Sustainability initiative: what is it and why we do it?

At OPENGIS.ch, we create open-source software.
We are contributors, maintainers, and in the case of QField, the team that builds it.

That comes with a responsibility we take seriously: giving back.

« Give back » is not a slogan. It is our first core value, and the very reason the sustainability initiative exists.

Open-source is a garden. If you eat from it, water it, and keep seeding.

The Importance of seeding opening keynote, FOSS4G 2023

What is the #sustainQGIS initiative?

Open-source software has a well-known problem: the work that keeps it healthy is largely invisible. Bug fixes, code reviews, refactoring, test coverage, onboarding new contributors: none of these appear in a feature list, but without them, the software eventually degrades. Proprietary projects can budget for this work directly. Open-source projects mostly rely on whoever finds the time.
We wanted to change that, at least in our corner of the ecosystem.

The model is simple. For every support contract we sign that exceeds 10 days, we donate a portion of those days to the initiative. Any unused contract hours at year-end also flow in. That pool of time gets spent on exactly those invisible tasks: triaging and fixing bugs that affect stability, reviewing pull requests so good contributions actually land in the codebase, and doing the unglamorous maintenance work that keeps QGIS’s core solid.

Why we do it

We built a successful company around QGIS and QField. We write code (custom features, plugins, processing algorithms, entire applications) on top of these platforms every day. When a client needs something that cannot be done out of the box, we build it. And we build it inside the project whenever that makes sense, not in a private fork that nobody else benefits from.

Pushing changes upstream instead of maintaining private forks, sponsoring the QGIS project financially, and donating hours are all expressions of the same logic: the ecosystem is a shared asset, and shared assets need shared investment.

I chair the QGIS.org foundation, so I see directly how much the project depends on companies like ours showing up. A bug that slips through costs every QGIS user time. A code review that never happens means a useful feature sits in limbo for months. And a small group of core maintainers carrying the full load eventually burns out. These are not abstract problems. They affect users and the community on a daily basis.

What this means when you work with us?

When you sign a support contract with OPENGIS.ch, you are not just buying expert help with QGIS and QField. A slice of that contract goes back into the project itself. Your investment in solving your own GIS challenges also helps keep the platform reliable for everyone.

We think that is a good deal. It is the way we want to do business.

If you want to know more about the initiative or are ready to make a difference, get a support contract.

Open-source is a garden.
If you eat from it, water it, and keep seeding.