Nicholas Gates
Nicholas (Nick‘) Gates is a Senior Policy Advisor at OpenForum Europe (OFE), where he works on research and advocacy related to open source software and other open technologies. Nick leads the organisation's research efforts, including the OpenForum Academy (OFA) Symposium, its annual research conference. He also leads OFE’s advocacy work on the NGI Commons and European Open Source Academy initiatives, which are focused on digital commons and public recognition of open source in Europe.
Nick's expertise is in open source in the public sector, open source for social good, and the funding and sustainability of the open source ecosystem. His background is in digital government policy and research, particularly on open source but also public financial management, and digital service delivery. He enjoys supporting development partners, governments, and international organisations to deliver on their agendas through applied policymaking and research.
Before joining OFE, Nick helped launch ODI Global's Digital Public Finance Hub, a new learning initiative around the digital transformation of public finance, as a consultant at Public Digital. He began his career working on research, policy, and advocacy at the Digital Impact Alliance — conducting research on topics including national digital transformation processes, open source in government, and digital transformation policy — and was a Fellow at the Portulans Institute.
Nick holds an undergraduate dual degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Political Science and History, and graduated with an MSc in Global Development from the University of Copenhagen in 2018.
Sessões
Speakers and attendees will be welcomed to the OFA Symposium 2025 during this time, during which coffee and light refreshments will be provided and participants can get settled in to the event.
Opening remarks for the day will be provided by OpenForum Europe (OFE) and the team at FGV Rio. Participants will be welcomed to the event and the events of the next day will be previewed in some depth.
Keynote remarks will be provided by a luminary in the field of open source and/or open technologies. The speaker will be announced in the coming weeks.
This Q&A panel will allow attendees the chance to engage in conversation with the paper presenters and to dive into some of the key questions behind the research they have presented as part of the Open Source and Geopolitics track.
This Q&A panel will allow attendees the chance to engage in conversation with the paper presenters and to dive into some of the key questions behind the research they have presented as part of the Open Source and AI track.
Speakers and attendees will be welcomed to the OFA Symposium 2025 during this time, during which coffee and light refreshments will be provided and participants can get settled in to the event.
Keynote remarks will be provided by a luminary in the field of open source and/or open technologies. The speaker will be announced in the coming weeks.
This Q&A panel will allow attendees the chance to engage in conversation with the paper presenters and to dive into some of the key questions behind the research they have presented as part of the Economic Impact of Open track.
This feasibility study reveals deep pockets of political will and momentum for the establishment of an EU Sovereign Tech Fund (EU-STF). It draws on conversations with two dozen policymakers, technologists, and advocates, as well as extensive economic and legal analysis.
Chronic under-investment in open source technologies creates systemic risks – exposing Europe to (amongst other things) cybersecurity threats, supply chain vulnerabilities, and strategic dependencies on non-European technology providers. In order to maintain, secure, and improve existing open source technologies to meet the EU’s public and industrial goals, it requires policymakers to understand the logics underpinning failures in investing in the maintenance of open source technologies as open digital infrastructure, in order to prioritise the use of public policy towards the unlocking of financial and nonfinancial resources that support the open source ecosystem.
The EU-STF is envisioned as a scaled-up, pan-European, and mission-driven initiative with a proposed budget of at least EUR €350 million over seven years to invest in maintenance, security, and improvement of key open source components, as well as help identify and map dependencies and invest in ecosystem strengthening activities. It is vital that the EU-STF embodies some key principles (many of which have made the German successful): pooled financing, low bureaucracy, political independence, flexible funding, community focus, strategic alignment, and transparency. Two active budgetary scenarios are worth considering for the EU-STF: (1) a standalone and centralised fund (e.g. a new funding body created by legislation and set aside via the MFF negotiations), and (2) a hybrid/shared management structure (such as leveraging established EU institutional frameworks like the EDIC that allow for pooled contributions of Member States alongside EU funding, and even industry co-financing).
This Q&A panel will allow attendees the chance to engage in conversation with the paper presenters and to dive into some of the key questions behind the research they have presented as part of the Sustainability and Security track.
Closing remarks for the day will be provided by OpenForum Europe (OFE) and the team at FGV Rio. Participants will host a discussion with some special speakers and guests to help conclude the event.