Digital sovereignty is a topic no organization running critical infrastructure can ignore anymore. As digital systems become central to railway operations, the ability to make independent decisions about technology, to choose, switch, and adapt, is becoming a strategic necessity.

Open source is one of the strongest tools to address this challenge. It guarantees transparency, prevents lock-in, enables shared investment, and creates the conditions for a competitive market around shared foundations.

➡️ Read the full position paper (PDF)

Choice, Control, Influence

The OpenRail Association provides the foundation for its members to apply open source to their business, delivering three dimensions of digital sovereignty:

• Choice — OpenRail projects offer credible open source alternatives across the rail software stack, from simulation and planning to data exchange and common building blocks.
• Control — Open source licenses guarantee the right to use, study, modify, and distribute software. Access, pricing, and roadmap direction are not in the hands of any single provider.
• Influence — OpenRail’s open governance model gives members a direct voice in the direction of the projects they depend on. Members shape technology rather than merely consuming it.

A Call to Action

OpenRail is not alone. The position paper calls for the railway and open source communities to combine forces and contribute to digital sovereignty. The foundations for railway digital sovereignty are being built now. It is open source. You can be part of it.

➡️ Read the full position paper (PDF)