Warsaw, 10 June 2025 – On the occasion of the APELL Conference 2025, the European Open Source Software Business Association announces two new full voting members. Joining are the newly founded Danish Open Source Vendors (Danske Open Source Leverandører, DOSL), and the Dutch Open Source Business Alliance (DOSBA).
The two organisations grow APELL’s membership at a time of public debate around increasing European technological sovereignty, and decreasing the dependencies on incumbent hardware, software, and service providers. Open Source and the business ecosystem surrounding it holds many answers to the questions that arise in the debate, and provide European policy makers with readily available, truly sovereign alternatives.
Morten Kjærsgaard, Chairman of Danske Open Source Leverandører (DOSL): “Danish Open Source businesses have well established relations with public and private sector customers, and have been in contact with governments and public administrations in Denmark for a while. By founding the DOSL, we are joining our efforts and in joining APELL, we are growing business opportunities and extending our reach to decision makers also at European level.”
Ronny Lam, member of the board of the Dutch Open Source Business Alliance (DOSBA): “The DOSBA has a history that goes back to 1999, when the Vereniging Open Source Nederland (Association Open Source Netherlands) was founded. 2025 is the year that we started over because the Dutch government was asking us: ‘What is the phone number for Open Source?’. For Europe, the answer is clear: APELL!”
Stéfane Fermigier, Co-Chair of APELL: “The public debate around Open Source is as vibrant as ever, and that is in no small part due to the threats made to the sovereignty of Danish territory! Europe has a chance to make use of the great ecosystem that is Open Source, by recognising its strategic importance in advancing technological sovereignty. As APELL, we are very happy to welcome our two new full voting members, and there could be no better timing than today that we are holding our annual conference for the first time in Warsaw, Poland! I am looking forward to welcoming many more Open Source businesses and associations soon!”
On the occasion of the Polish presidency of the EU Council, APELL is today holding its annual conference in Warsaw for the first time. With presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities, the conference is an event bringing together industry leaders and innovators from the Open Source ecosystem.
APELL grows its membership to nine organisations: five full voting members, three associate members and one advisory member.
More information:
- Website of DOSL – Danske Open Source Leverandører
- Website of DOSBA – Dutch Open Source Business Alliance
- Website of APELL – The European Open Source Software Business Association
About APELL
APELL (Association Professionnelle Européenne du Logiciel Libre) is Europe’s Open Source Software Business Association. Founded in 2020 to bring national Open Source Software organisations together into a European network to provide them with peer support and collective marketing, as well as capacity building and policy support for public affairs, both nationally and on the EU-level.
APELL aims to increase opportunities for the members of the Association’s member organisations, and to increase value and advancement for the ultimate customers in both the public and the private sectors. At the same time, we see a real need to bring the Open Source perspective into the discussions on the shaping of Europe’s digital future.
We support the digitisation of the economy and society — but it matters how we digitise. APELL promotes a sovereign, inclusive, ethical digital market. In order to achieve this, Europe’s digital future should be based on Open.
APELL and its members represent hundreds of Open Source businesses with a collective turnover in the order of several tens of billions of euros each year, as well as public administrations, research institutions, and individuals throughout Europe.
Press Contact
Sebastian Raible, Director EU Government Affairs
sebastian.raible ‘at’ apell.info
