WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:10.000 That's one slide. 00:10.000 --> 00:13.000 That's fine. 00:13.000 --> 00:19.000 OK, time is pressing, but let's try and move quickly. 00:19.000 --> 00:23.000 What's lowly? 00:23.000 --> 00:25.000 I know there's always some else. 00:25.000 --> 00:27.000 It's not that bad today. 00:27.000 --> 00:34.000 Last month from the Kingdom of Denmark, I happened to be here. 00:34.000 --> 00:39.000 I'm going to be very explicit, because I only have around eight minutes. 00:39.000 --> 00:45.000 I have prepared a deliberately sharpened argument. 00:45.000 --> 00:50.000 Oh, speak closer to the microphone, sorry. 00:50.000 --> 00:55.000 What I am going to say draws from practical experience, 00:55.000 --> 01:02.000 working with the Danish municipality level, so the local government. 01:02.000 --> 01:10.000 And this is years of attempting to make open source work at this level. 01:10.000 --> 01:19.000 The claim I put forward is that European open source policy fails locally, 01:19.000 --> 01:24.000 because it's designed for a different level. 01:24.000 --> 01:31.000 Today, Europe builds digital policy in a multi-level system. 01:31.000 --> 01:34.000 The EU sets ambitions. 01:34.000 --> 01:39.000 The national governments translate these into strategies. 01:39.000 --> 01:46.000 And the local governments are expected to implement. 01:47.000 --> 01:52.000 Of course, this is a diversion or a division of responsibility that makes sense. 01:52.000 --> 01:56.000 It's a democratic society, so it makes sense. 01:56.000 --> 02:01.000 But this is also often where implementation breaks down, 02:01.000 --> 02:08.000 because this is where policy actually meets reality. 02:08.000 --> 02:11.000 And even though I draw from practices in Denmark, 02:11.000 --> 02:15.000 I don't think Denmark is unique to this. 02:15.000 --> 02:19.000 Across Europe, of course, the form differs a bit. 02:19.000 --> 02:24.000 We have more or less decentralization, but all in all, 02:24.000 --> 02:29.000 we have that implementation and risk is pushed downward, 02:29.000 --> 02:34.000 and the control remains upward. 02:34.000 --> 02:41.000 In the end, local authorities, they carry responsibility for a delivery. 02:41.000 --> 02:45.000 But they often lack the incentives. 02:45.000 --> 02:51.000 They lack the competencies, and they lack the protection from risk, 02:51.000 --> 02:54.000 or against risk, you could say. 02:54.000 --> 02:56.000 I don't think they are unwilling. 02:56.000 --> 02:59.000 They are just constrained. 02:59.000 --> 03:03.000 And they are focused on keeping existing systems running. 03:03.000 --> 03:07.000 They need to provide services to citizens. 03:07.000 --> 03:12.000 So what happens is that open source becomes optional. 03:12.000 --> 03:17.000 And digital sovereignty becomes aspirational. 03:17.000 --> 03:28.000 And the strategies they remain documents rather than real working systems. 03:28.000 --> 03:34.000 One insight that stands out from my work that we go as to, 03:34.000 --> 03:38.000 is related to my introduction, but policy designed for one level, 03:38.000 --> 03:41.000 but implemented at another. 03:41.000 --> 03:46.000 It transfers to the risk without transferring the power. 03:46.000 --> 03:52.000 And that's guaranteed to fail. 03:52.000 --> 03:55.000 Because in many public institutions, 03:55.000 --> 04:03.000 digitalization is perceived as so complex that it's better left to others. 04:04.000 --> 04:11.000 And it creates a culture of distance rather than ownership. 04:11.000 --> 04:15.000 So open source suffers as a consequence. 04:15.000 --> 04:20.000 Because it's assumed to be higher, even more competence, 04:20.000 --> 04:24.000 and even more responsibility. 04:24.000 --> 04:32.000 And out of this culture grows a convenient explanation. 04:32.000 --> 04:39.000 The problem is technical, the problem is technical quality, 04:39.000 --> 04:44.000 rather than structural power. 04:44.000 --> 04:48.000 But when you really look at it, I don't think it is actually technical. 04:48.000 --> 04:51.000 It's not a technical problem. 04:51.000 --> 04:54.000 Because if you look at a typical Danish musicality, 04:54.000 --> 04:57.000 there's quite a lot of complexity there. 04:57.000 --> 05:02.000 Already run 3 to 500 IT systems that they manage every day. 05:02.000 --> 05:07.000 Many of these are deeply integrated. 05:07.000 --> 05:11.000 And I don't think it's unique to Denmark. 