French open source market still dynamic
The CNLL (France’s Free Software and Open Digital Enterprise Union), Numeum and Systematic Paris-Region commissioned MARKESS to carry out a study of the open source market in France and Europe (PDF), analysing the sector by identifying the main underlying trends since 2019 and anticipating future developments up to 2027.
At the heart of the most dynamic digital sectors, free and open source software is continuing its progress which started more than 20 years ago and currently accounts for a market of nearly €6bn. in France.
“Year after year, open source continues to grow, with a very encouraging outlook of almost 8% per year between 2022 and 2027. This strong growth shows the growing influence of open source on the digital economy in France and in Europe”, states Marc Palazon, chairman of Numeum.
This progress is long-term. After having grown fortyfold in less than 20 years, the turnover of the open source sector in France must is still expected to grow faster than that of the overall software and digital services market over the next 5 years. France is also confirming its European leadership, along with Germany and the UK.
For Philippe Montargès, chairman of Systematic Paris-Region’s Open Source Hub: “Open source is emerging as the quiet force of the digital sector. The growth of open source remains strong and has been for more than 20 years! France is reinforcing its European leadership with earnings of almost €6 bn. in 2022 and more than 60,000 direct jobs. These are two pieces of good news, especially since this lasting and positive dynamic is reflected in a strong increase in the penetration of free software into many innovative technologies and solutions (cybersecurity, cloud infrastructures, AI/Data, IoT, telecoms, SaaS, etc.) and extends widely throughout Europe.”
The study therefore confirms the overall dynamism of free software in Europe. Open source is becoming more and more European by being structured around companies, communities and user organisations that make it the core of their development strategies. The main reasons for adopting open source are still costs savings and the strategic leverage effect, but also increasingly the ease of collaboration and skills development. The support of the European Commission, which has been announced since the publication of the last study in 2019, has gone hand in hand with the implementation of national policies in many member states and contributes to the dynamism of the open source sector.
Furthermore, this growth is giving rise to a massive recruitment within the sector and the entire ecosystem which will have to train and recruit more than 26,000 new full-time equivalents (FTEs) between now and 2027, who will join and swell the ranks of the 64,000 employees currently developing and integrating open source solutions. The skills needed in free software are numerous and varied – developers, DevOps or marketing professionals, architects and consultants – as can be seen by browsing recruitment websites..
Beyond training, a real industrial policy must be defined and implemented in France and Europe to take full advantage of the contribution of free software to innovation, technological independence and a more ethical and responsible digital sector.
“Companies in the sector have long been calling for an industrial policy to make it an asset in a strategy to regain European digital sovereignty. Among the measures we expect: a proactive public sector purchasing policy; dedicated funding that takes economic models specific to free software into account; pro-competitive measures that limit the ability of dominants stakeholders to close down the market to the detriment of SMEs; more stringent open standards requirements and a dedicated training policy”, concludes CNLL Joint Chairman Stéfane Fermigier.
