mastodon 4.6.9We are a European think tank that develops new approaches to an open internet that maximize societal benefits of shared data, knowledge and culture.
A European Citizens' Initiative calls for publicly funded social media. But copying the old centralized, surveillance-based model would repeat the harms. Public money deserves a more ambitious target: a Digital Public Space. Aditya Singh explains what that means in practice. https://openfuture.eu/blog/public-money-public-platforms/
🔓 The EU's Open Digital Ecosystems Strategy reframes digital sovereignty: open source isn't just licensing—it's about sustaining communities & Digital Commons. From procurement reform to ecosystem stewardship. Read our latest analysis by Aditya Singh and @tarkowski@101010.pl https://openfuture.eu/blog/european-open-digital-ecosystems-and-digital-commons/
Our latest policy brief, authored by Aditya Singh and Zuzanna Warso, argues that procurement can be more than a purchasing mechanism. Used strategically, it is one of the most powerful tools available for shaping markets and advancing digital sovereignty. Read more: https://openfuture.eu/publication/public-procurement-as-a-strategic-lever-for-digital-sovereignty/
The European Competitiveness Fund proposal invokes sovereignty, but stops short of connecting them to the Digital Commons that would make commitments real. A piece by Aditya Singh on what EuroParl's draft report gets right, and what needs to go further. https://openfuture.eu/blog/from-disruptive-innovation-to-infrastructure/
Open licensing promised democratization, but access alone doesn't guarantee equitable outcomes. That's the Paradox of Open. The NOODL license is one of the most concrete responses to it yet, examined in a new report by @tarkowski@101010.pl
Read more: https://openfuture.eu/publication/noodl-an-experiment-in-equitable-data-licensing-promise-and-limits/
First EU ruling on AI training: TDM exceptions apply, but models can't memorize copyrighted works. Court draws line between learning and leakage, leaving key questions on opt-outs and memorization thresholds. Read @paulk@eupolicy.social latest: https://openfuture.eu/blog/gema-v-openai-memory-is-fragile-garbage-lasts-forever/
Who Controls Europe’s AI Future? Our latest analysis by Zuzanna Warso examines how the EU’s infrastructure ambitions and plans for AI Gigafactories are unfolding.
https://openfuture.eu/blog/who-controls-europes-ai-future/
Digital public spaces need more than regulation; they need public infrastructure. Our new policy brief (authored by Aditya Singh and Zuzanna Warso) proposes public investment in interoperable, commons-based communication infrastructure. https://openfuture.eu/publication/fostering-plurality-integrity-and-safety-in-digital-public-spaces/
What is the role of collective intelligence in the age of AI? A new report from @WikimediaCH@wikis.world, Open Future, and IMD Business School explores this and other questions, offering perspectives on strengthening the knowledge commons. https://openfuture.eu/publication/collective-intelligence-vs-artificial-intelligence/
The availability of public data degrades when project funding ends. Our latest brief, authored by @paulk@eupolicy.social and Aditya Singh, proposes dedicated public storage infrastructure, governed as a commons, as the missing layer in Europe's data sovereignty agenda. https://openfuture.eu/publication/sovereign-data-commons-and-public-data-infrastructure/
🎉 CommonsDB just hit 1 million declarations. Thanks to Europeana and Wikimedia Sverige for making it happen. Next stop: 5 million by summer 2026. Read more: https://www.commonsdb.org/blog/commonsdb-surpasses-1-million-declarations/
📬 Our latest newsletter: Why Europe must build a Public AI ecosystem beyond the "AI race," two futures for the internet (scarcity vs openness), and MEPs calling for European social media alternatives after the Grok scandal. Read more: https://mailchi.mp/openfuture/european-public-ai-newsletter
📢 Just launched: CommonsDB - a new initiative to build a prototype registry of public domain and open-licensed works.
This project originated from our 2021 suggestion on a white paper and is now funded by the European Commission.
We're working with committed partners from Liccium, @europeana@glammr.us Wikimedia Sverige, and the Institute for Information Law (IViR) to create public infrastructure for verifying the rights status of digital content.
🔗 https://openfuture.eu/blog/open-future-launches-commonsdb/
Interested in the European Commission's consultation on TDM rights protocols closing 23 January? Our new policy brief by @paulk@eupolicy.social examines how AI opt-outs evolved in 2025, proposes four principles for a shared vocabulary layer, and provides timely context.
