Drupal EU government day 2026

Event details

When: 29 January 2026, 9:30 – 18:00

Where: (CHANGED!) BREYDEL, Av. d'auderghem 45 , 1000 Brussels

Who: Open to policymakers, public sector leaders, and technologists driving digital transformation in government.

About the event

The Drupal Community of Practice @EC and EUIBAs invites you to the Drupal4Gov.eu Conference 2026, a unique event bringing together policymakers, technologists, and digital leaders from across Europe’s public sector.

As European institutions continue to embrace open-source solutions to modernise their digital services, this conference will highlight how Drupal empowers public administrations to collaborate, innovate, and deliver better services for citizens.

The event is brought to life by Frederik Wouters, together with the Belgian Drupal community (Joris Vercammen), Marine Gandy from the French Drupal community, and contributors from other national Drupal communities across Europe.

The sessions will not be code heavy by design. We want to welcome project managers, program managers, digital marketers, heads of teams, and decision makers.

Join us on 29 January 2026, during Open Source Week, for a one-day event featuring expert speakers, case studies, and valuable networking opportunities. Discover how governments and their partners are driving digital transformation through open, reusable, and secure technologies.

This is more than a conference, it’s a conversation about the future of digital government in Europe, built on open collaboration and shared innovation.

What you’ll learn

By taking part in this event, you will:

Connect and collaborate with peers from public administrations across europe and the open-source community.
Gain insights into how open-source adoption is transforming government services and improving efficiency.
Learn from real case studies on process improvement, automation, and cultural change in the public sector.
Be part of a growing community shaping the next generation of open digital government in Europe.

This free one-day event on 29 January 2026 (in the middle of the open source week) has expert speakers and valuable networking opportunities.

Agenda

08:00 - 09:15

Reception and registration

09:15 - 09:30

Organisers introduction

Frederik Wouters

Introduction from the organisers

09:30 - 09:45

Keynote introduction by the European Commission - Digital Enablers & Innovation leadership

Keynote introduction

09:45 - 10:15

Keynote: Unlocking public sector contributions to open source

Sachiko Muto

Chair of OpenForum Europe

Sachiko Muto is the Chair of OpenForum Europe, a senior researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and a Board member of the Drupal Association. She originally joined OFE in 2007 and served for several years as Director with responsibility for government relations and then as CEO. Sachiko has degrees in Political Science from the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics; she received her doctorate in standardisation policy from TU Delft.

10:15 - 10:35

European Commission Web presence in Drupal - Lessons Learned

Sandro d'Orazio, Massimiliano Molinari

Sandro D'ORAZIO, Deputy Head of the Web Communication unit in DG COMM, and Massimiliano MOLINARI, head of the "Corporate web solutions" sector, will share their experience from the "business side" in setting up a corporate web presence using Drupal.

10:35 - 10:55

The Web Accessibility Directive, European Accessibility Act and Drupal - Now What?

Mike Gifford

With the EU's Web Accessibility Directive (WAD) and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) now in effect, government agencies face new challenges in digital compliance. This talk addresses the critical question: "Now what?" We will cut through the legal jargon to reveal the practical steps departments must take to meet these regulations. The session will highlight the crucial gap between the EAA's broad requirements and the specific needs of government implementation. Using data from the Web Almanac, we'll expose where government sites are failing and discuss how strategic procurement and the use of platforms like Drupal can build a foundation for sustained compliance, ensuring services are truly accessible to all citizens.

10:55 - 11:15

Coffee break

11:15 - 11:35

GovNL CMS: A component based website platform for the Dutch government

Rikkert Steenbergen

How can government organizations build consistent, accessible, and flexible websites without reinventing the wheel each time? GovNL CMS combines the power of two open source projects, NL Design System and Drupal, to create a modular, scalable platform for Dutch government websites. By connecting Figma design tokens, CSS variables, and Drupal Single Directory Components, the platform ensures seamless collaboration between design and development while maintaining a unified look and feel across all sites.

11:35 - 11:55

Accessibility as a journey, not a checklist: creating an inclusive website incrementally

Estela Francisco

In the public sector, digital accessibility is not just a compliance task - it is a cornerstone of trust and inclusive service. Over the past two years, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has pursued a structured, continuous accessibility journey across its Drupal-based website, driven by the European Commission's Web Accessibility Directive and Digital strategy, which support a broader push for inclusive digital public services across the EU.

