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Belgium

EDRIX Score

3.80

Tier

Untapped Potential

EDRIX Pillar Scores (normalized 0–10)

Developer Ecosystem 3.34 / 10
Grassroots Adoption 2.99 / 10
Private sector resilience 4.41 / 10
Public sector resilience 4.44 / 10

Raw metrics

The underlying values before min-max normalization across the EU27.

GitHub developers (per-capita index) 2.92
Linux share on desktops and laptops 3.89%
Sovereign browser share (Firefox + Opera) 12.38%
Domain sovereignty rating — all (national TLD) 0.405
Domain sovereignty rating — public sector 0.444

See the surveyed domains and their hosting details →

Narrative updated for the September 2026 edition.

Belgium gains three places to 20th at 3.80 with an unchanged score (June: 3.79, 23rd): Portugal, Lithuania and Ireland fell below it. Every pillar is in the bottom half: developer density 2.92 (14th), grassroots adoption 2.99 (21st), private-sector hosting 4.41 (19th) and public-sector hosting 4.44 (21st). Of the 472 measured .be domains, 55% are hosted outside the EU and 72% route email through non-EU providers. www.brussels.be is served and mailed by Microsoft; www.premier.be is served and resolved by Akamai; www.monarchie.be is hosted by BELNET but mails through Microsoft.

Strengths

  • Domestic hosting exists. BELNET and Combell lead the EU-hosted part of the sample (45%).
  • Developer density (2.92, 14th), mid-table.

Weaknesses

  • Public sector (4.44, 21st). The three official sites rate 0.33, 0.33 and 0.67.
  • Email. 72% of the measured .be domains use non-EU email providers.
  • Grassroots adoption (2.99, 21st), with a 12.38% sovereign browser share.

Outlook

Belgium's rank improved without Belgium improving. The federal and Brussels websites are the levers within reach of a public decision.

Historical context

2020 baseline

In 2020, Belgium was an "emerging" nation with strong institutions but lacking a high-level, unified strategic vision. Its approach was practical and driven by a healthy bottom-up ecosystem.

2024 progression

Belgium's progress remains a result of collaboration between its various government levels. The federal public service body, FPS BOSA, actively contributes to open source projects, and strategic players like iMio are crucial in providing solutions to local governments.

Historical reference

OSOR Fact Sheet (PDF, 2024) — the country-level Open Source policy report used by the retired Public Policy pillar in EDRIX 1.0.