https://openfuture.eu/publication/divergent-mechanisms-elusive-vocabularies/
Unconditional openness doesn't protect the commons when AI companies extract value from public collections at scale. It enables privatization. This new analysis by @paulk@eupolicy.social responds to critiques of our proposed conditional access framework for cultural heritage data: https://openfuture.eu/blog/beyond-control-and-compensation/
🏛️How should cultural heritage institutions share data in the age of AI? Our new paper with the Europeana Foundation explores when heritage data should be available for AI training. Part of the Alignment Assembly on Culture for AI. Read more: https://openfuture.eu/publication/impulse-paper-publishing-cultural-heritage-data-in-the-age-of-ai/
New reporting by @janwlrvn@social.coop sheds light on how the Flemish government is rolling out Microsoft Copilot across public administration: deployment moves faster than safeguards. Part of our joint project with @apache_be@mastodon.online “Buying the Hype”. Read more in Dutch: https://apache.be/2026/04/07/met-copilot-zet-vlaamse-overheid-deur-open-voor-datalekken
The forthcoming revision of the Public Procurement Directives and the Cloud and AI Development Act presents a legislative window to shift public money away from proprietary technologies toward Digital Commons. This brief makes the case for using it. https://openfuture.eu/publication/public-procurement-as-a-strategic-lever-for-digital-sovereignty/
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, writes @jankrewer@mastodon.social for Tech Policy Press:
https://www.techpolicy.press/looking-for-an-exit-europes-way-to-public-digital-infrastructures/
🔍 Can registries make AI training data more lawful? Our CommonsDB workshop explored this with experts from pleias, @creativecommons@mastodon.social Common Crawl Foundation and @kbnationalebibliotheek@mastodon.social
We're building bridges between digital assets, rights info, and AI.
https://www.commonsdb.org/blog/exploring-commonsdbs-role-in-ai-training-data/
Who controls Europe's AI future? The most consequential choices are no longer made through legislation, but through investment deals that are largely out of public view. Zuzanna Warso analyzes this change in a new piece for Tech Policy Press: https://www.techpolicy.press/building-digital-sovereignty-what-does-europe-need-and-how-to-achieve-it/
We are pleased to welcome @CultureDoug@mastodon.social to Open Future as Senior Open Content Specialist.
Doug will lead our work on the CommonsDB project, developing an EU Registry of Public Domain and open-licensed works. With his extensive Open GLAM expertise, international experience, and passionate commitment to free access and Public Domain reuse, Doug is the perfect addition to our mission of sustaining Digital Commons.
https://openfuture.eu/blog/meet-doug-mccarthy-our-new-senior-open-content-specialist/
📄 New White Paper: "Beyond AI & Copyright: Funding a Sustainable Information Ecosystem."
@paulk@eupolicy.social examines how AI impacts information control, argues for public AI models, and proposes a levy system on commercial AI services to support the digital commons.
Read more: https://openfuture.eu/publication/beyond-ai-and-copyright/
🐬 @paulk@eupolicy.social analyzes the first CJEU case on AI and copyright, "Like Company v Google," which examines AI chatbots (wrongly) summarizing online content.
Important for anyone tracking AI and copyright law developments.
https://copyrightblog.kluweriplaw.com/2025/05/28/do-ai-models-dream-of-dolphins-in-lake-balaton/
📬 Our March newsletter covers a couple of the building blocks of EU digital sovereignty, a levy proposal from a major AI company, and what a genuinely public social media ecosystem could look like. Read more and subscribe: https://mailchi.mp/openfuture/building-blocks-for-the-digital-commons-nl54
The first part of CommonsDB Feasibility Study—by @paulk@eupolicy.social, @CultureDoug@mastodon.social, @Posth@mastodon.social, @jpquintais@akademienl.social, Kacper Szkalej, and Thomas Margon—anticipates launching the first public version of the registry after summer.
Europe’s cloud dependency is a strategic risk. Our new brief, authored by Zuzanna Warso and Aditya Singh, outlines how to cut lock-in and use public procurement to back sovereign, interoperable cloud alternatives. Read more: https://openfuture.eu/publication/cloud-infrastructure-as-a-foundation-for-digital-sovereignty/
The EP has adopted its own initiative report, accepting that AI training falls under TDM exceptions. Yet, voluntary licensing will not fix the power gap between AI developers and rightsholders. @paulk@eupolicy.social suggests a revenue-based levy on deployed AI https://openfuture.eu/blog/copyright-ai-and-the-limits-of-voluntary-licensing/
Check out CommonsDB Feasibility Study part 2: 300K+ verified declarations, cryptographic signatures, and decentralized control. It shows how we're scaling trustworthy rights infrastructure for the open web. 📥 https://www.commonsdb.org/blog/commonsdb-feasibility-study-part-2-from-design-to-deployment/
📑 New paper on the evolution of “Digital Public Infrastructure".
Mila T Samdub traces how DPI has transformed globally from openness (2012-2020) through consolidation (2020-2024) to localization.
This research calls for moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches toward locally-adapted solutions.
Read how different regions are reimagining digital public infrastructure: https://openfuture.eu/publication/digital-public-infrastructure-at-a-turning-point/
#DPI #DigitalInfrastructure #PublicTech
Our latest report explores 20 years of EU policies supporting Digital Commons, exploring the shift from Open Access to collective governance of key digital infrastructures.
🔗 Read more here: https://openfuture.eu/publication/from-open-access-to-collective-governance/
As the 🇪🇺redefines its industrial strategy amidst rising geopolitical tensions and external interference, the report highlights how commons-based approaches can support innovation and autonomy.
