Responsible Open Source
Digital Sovereignty That Works
When procuring IT solutions for your public sector organisation, the same questions often arise:
Do we maintain control over our data?
Are we locking ourselves into one vendor long-term?
What happens if we want to switch - or have to?
Can we still trust this system in 5 or 10 years?
In short: Is this a reliable foundation for our digital infrastructure?
The answer doesn't lie in Open Source alone. Open Source gives you transparency and avoids licensing traps - but that alone doesn't make you sovereign. Code is of little help if you can't operate, maintain, or adapt it. When security updates are missing. When no one ensures the solution stays current with new requirements.
Real sovereignty requires more than that: professional operations, open standards, and the freedom to switch providers.
Our principle: "Public Money? Then Public Code!"
On this page, we explain how CIVORA turns this into reality.
Our Approach to Open Source
With limited budgets, no city can afford to reinvent the wheel. Our Open Source approach makes well-designed, user-friendly solutions available to all municipalities.
Managed Open Source
Open Source is the foundation, but it only works in practice with reliable contacts, stable software, and fast support. That's Managed Open Source – and that's our responsibility.
Digital Sovereignty & Independence
Your data is yours. Technically, you can switch at any time. Open standards enable interoperability with other systems and municipalities.
What Does Open Source Mean at CIVORA?
Open code we take responsibility forCIVORA is Open Source. What this means for you:
You can view, audit, and customize the code
No software licensing fees
You can switch to another provider or operate it yourself
If you modify CIVORA, your changes must also be released as Open Source with DKSR as the original licensor. This ensures openness for all.
What We Release
Component | License | Your Benefits |
CIVORA CORE (Central Data Hub) | Open Source (AGPL-3.0) | No license fees, full code transparency, no vendor lock-in |
CIVORA Urban Data Platform (Real-time data processing & IoT) | Open Source (AGPL-3.0) | Integrate other systems, develop custom extensions, customize flexibly |
CIVORA Module & Funktionen
| Open Source (licences of the module creators) | Utilize proven technologies, benefit from community developments, facilitates migration to other platforms using the same components |
Modules from funded projects (e.g., Smart City model projects) | Open Source (AGPL-3.0) | Developed with public funds - usable and adaptable for all |
API documentation & example configurations | publicly available | Full interface transparency - no hidden limitations |
What We Don't Release (Yet)
Component | Why not? | This means for you |
Installation automation (e.g., Helm charts & operational artifacts) | The operation of urban data platforms is complex. Helm charts without context can lead to insecure production environments. | Get a securely set up platform; we manage the complex installation and configuration. Prefer to install it yourself? We'll show you how to do it safely. |
Custom configurations | Due to security concerns, credentials, specific settings, and custom integrations should not be published on public platforms. | You retain full access to your configurations, but they remain private. |
Specific premium modules | We invest in strategic innovations to make CIVORA user-friendly and powerful, funding them ourselves. To prevent competitors from making exact copies, we temporarily keep these features proprietary. | You will not incur any licensing fees from this! |
Third-party modules | Due to licensing agreements, we are unable to publish specialized algorithms or partner models that support CIVORA use cases. | You gain access to innovative solutions from our partners, without the burden of complex licensing. |
Client-funded custom developments | This is a matter of contract law: these developments were exclusively funded by individual clients and thus belong to them. | When integrated into the standard product, they become Open Source. |
At a Glance
Is our Open Source approach procurement-compliant? Yes! 
AGPL-3.0 License
Recognized by Germany's Federal IT Centre – full transparencyNo licensing fees
We generate revenue through services, consulting, projects, and strategic partnershipsTransparent Code
Published on OpenCoDE – full transparencyData Sovereignty & Independence
Your data is yours. Open standards and formats guarantee: always exportable, technically switchable at any time.Managed Open Source
For Open Source that actually worksOpen Source alone doesn't solve challenges: Who takes care of operations, maintenance, security, and ongoing development? Municipalities rarely have the resources for this.
What public sector organisations need alongside digital sovereignty to actually benefit from software:
- Dedicated points of contact – no referrals to communities or boards
- Professional maintenance – ongoing updates
- IT Security & Monitoring - quick response to security gaps
- Holistic guidance – consulting, training, strategy
- Stable, maintained software - no beta versions
- Fast support – professional and with Service Level Agreements
- Rapid decision-making – no time-consuming committee deliberations
- User-friendly software – intuitive, even for beginners
Digital Sovereignty & Independence
Open Source alone won't guarantee independence. A practical example: We're often asked to integrate cities' in-house developments into CIVORA. It rarely works: the solutions are too custom-built, lack standards, and can't be migrated.
The issue: The municipality stays dependent on the original developer – despite the code being open source.
What it takes for true digital sovereignty:
Professional operations
Ensuring stable operation, user-friendly design, and continuous development.
Open Standards & Interoperability
Enabling you to integrate with other systems, exchange data, and export whenever needed.
Freedom to Switch
Ensuring you can technically switch at any time and stay vendor-independent.
Below, we explain how open standards and freedom to switch work technically.
Open Standards and Interoperability as a Cornerstone
Making solutions transferable and enabling municipal collaboration- European metadata standards (DCAT-AP) - making your data readable and usable by other systems and municipalities
- Open interfaces (APIs following established standards) - enabling integration with your existing systems
- Standard data formats (CSV, JSON, GeoJSON) – your data can be exported at any time and used in other tools
- Proven open-source tools - established, well-documented software instead of experimental solutions
- Compliant with common data standards (NGSI-LD, OGC)
Freedom to Switch
This is how it works- All raw and enriched datasets - in open formats (CSV, JSON, GeoJSON)
- Metadata and catalogue entries – standards-compliant (DCAT-AP)
- Use cases and analytical models – portable as code (Python, Jupyter Notebooks)
- Dashboard code and visualisations – transferable to other tools (e.g. Grafana, Superset)
- API documentation and interfaces - specifications for your in-house developments
- User configurations and authorization structures – documented
This is what true digital sovereignty looks like: not merely access to source code, but complete portability of your data, dashboards, and configurations. You can migrate everything at any time – to a different provider, into your own infrastructure, or to a new project.
