Procurement Is the Biggest Form of Fundraising for Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS)
Shifting from "Free Assets" to "Living Infrastructure"
Mike Gifford, CivicActions
Jan 31, 2026 | FOSDEM | CivicActions | Drupal Core Accessibility Maintainer
Background placeholder: pictures/cover-gov-building.jpg. Welcome — I will frame procurement as an infrastructure investment, not charity. Mention CivicActions & my role as Drupal Core Accessibility Maintainer. Thesis: We don't need more donations; we need better procurement policies to fund maintenance & upstream work.
The Problem: Our Model Is Broken
- Relying on donations leads to maintainer burnout & fragile projects.
- Unfunded maintenance creates insecure supply chains
- Donations don't scale to meet the maintenance needs of infrastructure
- Infstructure needs ongoing, reliable investments
Mention Log4j & xz-utils as concrete supply-chain examples; keep descriptions short & factual.
The Great Misunderstanding
The Coffee Money
User donations: $5/month pledges.
The Trillion Dollar River
Government procurement: $50M+ contracts.
Several excellent developers in the Drupal community have tried fundraisers to support their work.
Visual placeholder: pictures/donation-vs-contract.png. Message: we obsess over $5 while ignoring $50M. Highlight asymmetry: crowdfunding vs public sector procurement. Urgency: redirect focus.
Technical & Market Reality
- 97% of software contains OSS (backbone)
- Open source technology has won, but the movement hasn't
- Business incentives aren't aligned
| Source | Scale |
|---|
| Sovereign Tech Fund | €17M (Minnow) |
| EU Gov Procurement | €200B+ (Whale) |
| GovTech Market | ~$600B (Pods) |
Contrast the ubiquity of code (97%) with the disparity in funding. STF is great but tiny (€17M) compared to the procurement ocean (€200B+). We must tap the whale.
References: 2025 BlackDuck OSS Report; WEF GovTech Report; UK Digital Review.
The Pivot: Operational Maintenance
Problem: Central Funding is Fragile
- Grants/Sponsorships end abruptly
- Political shifts enable cuts (STF risk)
- Decentralized procurement builds resilience
Solution: Funded OpEx
- Proprietary: High OpEx (Rent)
- OSS (Broken): Unfunded Maint.
- OSS (Resilient): ~20% for Upstream
Argument: Move from "free puppy" to "security guard". Central grants are fragile (political risk); procurement budgets are vast and recurring. Shift 20% of savings to maintenance.
Reference: EU Sovereign Tech Fund model vs. Agency Procurement.
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
- Open Source & Digital Public Goods: the engine
- Open Standards: the rails
- Open Data: the cargo
- Actually Open AI: all of the above?
- Open Communities: the governance
Position DPI as the stack; mention OpenACR as procurement-ready evidence.
NL Ministry of Health, Welfare & Sport
Open Source Ambition Ladder:
- Publish all source code open source after completing the tender/li>
- Publish the source code at fixed intervals or at key moments
- Fully open source development of the source code
Encourage procurement teams to climb the ladder; each step increases sustainability & resilience. Emphasize funding upstream maintenance as a critical pivot. Source: Maurice Hendriks / NL Government.
Maurice Hendricks/NL Government: https://hackmd.io/@MauriceHendriks/ryZ9dWptJx
US Government & DITAP
- We need more Digital IT Acquisition Professionals (DITAP)
- Procurmenet officers need to keep up with digital best practices
- This now definitely involves OSS
- CivicActions built this training guide
- And we did it in the open
What is DITAP: https://techfarhub.usds.gov/get-started/ditap/
DITAP Repo: https://github.com/usds/ditap-curriculum-update
RFP Hacks: Upstream-First & Working in the Open
- Require upstream submission (PR links) as deliverables
- Create public repo early; include LICENSE, README, CONTRIBUTING, CI
- Use release tags & public issue trackers for provenance
- Optional: holdback or small escrow released after repo verification
References: Drupal RFP guide; code.gouv; DINUM guidance.
Keep slide short; point attendees to the handout for copy-paste clauses and checklists.
Contract Examples
- French model: 100% open-standards & client deliverables
- Escrow: small maintenance fund holdback (1–5%)
- Upstream-first: PRs within 30 days or funded SLA
Handout contains full clauses and evaluation checklist (QR on Resources slide).
Procurement Learning & Culture
- Train procurement officers on OSS risks & mitigation
- Use practical exercises (DITAP-style) to build confidence
- Embed contribution requirements in evaluation criteria
Reference: DITAP & USDS materials; code.gouv examples.
Public Money, Public Code.
— Public Code / community standard
Use this slide as a pull-out quote. Duplicate and replace the text for other quotes. Keep attribution short.
Procurement is often bureaucratic & overlooked — it is also the most powerful lever to sustain the Open Web.
- Procurement controls where public money flows — fund open deliverables
- Recurring contracts create predictable maintenance revenue
- Open deliverables increase reuse, transparency, and sovereignty
- Small policy changes scale into sustained investments
Close: ask the audience to adopt one procurement change (1% pledge or public repo requirement). Handout QR on Resources slide.
Resources & Handout
Scan for Playbook
[QR Placeholder]
QR on slide in generated site. Explain handout value. Mention licensing.