Paul Sharratt
Policy and Research Lead, Sovereign Tech Agency Germany; represented German open-source sovereignty at Brussels summit.
Last refreshed: 23 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can Germany's open-source funding model scale to a pan-European sovereignty strategy?
Timeline for Paul Sharratt
Participated in open-source session at the summit
European Tech Sovereignty: Brussels sovereignty summit opens without European AI builders- What does the Sovereign Tech Agency Germany fund?
- The Sovereign Tech Agency Germany funds maintenance and security hardening of open-source software dependencies that underpin critical digital infrastructure. Notable investees include curl, OpenSSL, and GNOME.Source: Sovereign Tech Agency Germany
- Is open-source software a route to European digital sovereignty?
- Proponents like the Sovereign Tech Agency Germany argue open-source is structurally sovereign because it carries no vendor lock-in, no US CLOUD Act exposure, and no licence revocation risk. Critics note open-source maintenance still depends on developer ecosystems concentrated in the US.Source: Sovereign Tech Agency Germany / Sovereign Tech Europe programme
Background
Paul Sharratt is Policy and Research Lead at the Sovereign Tech Agency Germany, the German government institution that funds open-source software critical to public digital infrastructure. He participates in the open-source panel at the inaugural Sovereign Tech Europe summit in Brussels on 23 April 2026, alongside Laszlo Igneczi and Felix Reda .
The Sovereign Tech Agency (Sovereign Tech Fund until 2024) operates under the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. It provides direct funding to maintain and strengthen open-source software dependencies that underpin critical digital systems — a model that treats open-source maintenance as public infrastructure rather than volunteer-driven community effort. Notable investments include funding for the curl networking library, OpenSSL, and GNOME.
Sharratt's research focus on open-source as a sovereignty strategy reflects a German federal approach that differs from the Commission's procurement-led model. Open-source code is by definition not subject to foreign legal jurisdiction, making it structurally preferable for sovereignty purposes: no US CLOUD Act exposure, no vendor lock-in, no licence revocation risk. His panel appearance at Sovereign Tech Europe positioned the German open-source funding model as a transferable European template at a moment when the Commission's own cloud framework had just been criticised for including a US-linked joint venture.