#GLAMWiki2025: Wikimedia as essential digital infrastructure and trusted tools for cultural institutions.
@CultureDoug@mastodon.social will showcase CommonsDB as part of our copyright infrastructure work—connecting cultural memory with digital commons.
Register by Sep 30: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM_Wiki_2025
Deliberative governance of critical #OpenSourceSoftware packages & their communities as #DigitalCommons could help overcome potential exploitation of the maintainer model, say @jankrewer@mastodon.social & @nckgts@eupolicy.social in their @NGICommons@eupolicy.social piece 👉https://commons.ngi.eu/2024/04/24/responding-to-xz-utils-can-a-digital-commons-approach-reinforce-oss-security/ #OpenSource #PublicDigitalInfrastructure
📆 Workshop Tomorrow
Jun 06, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM EDT
Join @CultureDoug@mastodon.social and other experts in an online workshop hosted by the Open Copyright Education Advisory Network (OCEAN) to explore the new Open GLAM Toolkit for implementing open access policies:
https://www.oceancopyright.org/event-details/introduction-to-the-open-glam-toolkit
Our June Newsletter is out 🌊
✦ read through our “Shifting Tides” report on the state of #OpenMovement
✦ check out the Civil Society Statement on #DigitalPublicInfrastructures #DemocraticInfrastructure
✦ follow our work on #AI, the #commons, and the limits to #copyright
✦ … & more!
Sign up or access the issue 👉 https://mailchi.mp/openfuture/the-open-movement-at-a-turning-point
📱 NEW: “Welcome to the harsh reality of money and politics!” Missed opportunities in #BigTech regulation have left crucial challenges unaddressed - from privacy to children's protection, workers' rights to local media survival.
Essential reading on tech accountability by @avilarenata@mastodon.social and Burcu Kilic in Tech Policy Press ⬇️
https://www.techpolicy.press/ready-for-the-broligarchy-the-tech-accountability-community-needs-a-reset/
In a recent talk at the European Heritage Hub Forum, @paulk@eupolicy.social talked about the implications of #AI systems for the role of cultural heritage institutions today.
Watch the video: https://openfuture.eu/blog/museums-and-ai-balancing-innovation-and-integrity/
The Think7 Italy Summit is happening this week, with the theme “The G7 and the World: Rebuilding Bridges”.
We have been invited to write a brief on “Democratic governance of AI systems and datasets”, which will be presented tomorrow by @tarkowski@101010.pl .
The brief has been a joint effort of three organizations: Open Future Foundation, Centro Politiche Europee and MicroSave Consulting (MSC), with contributions from Renata Avila, Lea Gimpel, and @savi@sigmoid.social.
https://think7.org/event/t7-italy-summit-the-g7-and-the-world-rebuilding-bridges/
🛠️ Discover the new Open GLAM Toolkit for implementing open access policies. Join @CultureDoug@mastodon.social and other experts in a workshop hosted by the Open Copyright Education Advisory Network (OCEAN) to explore this resource. Register for the June 6 event:
https://www.oceancopyright.org/event-details/introduction-to-the-open-glam-toolkit
Who is digital public infrastructure built for? Watch our webinar on DPI in India, Brazil, and the EU, and why the answer matters more than the technology itself. https://openfuture.eu/event/webinar-on-digital-public-infrastructure-promises-and-the-missing-public-role/
Tomorrow, the Netherlands celebrates #PubliekDomeinDag. We’ll be there: @CultureDoug@mastodon.social will present CommonsDB at 12:10, and @paulk@eupolicy.social will join a panel at 15:15 on public domain restrictions in the afternoon. https://publiekdomeindag.nl/programma-2026/
🚀 Building trust in the digital commons with European and Wikimedia Sverige, CommonsDB has reached 1 million verified rights declarations and counting: https://www.commonsdb.org/blog/commonsdb-surpasses-1-million-declarations/
📅 Next week! Join our webinar on Digital Public Infrastructure—Feb 26, 11:00 CET. Exploring IndiaStack, Brazil's DPI & EuroStack with our Zuzanna Warso, our fellow Mila Samdub and rumya@mastodon.social from CNRS.
https://openfuture.eu/event/webinar-on-digital-public-infrastructure-promises-and-the-missing-public-role/
"The question of why DPI is ultimately the question of for whom DPI." Watch the recording of our webinar on digital public infrastructure with Mila T Samdub and @rumya@mastodon.social. 📹️ https://openfuture.eu/event/webinar-on-digital-public-infrastructure-promises-and-the-missing-public-role/
Both the EU and India want greater sovereignty over AI. Neither is close to having it. The Delhi AI Summit made that gap hard to ignore. Read Zuzanna Warso's latest: https://openfuture.eu/blog/what-delhi-revealed-about-the-challenge-of-ai-sovereignty/
📬 Newsletter released: How funding shapes EU AI, Wikimedia's AI moment, and much more. Want this in your inbox? Read the full issue and subscribe to receive future ones: https://mailchi.mp/openfuture/steering-ai-investment
