Matrix Foundation outlines role for new EU Digital Commons consortium

Following the European Commission's Tech Sovereignty Package, the Digital Commons European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (DC-EDIC) has been established to scale digital commons in Europe. The Matrix Foundation has released recommendations for the body, focusing on community building, independent governance, and open access to funding. The goal is to reduce reliance on the €264 billion spent annually on non-European proprietary services.

Strategic recommendations for DC-EDIC

• Community Building: Suggests the DC-EDIC act as a standard-setting and coordination body, similar to the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Governance Support: Recommends providing financial and administrative support for non-profit foundations (e.g., Matrix.org Foundation, Python Software Foundation) to ensure project sustainability.
• Funding and Migration: Proposes using the European Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF) to fund migrations to open source and support the development of full-stack solutions like OpenDesk or LaSuite.
• Security and Compliance: Recommends funding usability, security, and compliance (such as CRA requirements) to help open source projects compete with proprietary software.

Why it matters

The DC-EDIC aims to transform how European governments procure and deploy software, moving from proprietary vendor lock-in toward sustainable, community-governed open source infrastructure.