyright compliance requirements to web crawling. This narrow focus ignores other data collection methods—such as torrenting—potentially creating loopholes in AI training data regulations. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 8 months ago

Looking for an Exit: Europe’s Way to Public Digital Infrastructures

The EU must fund and govern digital commons as part of long-term public infrastructure to escape a cycle of dependency on US or Chinese tech firms. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 9 months ago

Own-initiative report by the European Parliament

A draft ITRE committee report on technological sovereignty largely echoes the EU’s industrial agenda, but also fuels a deregulation push. Europe needs public digital infrastructures that serve citizens, not just business interests. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 9 months ago

EU’s Digital Future: Rethinking Public Investment Ahead of the Next MFF

The next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will shape Europe's future amid growing tensions and challenges. Zuzanna Warso analyzes a recent EC communication, recommending better budget alignment with digital transformation through public infrastructure priorities, balanced … | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 9 months ago

EuroStack – A Blueprint for Europe’s Digital Future?

Following an initiative at the European Parliament backed by multiple political parties, Francesca Bria, along with Fausto Gernone and Paul Timmers, coordinated the release of the “EuroStack – Building a European alternative for technological sovereignty” report today. The Bertel … | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 9 months ago

Open Future launches CommonsDB

Open Future launches the CommonsDB initiative to create a prototype registry of public domain and openly licensed works. The registry will enable users to verify the rights status of content from multiple sources. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 9 months ago

Meet Doug McCarthy, our new Senior Open Content Specialist

We are pleased to announce that Doug McCarthy has joined Open Future as a Senior Open Content Specialist. Doug will lead our work on the CommonsDB project to develop an EU Registry of Public Domain and open-licensed works. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 10 months ago

Our feedback on the first outline for the AI training data template

Our feedback on the the first outline of the template for a summary of training data that was presented by the AI office in January. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 10 months ago

Free Chips? Collaboration vs. Sovereignty in EU’s Industrial Strategy

Analysis of the EU's challenge in balancing digital sovereignty with openness in its industrial strategy, focusing on reducing dependence on foreign semiconductors. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 10 months ago

Publicly Governed Infrastructure is the Key to Sustainable Social Media

Recent developments in decentralized social media signal a pivotal shift away from corporate-controlled platforms. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 10 months ago

Advancing Training Data Transparency in the EU AI Act

While the EU AI Act is the most significant opportunity to advance AI transparency, this analysis argues what information should be disclosed in a "sufficiently detailed summary", who it matters to, and why trade secrets cannot be used as an excuse to undermine transparency. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 12 months ago

Open Future joins the Digital Public Goods Alliance

Open Future has joined the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA). As a global steward of digital public goods, the DPGA mission is closely aligned with our goals of cultivating Digital Commons and building Digital Public Space. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 1 year ago

Reclaiming Control: Privacy, Platforms, AI, & Governance in the Public Interest

Support for knowledge sharing today requires engaging with the rapid changes to the digital environment that could impact our ability to prioritize the public interest. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 1 year ago

The Open Source AI Definition is a step forward in defining openness in AI

This week, the Open Source Initiative released its definition of open source AI. This analysis considers its significance as a standard, its limitations, and the need for a broader community norm. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 1 year ago

Generative Interoperability: Building public and civic spaces online

The report "Generative Interoperability: Building public and civic spaces online" co-authored with Commons Network, proposes to treat interoperability as a policy principle that supports the creation of new public-civic digital spaces. | Continue reading


@openfuture.eu | 3 years ago