05:11.000 --> 05:14.000 So complexity is not new. 05:14.000 --> 05:19.000 It's something that's handled every day in the current system. 05:19.000 --> 05:25.000 And replacing this software is not the main channels. 05:26.000 --> 05:31.000 Transitioning the organizations are. 05:31.000 --> 05:35.000 So just to give an example. 05:35.000 --> 05:39.000 And so before everyone working with digital workplaces. 05:39.000 --> 05:42.000 But if you look at the digital workspace, 05:42.000 --> 05:45.000 we do know that the open alternatives exist. 05:45.000 --> 05:49.000 They're there. They've been there for a long time. 05:49.000 --> 05:54.000 But when the underlying infrastructure remains locked, 05:54.000 --> 05:59.000 then the workspace just becomes a surface layer 05:59.000 --> 06:05.000 that we put on top of a lot of deeper dependencies. 06:05.000 --> 06:09.000 So we're just changing whatever the users are seeing. 06:09.000 --> 06:12.000 Instead of changing or without changing. 06:12.000 --> 06:19.000 What actually binds the organization or creates the vendor login. 06:19.000 --> 06:26.000 And again, I think this is not by accident because governance contracts, 06:26.000 --> 06:31.000 competence profiles, leadership structures. 06:31.000 --> 06:36.000 It's all set out to minimize blame, minimize risk, 06:36.000 --> 06:41.000 and not to enable the transition. 06:41.000 --> 06:48.000 And another uncomfortable truth that I'm going to put forward 06:48.000 --> 06:57.000 is that last IT vendors, they are often invited into advisory roles. 06:57.000 --> 07:05.000 They help define what is considered realistic. 07:05.000 --> 07:10.000 So they see the procurement culture. 07:10.000 --> 07:13.000 And when it's the vendors defining the realism, 07:13.000 --> 07:17.000 the sovereignty really follows. 07:17.000 --> 07:20.000 So this is not a software problem. 07:20.000 --> 07:24.000 It's a governance, it's a culture and it's a power problem. 07:24.000 --> 07:28.000 And we need to look at it this way. 07:28.000 --> 07:34.000 I think I'm holding up time because I'm keeping a steady pace here. 07:34.000 --> 07:38.000 And keeping to my script. 07:38.000 --> 07:45.000 So if we're serious, if Europe is serious about digital sovereignty, 07:45.000 --> 07:46.000 we need policy. 07:46.000 --> 07:50.000 Policy must enable the level that actually implements. 07:50.000 --> 07:55.000 And not just the level that decides. 07:55.000 --> 07:59.000 And it's always good to have some suggestions. 07:59.000 --> 08:05.000 So it could require three shifts or it requires three shifts. 08:05.000 --> 08:09.000 We need to distribute the risk. 08:09.000 --> 08:16.000 Because local access, local government, they cannot bear all implementation risk, 08:16.000 --> 08:20.000 while having no control over the strategy. 08:20.000 --> 08:30.000 They need the room to experiment, to fail, and to trust, transition without being punished. 08:31.000 --> 08:41.000 We also need the EU institutions to walk the talk, demonstrate feasibility. 08:41.000 --> 08:48.000 Because if open source, sovereign solutions are considered good enough for Europe, 08:48.000 --> 08:56.000 then start by proving that it actually works in Brussels. 08:56.000 --> 08:58.000 We need to look at new projects. 08:58.000 --> 09:01.000 They must become the exception that challenges the norm. 09:01.000 --> 09:05.000 We have to stop doing what we've always done. 09:05.000 --> 09:09.000 Because we're deep down in a hole right now, and we should stop digging. 09:09.000 --> 09:14.000 That's the only way to get up, stop digging. 09:14.000 --> 09:17.000 So we must consider new projects. 09:17.000 --> 09:20.000 We must start new projects in a new way. 09:20.000 --> 09:24.000 And I'll just skip something here so we can move ahead. 09:25.000 --> 09:30.000 So the question here is, are we willing to start treating governance risk and power 09:30.000 --> 09:35.000 as the actual challenge? 09:35.000 --> 09:40.000 And what will we do differently tomorrow? 09:40.000 --> 09:45.000 We could go home, ask who bears the risk, who holds the power, 09:45.000 --> 09:53.000 and what structural conditions must change before this can work at scale. 09:53.000 --> 09:59.000 Because if we want to move someone, first understand them, 09:59.000 --> 10:04.000 and this means standing where they stand. 10:04.000 --> 10:08.000 So, and not where you want them to stand. 10:08.000 --> 10:10.000 Thank you. 10:23.000 --> 10:26.000 Thank you.