OSPE Forum 2026

Europe's telecom operators sit at the intersection of two of the EU's most pressing digital priorities: building resilient, sovereign infrastructure and deepening engagement with the open source ecosystem. Yet a coherent vision for how the telco industry, open source community, and public institutions should work together, grounded in contemporary challenges and needs, has historically remained elusive.

This session will present early findings from a forthcoming OFE vision paper exploring what structures, capabilities, and policy frameworks are needed to bring these actors into closer alignment. The paper draws heavily on secondary sources and expert interviews across the European telecoms and open source communities.

The presentation will offer a preview of the policy recommendations that will form the core of the full report, due for publication in late June 2026. It will share initial insights on how operators are currently engaging with open source, examining where the most significant capacity and organisational gaps lie, elaborating what a European-led cooperative model might look like, and considering potential future pathways for policy engagement.