11:55 - 12:15

How AI is supporting end users and editors at Kanton Basel-Stadt

Josef Kruckenberg

Kanton Basel-Stadt is using AI to make digital government services more accessible—for both citizens and editors. This session showcases three practical innovations: Alva, an AI chatbot (LiipGPT) that helps citizens find information conversationally; the bökkli editor, which uses AI to generate simplified language for more inclusive content; and AI-assisted content lifecycle management that supports editors throughout creation, review, and maintenance. We'll share how these tools are integrated into Drupal, what technology and governance choices were made, and how AI is improving both the user experience and editorial efficiency in public-sector communication.

12:15 - 12:35

Bring LocalGov Drupal to the French market

Greg Harvey, Mark Conroy

The LocalGov Drupal project has been a great success in the British Isles, with many successful deployments, including multilingual implementations. This is a short demonstration of LocalGov Drupal Français - an example implementation for the French market.

12:35 - 14:00

Lunch break

14:00 - 14:20

Power, data protection, pragmatism, and European digital sovereignty

Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire

Digital sovereignty is not an abstract ideal. It is about control, trust, and building systems that reflect democratic values and serve citizens' practical needs. Institutions, companies, and service providers need to work hand-in-hand to ensure our digital sovereignty.

14:20 - 14:40

Deploying more than 60 Drupal Websites for the French Ecological Transition Ministry (MTE): innovation at scale over an 8-year period

Sylvain MOREAU

A short summary of our 8-year Drupal journey on a large scale with the Ministry: how we continuously improved the use (Build/Run/Host) of drupal websites. Topics covered include Design System (French State Design System implementation), Privacy (RGPD compliance), and Devops (containerization, CI/CD).

14:40 - 15:00

EDPS: Awareness Campaign for WAC (Website Compliance Assessment)

Xabier Lareo

Website Compliance Awareness Campaign (WCAC) and the Website Evidence Collector (WEC) tool

15:00 - 15:20

EASA: Fueling the Future: How Drupal and Open Source Propel the Airline Industry Towards Carbon Neutrality

Sofiane Boudadi, Janick Cox

This session highlights a success story in how Drupal powers a data-driven solution for tracking sustainable fuel usage, which in turn supports the EU's ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 (55% reduction by 2030, compared to 1990 levels).

15:20 - 15:35

Coffee break

15:35 - 16:25

Implementing AI solutions for the French government

David Suissa

As part of its strategic digital transformation plan for this decade, the French government is pursuing its efforts to provide more and improved public services online. With the recent emergence of European AI solutions and providers, a wider range of possibilities have opened to integrate government managed AI platforms with public services facing sites.

16:25 - 16:50

Achieving Transformational Results with Open Source

Tiffany Farriss

Most organizations use open source—but few truly leverage it. The difference lies not in the tools themselves, but in the mindset behind their use. This session explores the striking contrast between incremental and transformational outcomes when engaging with open source software, communities, and practices.

16:50 - 18:00

Networking

Detailed schedule

Venue

BREYDEL, Oudergemlaan 45, 1040 Brussel, 1000 Brussels Belgium

The venue offers easy access to public transportation and is surrounded by numerous hotels and restaurants.We changed fromt THE ONE to this location in order to accomodate more people.

View on Google Maps View on Apple Maps View on OpenStreetMap

Travel and transportation advisories

Attendees should be aware of potential transportation disruptions on the day of Drupal4Gov.eu. Rail travel Railway unions have announced a strike notice from Sunday January 25th, 22:00 until Friday January 30th, 22:00. This may affect travel to Brussels for Drupal Pivot, Drupal4gov, FOSDEM and related events. While there will be a guaranteed minimum service in place, train frequency may be significantly reduced. Also note that international connections might be affected as well. If you think you are impacted by this strike we can try to find a solution for you. Submit this form to get in touch with people willing to commute.

Tickets

👉 👉 👉 Register here 👈 👈 👈

Partners

European Commission Drupal Belgium Drupal France

Contact

For questions related to the conference, you can contact the organisers with the following form:

For questions related to the conference, you can reach the organiser frederik.wouters@dropsolid.com