The pigeon that flew back: how Belgium quietly chose open source messaging

Imagine: the year is 1914. Somewhere on the Western Front, a small pigeon is released with a message tied to its leg. It doesn’t know why. It doesn’t know for whom. It simply flies — reliable, unseen, tireless — and delivers the message.

For centuries, the pigeon was the gold standard of secure communication. No wires to tap. No central server to hack. Decentralised by nature. And surprisingly hard to intercept.

Banks and the Digital Divide: Let's Build Solutions Together for Everyone

The testimony from Nathalie on the RTL website has touched us in the BeLibre community. In many places, we heard and read indignation about the way these persons got handled. This story is about ING, but we notice a trend toward further digitalization and dehumanizing of consumer banking at multiple banks.

The move toward digital banking offers opportunities for convenience and innovation. The past decades have already proven this. Banking with the card reader has become commonplace, and for many, it has become unthinkable that you would still need to queue at the counter for a simple transfer. Yet thirty years ago there was also much protest when this concept was introduced. Are we being too conservative again, clinging too tightly to our established certainties?

If FIFA can do it, so can we

We’re here live from the cafeteria, for the announcement of the BeLibre world soccer champion!

Last week, the international soccer federation showed us once again how awards work these days. After the big boss felt slighted, FIFA pulled a few feathers out of its ass and delivered them with a deep bow. They created the brand new “FIFA Peace Prize,” specially awarded during the 2026 World Cup draw.

Belibre

• One year of BeLibre: why digital freedom concerns us all

Press Release

• Press release - March 17, 2026

Sovereignty

• The end of MS Office in sight? Germany chooses ODF, the Netherlands lacks courage.
• What Could Possibly Go Wrong? When Geopolitics Hits Your Cloud, HR and Bank Account
• Beyond the Marketing: Measuring Microsoft’s Cloud Sovereignty in Europe
• Belgium Can’t Afford Microsoft to Go Down: A Wake-Up Call on Digital Sovereignty