- Open source software underpin digital payment systems, government platforms, and emergency coordination systems.
- Despite their importance, funding in their development and maintenance has been decreasing.
- Policymakers must recognize open source software as foundational to economic resilience, GDP growth, and democratic governance.
Conversations with diplomats, technologists, and policy leaders at the recent United Nations Open Source Conference revealed that the future of the Internet hinges on who builds, owns, and sustains its infrastructure.
Countries must simultaneously build foundational digital capacity while preparing for rapid technological transformations that could reshape their entire economy. Without this collective investment, we risk deepening global inequities and constraining the potential for collective innovation.
While open source software underpins everything from government service platforms to emergency response systems, it suffers from chronic invisibility and unstable funding.
The Infrastructure Gap
Of 210 countries globally, only:
- 103 have implemented data exchange systems
- 93 have established digital payment systems
- 57 have deployed digital identity systems.
This digital infrastructure gap isn’t just about convenience; it’s about national sovereignty and economic participation. Countries without robust digital public infrastructure risk dependency on foreign platforms and exclusion from global markets.
The European Union’s experience with digital identity illustrates both its promise and its shortcomings. The EU is piloting a Digital Identity Wallet designed to serve 500 million individuals, but privacy concerns have emerged about the current technical framework. Cryptographers recommend zero-knowledge proof technology to protect citizen privacy, yet implementation and testing remain constrained by bureaucratic approval processes. When digital identity systems affect half a billion people, the technical choices made today will determine whether citizens control their digital lives or become subjects of surveillance.
The Funding Crisis
The funding challenges are becoming blindingly obvious in Europe and the USA.
The European Commission is considering excluding open source initiatives from its flagship Horizon Europe funding program, potentially cutting €250 million in support that has sustained dozens of projects promoting Internet freedom since 2018.
In the United States, the National Science Foundation terminated approximately 1,300 research projects worth over USD 1 billion, with USD 11 million supporting open source efforts now cancelled.
As legacy government funding declines, the organizations that maintain critical infrastructure face immediate challenges securing alternative funding to preserve essential systems.
A Path to Digital Sovereignty
The solution requires reframing how we think about open source infrastructure. Rather than treating it as a technical curiosity, policymakers must recognize it as foundational to economic resilience, GDP growth, and democratic governance.
Open source enables digital payment systems that facilitate economic activity, government platforms that serve citizens, and emergency coordination systems that protect public safety.
Countries that embrace open, interoperable digital infrastructure while maintaining competitive advantages will not merely survive technological disruption; they will actively shape its trajectory. This means investing in sustainable funding models, including innovative approaches like digital assets that can provide ongoing support for critical infrastructure.
The future of digital sovereignty will be determined by our choices today about how to invest in, govern, and scale open digital infrastructure. Countries that defer these decisions to private actors or retreat into closed systems risk forfeiting their technological independence right when it matters most.
Read the full analysis of digital infrastructure challenges and opportunities in “UN Open Source Conference 2025 Insights.”
Feven Mekonenn is the founder of Open Web Culture, an experimental research studio examining how emerging technologies shape culture, economy, autonomy, and stewardship.
The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Internet Society.
Photo by SuSanA Secretariat via Wikimedia Commons
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