Drupal blog: DriesNote Rotterdam: Drupal is light-years ahead of its reputation

The useful part

Dries Buytaert opened DrupalCon Rotterdam with a tour of a platform moving at remarkable speed. A pipeline of innovation that has Europe's push for digital sovereignty looking closely at Drupal. The market's picture of Drupal runs years behind what the platform can do today.

How it works

• Rotterdam has a saying: "Niet lullen maar poetsen." Stop talking, start working.
• Now it's time to talk louder about what is working, and for the first time, that work earns contribution credit.
• When the European Commission asked for feedback on digital sovereignty, Dries submitted his thinking, and his writing was referenced in the official policy recommendation that followed.
• Europe needs digital sovereignty, and Drupal is ready Dries opened with a challenge facing Europe: reducing its dependence on technology it does not control.
• They offer ongoing maintenance, security releases, and a global community of care.

What to take from it

Then he named the problem: hardly anyone outside this community knows. For governments and organisations that need control over their digital infrastructure, Drupal is exactly that: open source with a steward, proven at scale, and owned by no single vendor. Drupal needs Europe too." <img alt="Map of Europe with text saying Drupal needs Europe, and Europe needs Drupal." height="1080" src="https...

Example or evidence

• Multilingual sites that take a fraction of the effort to build.

Details worth keeping

AI assistants that connect directly to your content. Dries argued we have taken that advice almost too well, and he flipped it. His point: open source projects like Drupal offer more than software.