Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NGI0 Entrust (NGI0 Entrust)
Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2024-01-31
The larger aim of NGI Zero is to deliver shared technological building blocks for the Next Generation internet: an open, trustworthy, human-centred internet that benefits all.
The NGI0 Entrust program focuses on fostering free and open source/open hardware solutions, with among others the goal to tackle pervasive privacy and data governance problems in internet technology. NGI0 Entrust levers the meanwhile proven NGI Zero approach to fund internet research and development projects in its own way - with a light-weight granting procedure and orthogonal support services to address internet-scale requirements. NGI0 Entrust in particular aims to contribute to more trustworthy data management tools and decentralized identity management solutions.
The NGI0 Entrust program focuses on fostering free and open source/open hardware solutions, with among others the goal to tackle pervasive privacy and data governance problems in internet technology. NGI0 Entrust levers the meanwhile proven NGI Zero approach to fund internet research and development projects in its own way - with a light-weight granting procedure and orthogonal support services to address internet-scale requirements. NGI0 Entrust in particular aims to contribute to more trustworthy data management tools and decentralized identity management solutions.
In this reporting period – the first 18 months of the 36-month project - NGI0 Entrust supported 236 free and open source projects across the ten NGI layers of technology distinguished by NGI – from Trustworthy hardware and manufacturing to Services + Applications (e.g. email, instant messaging, video chat, collaboration). All beneficiaries can request support services to improve the maturity, quality and usability of their projects on topics such as security, reproducibility, accessibility and licensing & copyright compliance. Support is also offered to strengthen the communities behind the projects with services such as diversity & inclusion management and mentoring. The NGI Zero consortium not only supports these projects with its expert knowledge, but also freely shares its insights and topical best practice with everyone interested.
We believe we have created a unique portfolio of projects. In all, NGI0 Entrust had 911 incoming project proposals, originating from 50 countries. The total amount requested was € 37 283 864, thus the average amount requested was € 40 926. From that influx of proposals 244 projects were accepted originating from 38 countries. The total amount accepted was € 10 482 554.
The average amount requested per project was € 42 961. Many projects involve more than one person or legal entity. In total there were 428 recipients therefore the average amount allocated per recipient is an estimated € 24 492.
We believe we have created a unique portfolio of projects. In all, NGI0 Entrust had 911 incoming project proposals, originating from 50 countries. The total amount requested was € 37 283 864, thus the average amount requested was € 40 926. From that influx of proposals 244 projects were accepted originating from 38 countries. The total amount accepted was € 10 482 554.
The average amount requested per project was € 42 961. Many projects involve more than one person or legal entity. In total there were 428 recipients therefore the average amount allocated per recipient is an estimated € 24 492.
The R&D process typically does take significant time, and regularly is the work is spread over a longer period. Currently about a quarter of the total work hours have been claimed, and outcomes verified. Even though there is a buffer of work done which is done but not yet claimed, that means there are many projects still underway towards completion in the second reporting period.
Obviously some projects are actually completed, and are gaining uptake. The Taler project meanwhile has been granted its own 5+ million euro programme (https://ngi.taler.net) and will be introduced not just through a local currency but also as a payment system in Euro, Swiss francs and Forint. Taler has been endorsed by several national banks, as a sane building block for issuing so called CBDC (“Central Bank Digital Currency) as well as allowing for safe digital cash exchange. Nominatim is the default search engine for the widely used OpenStreetMap.org. The GNU Name system was published as RFC 9498 by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
The cluster on W3C ActivityPub has continued to strengthen and is now in fairly broad usage. NGI Zero Entrust provided the seed funding and scaling up for many of the most exciting projects in this space, such as ActivityPods, Bonfire, Castopod, Flarum, ForgeFed, GoToSocial, Funkwhale, Kbin, Keyoxide, Lemmy, Mobilizon, PeerTube, PixelDroid, Pixelfed and Pleroma. This cluster builds on the solid base of previous NGI Zero programmes that funded much of the pioneering efforts in the Fediverse, such as GNU social, Hubzilla, Mastodon, Mobilizon, Owncast, PeerTube, Pixelfed, and Xwiki. The cluster has led to another 3 million euro pilot granted by the European Commission, NGI Fediversity. For most of the efforts which are still ongoing, there are already interesting outcomes available as well - due to the development in public as free and open source software. For the total overview of projects and their current status we point to the annexe.
Obviously some projects are actually completed, and are gaining uptake. The Taler project meanwhile has been granted its own 5+ million euro programme (https://ngi.taler.net) and will be introduced not just through a local currency but also as a payment system in Euro, Swiss francs and Forint. Taler has been endorsed by several national banks, as a sane building block for issuing so called CBDC (“Central Bank Digital Currency) as well as allowing for safe digital cash exchange. Nominatim is the default search engine for the widely used OpenStreetMap.org. The GNU Name system was published as RFC 9498 by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
The cluster on W3C ActivityPub has continued to strengthen and is now in fairly broad usage. NGI Zero Entrust provided the seed funding and scaling up for many of the most exciting projects in this space, such as ActivityPods, Bonfire, Castopod, Flarum, ForgeFed, GoToSocial, Funkwhale, Kbin, Keyoxide, Lemmy, Mobilizon, PeerTube, PixelDroid, Pixelfed and Pleroma. This cluster builds on the solid base of previous NGI Zero programmes that funded much of the pioneering efforts in the Fediverse, such as GNU social, Hubzilla, Mastodon, Mobilizon, Owncast, PeerTube, Pixelfed, and Xwiki. The cluster has led to another 3 million euro pilot granted by the European Commission, NGI Fediversity. For most of the efforts which are still ongoing, there are already interesting outcomes available as well - due to the development in public as free and open source software. For the total overview of projects and their current status we point to the annexe.