Open Source at the Core of Europe's Sovereign Cloud and AI: CISERO at the DGE's "Connect the Codes" Event

Open source has moved to the centre of Europe's digital policy agenda. On 3 June 2026 the European Commission adopted a new Open Source Strategy, the "Strategy for EU Open Digital Ecosystems", as part of its tech sovereignty package alongside the Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act 2.0. Against that backdrop, "Connect the Codes", a closed event organised by the French Direction Générale des Entreprises (DGE), gave the European digital ecosystem representatives a safe forum to discuss how open technologies can reduce dependencies, strengthen interoperability and give European organisations real control over their cloud and AI infrastructure.

The choice of organiser carries weight for the IPCEI-CIS community. The DGE leads France's role in the Important Project of Common European Interest on Next Generation Cloud Infrastructure and Services (IPCEI-CIS), which France and Germany co-coordinate.

The CISERO and IPCEI-CIS community was represented by three participants:

• Ruzica Rakic, DLR Projektträger
• Alberto P. Martí, OpenNebula Systems
• Daniel Kaufmann, IMT

Alberto P. Martí spoke on behalf of CISERO. He explained how IPCEI-CIS partners, together with other European technology vendors, are building a European open source stack for sovereign AI. The underlying message for policymakers and industry was that, with the right support, European industry can not only adopt open source technologies for sovereign AI but lead their development.