“Open source isn’t countercultural any more, it has become an influential movement with a wide and global foundation,” explains Dr. Frank Termer from the digital association Bitkom. “Open source means that businesses, organizations and individuals contribute their time and resources to software development and enhancement. This is very important, especially with new technologies like artificial intelligence or blockchain.”

Figures from the Open Source Monitor also reflect this. Bitkom surveyed more than 800 companies with 100 or more employees in Germany. According to this, 31% of companies are involved in the development of open source software, 39% are paying members or sponsors of open source organizations, 24% initiate and back their own projects for the open source community and 15% provide the open source community with their developers’ alterations to the code. Participating in open source projects has obvious benefits for the businesses involved: 86% reported that they save money in general by doing this, and 38% specified a reduction in payroll costs in particular.