Open Culture Foundation

and risk management to technical collaboration — preparing modern enterprises to tackle pressing governance challenges.

📚 Read the Good Governance for Open Source handbook: dub.sh/OSPO-GGI-ZHTW

The Good Governance for Open Source handbook, translated with support from OCF, offers a framework for “open source supply chain governance.” It helps organizations comprehensively approach open source adoption and strategy — from process design, legal compliance,

🚫 Using open source software is not enough — building systems, trust, and reciprocal participation is essential.
✅ A true open source culture must take root through governance and institutional commitment.

🔹 Policy and Compliance: Does your organization clearly define licensing, contribution processes, and community participation principles?
🔹 Strategy and Impact: Is open source integrated into your company’s innovation and business strategies?

🔹 Organizational Readiness: Do you have structured open source education and internal processes in place?
🔹 External Engagement: Are developers encouraged to contribute to external open source projects, with systems in place for contribution and feedback?

According to the Good Governance for Open Source handbook, organizations can assess themselves through the following four dimensions (summary below — refer to the handbook for full details):

Not Just Lip Service: 4 Deep Indicators of a True Open Source Culture
Is your organization truly embracing open source culture?

公共出資，公共程式 Public Money, Public Code | 財團法人開放文化基金會 (OCF) 公共程式：以開放原始碼推動政府數位化，實現公共資源共享與創新。

👉 Learn more: ocf.tw/p/pmpc/
👉 Bonus: Call for proposals now open for the 2025 COSCUP Open Source Policy track – submit yours today! www.facebook.com/share/p/17s1...

🎯 Public Money, Public Code refers to the practice of using open source software for digitizing public services and releasing software developed or procured with public funds under open source licenses.

3️⃣ Identify open source software with public value and proactively support community incubation and project development.

1️⃣ Audit existing digital services to clarify licensing and usage, and establish open government policies that can accommodate public code.

2️⃣ Manage and release public code using international standards to ensure cybersecurity and licensing stability.

OCF has long advocated for government adoption of open source software, believing it is key to achieving transparency, innovation, and digital autonomy. Our core proposals:

Symposium “Public Money? Public Code! in practice”: Digital sovereignty needs Free Software! - FSFE The FSFE symposium on “Public Money? Public Code!“ makes it clear: Procurement of and investment in Free Software (also known as Open Source) are fundament...

🎯 Original article: fsfe.org/news/2025/ne...

FSFE Policy Manager Johannes Näder also stressed the need for the EU and national governments to ensure long-term, stable funding for open source software in order to safeguard digital sovereignty, promote interoperability, and support both the European economy and civil society.

ZenDiS Chair Jutta Horstmann called on public institutions to gradually increase their procurement of open source software to break away from reliance on U.S. based vendors.

The Do-FOSS initiative from Dortmund—Germany’s ninth-largest city—has successfully incorporated the "Public Money, Public Code" principle into municipal policy, setting a leading example for other cities.

Representatives from both the public sector and civil society unanimously agreed that governments should prioritize open source software to reduce dependence on proprietary technologies.

🐬 On April 8, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) hosted the "Public Money? Public Code!" conference in Germany, highlighting the importance of public sector procurement of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in achieving digital sovereignty and fostering innovation.

Thanks @ospoalliance.bsky.social made this awesome handbook and if you are willing to contribute on it please contact #OSPO Alliance.

offering a comprehensive strategy for using and managing open source software in the modern enterprise.

📚 Read the Open Source Good Governance Handbook: dub.sh/OSPO-GGI-ZHTW

The Open Source Good Governance Handbook, co-translated by OCF, introduces a framework based on open source supply chain governance. It helps organizations design processes, ensure legal compliance, manage risks, and foster technical collaboration—

Governing open source is about building cross-functional, open collaboration within the organization. It’s not just a technological transformation, but a governance transformation.

🧢 Executives and decision-makers – overarching open source strategy, mobilizing support for the OSPO, cross-department communication

🧢 Legal and compliance departments – license review and compliance, risk assessment
🧢 HR and management – incentives to give back to the community, developing open source talent
🧢 Procurement and admin teams – adjusting procurement strategies and workflows

The Open Source Good Governance Handbook notes that a mature OSPO (Open Source Program Office) should be able to coordinate across:
🧢 Engineering teams – tool selection, maintenance and contribution, security management

How an organization manages, uses, and contributes to open source isn’t just the responsibility of engineers. From choosing which open source tools to adopt, ensuring license compliance, encouraging team contributions, to setting internal policies—all of these are part of open source governance.