The GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft) have managed to establish themselves as the invisible backbones of global digital technology. They control the various layers of the digital world: hardware, operating systems, cloud services, software platforms, AI, advertising, and more. Their dominance creates a structural dependency for European states, businesses, and citizens.
Some concrete examples of this dependency:
Through laws such as the Cloud Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act), adopted in 2018, the United States allows its authorities to demand access to data even when it is hosted outside American territory, as long as it is held or controlled by American companies. This mechanism creates a direct conflict with the GDPR and calls into question the legal sovereignty of states.
This dependence results in the outsourcing of strategic functions to foreign companies subject to non-European legislation. In the event of geopolitical strife, sanctions, or even unilateral commercial decisions by these companies, administrations could lose access to essential services, undermining their ability to ensure continuity of public missions (health, education, security). This also presents a very real risk of espionage or data leaks. And when it comes to health, education, or public safety, can we really take that risk?
Cyberattacks are exploding across Europe according to ANSSI. Ransomware encrypts an organization’s data and demands a ransom for its return, thereby paralyzing hospitals, local authorities, or businesses. These attacks directly target the stability of our societies. If a major provider is compromised, the impact can be massive: unavailability of public services, leaks of medical or administrative data, or even disruption of critical supply chains. Even worse, if there’s a critical flaw in proprietary technology, it's impossible to analyze, fix, or even know what was really compromised. We’re left in the dark. Without control over technologies, data, or security protocols, Europe exposes itself to a strategic loss of control over its infrastructure.
Behind every search engine or content recommendation lie opaque algorithms. You don’t know why a particular result appears, nor who decided it was relevant. This lack of transparency has real consequences: it makes it impossible to understand the criteria influencing what we see, and exposes us to invisible discriminatory or ideological biases. The result: trust in digital tools is weakened and conspiracy theories are on the rise.
Beyond the technical aspects, platforms have also made ideological choices with heavy consequences. Since Donald Trump’s election, the founders of Meta (Zuckerberg) and X (Elon Musk) have deliberately weakened regulatory mechanisms by removing fact-checking tools in the name of so-called “absolute freedom of expression.” This deregulation has enabled massive disinformation, radicalized public debate, and undermined democracy. With no alternatives to these tools, we are therefore at the mercy of their decisions.
Amid increasing geopolitical tensions, the need to protect personal data, and the concentration of technological power in the hands of a few non-European players, Europe can no longer ignore these dangers.
We often have a mistaken image of free software, reduced to amateur use or free tools with no commercial value. In reality, it forms the backbone of global digital technology:
So it is not a marginal alternative. It is the invisible engine of modern digital technology.
Open source is based on powerful principles: collaboration, transparency, freedom, and shared innovation. These values resonate particularly strongly in Europe.
For us at bluedrop.fr, these values have guided our technological choices from the beginning:
And above all: open source lets you keep control. At a time when digital sovereignty is becoming a strategic issue, it's an essential lever for resilience.
Of course, managing open source solutions yourself can be complex. But in Europe, a strong ecosystem (of which we are a part) has taken shape around these technologies. In France alone, it accounts for 11% of the digital sector and nearly 64,000 jobs (2022).
To talk about an example we know well, Drupal is a true open source success story. With its robust and modular architecture, this CMS benefits from a structured international community, transparent governance, and exceptional adaptability to specific needs (accessibility, security, multilingual capabilities, GDPR).
At bluedrop.fr, we have made Drupal our core expertise for 20 years:
The Draghi report (2024) highlighted a paradox: Europe is the source of many key innovations but fails to industrialize them.
Why this industrial lag? There are many reasons.
For example, one can cite the weakness of private investment in tech or the incompletion of the single market. In other words, the fact that economic and legal regulations are not fully harmonized among the European Union member countries prevents the emergence of continental champions. Without a truly unified market, European tech companies face different regulatory, tax, and administrative hurdles depending on the member state. This hinders their growth, economies of scale, and competitiveness compared to American or Chinese giants who operate in a homogeneous economic space.
When it comes to AI, Europe lags behind in capitalization (OpenAI, Anthropic...) but stands out in regulation (AI Act) and ethical open-source projects (Mistral AI, BLOOM). Furthermore, the popular success of ChatGPT in Europe raised awareness, but has not yet resulted in massive industrial uptake, at least for the time being.
It is now clear that the European Union must urgently act to address all these challenges. In terms of security, it has already begun:
Open source software is becoming a strategic building block, as it ensures the auditability, interoperability, and adaptability of the systems used.
It's a good start, even if it does not solve our dependency problem.
Among the frequently mentioned ideas: adopting an "Open Source First" policy at the European level. In short: systematically prioritizing open source solutions in public procurement, except in duly justified cases. Italy has already led the way since 2012.
Another key lever: supporting our open source SMEs with concrete measures (quotas in calls for tenders, subsidies, easier access to European innovation programs). Too often, smaller players are left out due to lack of resources… even though they drive innovation.
Training in open technologies from an early age would also represent a real cultural shift. Because a sovereign ecosystem also relies on talent that understands, masters, and develops these tools.
Some stakeholders are also advocating for a European platform for the tech needs of major corporations, open to local start-ups, to build bridges and spur continental innovation.
But beware: transformation must not rely solely on the public sector. The private sector has a key role to play in making open source a driver of innovation aligned with our interests and values.
For us, there is no doubt: open source must become a pillar of European industrial and security policies. It is the only model capable of combining innovation, transparency, technological independence, and support for local stakeholders.
In a tense world, amid cyber threats, private monopolies, and geopolitical challenges, Europe has a choice: endure or build. To build means investing in training, supporting SMEs in the sector, requiring open source criteria in public procurement, and supporting digital transition.
At bluedrop.fr, this has always been our direction. We believe that sovereignty begins with mastery of your tools, contributing to the commons, and transparency in the technologies used.
Want to develop your digital platform along these lines? Let's talk about it. We’re here to build, together, a freer, more resilient, more European digital future.
