Digital Commons Policy Summit 2026: for a Competitive Europe

Policymakers, researchers and commoners will meet in Brussels on 12 November to shape the next phase of Europe’s Digital Commons

The NGI Commons project has announced the full programme and speaker line-up for the Digital Commons Policy Summit 2026: Digital Commons and the Open Internet Stack for a Competitive Europe. The Summit will take place on Thursday 12 November 2026 at TownHall Europe in Brussels and will also be streamed online.

The Summit brings together policymakers, researchers, industry, civil society and the communities who build and maintain the Digital Commons. Together they will discuss how Europe can make open, community-governed digital infrastructure a pillar of its tech sovereignty agenda and of upcoming initiatives for sustainable European digital infrastructures.

A final event, and a look ahead

The Summit is also the final event of NGI Commons, a Coordination and Support Action that started in January 2024 and runs until February 2027. Over three years, the project’s four partners have worked to strengthen the Digital Commons and European digital infrastructures. At the Summit, they will set out their ambitions for what comes next.

“Europe has set out a clear ambition with the tech sovereignty package. The digital commons are where that ambition becomes real: open, shared infrastructure built and governed by communities. This Summit brings the people who write the policies together with the people who build the commons, so we can agree on what needs to happen next”.

Dr Monique Calisti, NGI Commons Coordinator, CEO Martel Innovate

Programme highlights

• Opening remarks: Benjamin Bögel, Member of the Cabinet of the European Commission Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, will share some of the priorities for 2026.
• Session 1, Tech Sovereignty Package and the Digital Commons: is current EU legislation enough, and what more is needed?
• Session 2, The Digital Commons Strategic Agenda: from roadmap to implementation, looking ahead to FP10.
• Keynote: Economist Dr Cecilia Rikap (University College London).
• Session 3, DC-EDIC and the Commoners: how the newly established Digital Commons EDIC can work hand in hand with commoners.
• Session 4, The Open Internet Stack Landscape and Context: where Digital Commons fit within the Open Internet Stack initiative.
• Session 5, The Commoners & Funding Session: securing sustainable funding for the people and projects behind the commons.
• Closing remarks and EC statement: Thibaut Kleiner, Director for Future Networks at the European Commission’s DG CONNECT.

Almost 30 speakers will take part, including representatives of the European Commission, the Digital Commons EDIC, DINUM, INRIA, CNRS, NLnet., the Sovereign Tech Agency, EDRi, CISPE, the Digital SME Alliance, Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Source Collective and TYPO3.