We’re hosting the inaugural Government Summit at DrupalCon Europe in Rotterdam on Monday 28 September 2026, and it’s shaping up to be a cracker.
There will be a morning of panel discussions and short presentations to share knowledge and inspire collaboration, then an afternoon of lightning talks and facilitated workshops to establish and build potential collaborations for new or existing projects.
Why this summit is vital
Government and public sector organisations face shared digital challenges, such as creating best-in-class public-facing websites, improving digital service provision, and addressing digital sovereignty.
This dedicated one-day event creates a focused space to explore these common needs, share existing solutions, and connect organisations working on similar digital transformation challenges across local, national and international government organisations.
Initiatives like ours highlight the potential value of open source collaboration, and we believe Drupal can further inspire and support more collaboration across the sector.
The speakers
Several hugely inspiring panellists and presenters are already confirmed, including:
- Sachiko Muto - Chair, OpenForum Europe
- Teun van der Vorm - General Director, DICTU
- Esmeralda Tijhoff - Product Owner, DICTU
- Gina Plat - Open Source Program Office, BZK
- Mike Gifford - Civic Actions
- Will Callaghan - Director and Product Lead, LocalGov Drupal
- Justine Pocock - Co-founder, Chicken
For more information on the speakers, please see drupal.org >
The full schedule will be confirmed soon.
Time/Date/Venue
Date: Monday, 28 September, 2026
Timings:
- Registration - 8:00 am
- Start - 9:00 am.
- Finish - 6:00 pm.
Location: The Postillion Hotel & Convention Centre WTC Rotterdam
Free tickets / sponsored places
Thanks to sponsorship from Big Blue Door, we have 10 tickets available to give away for council digital teams who would otherwise not be able to afford the day. These tickets are just for the Government Summit, not for the rest of DrupalCon.
We will assess applications on a rolling basis and will give priority to people working in the public sector. This offer is open until the 21st August.
Other ticket options
Tickets are available as an add on to the Drupacon ticket, for €180.
They are also available stand-alone, for €250.
Travel and accommodation
If you’re in London and up for a long day, it is potentially possible to get there and back in a day on the 06:16 from London and 18:04 from Rotterdam.
Other useful links to travel and accommodation can be found on the DrupalCon website.
Call for sessions
We're still open to more speakers, panellists, lightning talks and discussion facilitators. Whether you've got a project worth sharing, a problem worth solving collaboratively, or a sector-wide question worth raising, please do complete the form. Selected participants will receive a free ticket to the summit.
Submissions close soon, so hurry up!