Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NGI4ALL.E (Next Generation Internet for All Evolution - Growing a Sustainable and Inclusive Ecosystem)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2024-01-01 do 2025-09-30
The NGI4ALL.E project was launched to support the evolution of the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative and strengthen a European digital ecosystem rooted in openness, trust, inclusion, and human-centric values. At a time when digital technologies increasingly shape democratic processes, economic development, and social well-being, Europe faces critical challenges linked to digital sovereignty, fragmentation of innovation communities, unequal access to digital opportunities, and the need for trustworthy technologies aligned with European rights and values. NGI4ALL.E was designed to address these gaps by consolidating the NGI ecosystem, engaging diverse communities, and ensuring that Internet innovation in Europe remains resilient, open, sustainable, and centred on users.
The project operated as the NGI Outreach Office, serving as a key coordination and dissemination mechanism supporting a diverse community of researchers, innovators, developers, open-source contributors, SMEs, start-ups, policymakers, and civil society actors. By fostering collaboration, visibility, and impact across NGI projects, NGI4ALL.E aimed to create the conditions for a thriving and inclusive digital landscape. Its main objectives were to strengthen the NGI community through targeted communication and outreach, increase accessibility and diversity across stakeholder groups, support uptake and exploitation of NGI-funded solutions, and enhance the initiative’s policy relevance at European and global levels. Central to this effort was the promotion of open science, open standards, and open-source development, which underpin Europe’s ambition for a trustworthy and sovereign digital future.
Responding to the growing need to integrate social sciences and humanities (SSH) perspectives, NGI4ALL.E embedded participatory, ethical, and human-centred methodologies across its activities. Through extensive engagement with end-users, digital rights groups, women-in-tech networks, and grassroots communities, the project ensured that societal needs, digital rights concerns, and ethical considerations were directly reflected in the NGI agenda. SSH-informed research, participatory interviews, and community workshops contributed to a richer understanding of the social implications of Internet technologies, while accessibility assessments, diversity mapping, and equity-driven engagement strengthened the inclusiveness and representativeness of the NGI ecosystem.
The project’s expected impact was to contribute to a vibrant and diverse community capable of guiding the future of the Internet in Europe, stimulate the uptake of NGI-funded solutions, and support the emergence of technologies that reflect EU values—privacy, security, fairness, equity, sustainability, and democratic participation. By the end of the project, NGI4ALL.E sought to deliver a more coherent and visible NGI ecosystem, improved accessibility and inclusion, better-aligned policy engagement, and stronger foundations for community-driven innovation. Its results were intended to catalyse long-lasting change in how Europe develops, deploys, and governs Internet technologies, supporting both the competitiveness of European innovators and the broader societal shift towards a more human-centric digital future.
The project operated as the NGI Outreach Office, serving as a key coordination and dissemination mechanism supporting a diverse community of researchers, innovators, developers, open-source contributors, SMEs, start-ups, policymakers, and civil society actors. By fostering collaboration, visibility, and impact across NGI projects, NGI4ALL.E aimed to create the conditions for a thriving and inclusive digital landscape. Its main objectives were to strengthen the NGI community through targeted communication and outreach, increase accessibility and diversity across stakeholder groups, support uptake and exploitation of NGI-funded solutions, and enhance the initiative’s policy relevance at European and global levels. Central to this effort was the promotion of open science, open standards, and open-source development, which underpin Europe’s ambition for a trustworthy and sovereign digital future.
Responding to the growing need to integrate social sciences and humanities (SSH) perspectives, NGI4ALL.E embedded participatory, ethical, and human-centred methodologies across its activities. Through extensive engagement with end-users, digital rights groups, women-in-tech networks, and grassroots communities, the project ensured that societal needs, digital rights concerns, and ethical considerations were directly reflected in the NGI agenda. SSH-informed research, participatory interviews, and community workshops contributed to a richer understanding of the social implications of Internet technologies, while accessibility assessments, diversity mapping, and equity-driven engagement strengthened the inclusiveness and representativeness of the NGI ecosystem.
The project’s expected impact was to contribute to a vibrant and diverse community capable of guiding the future of the Internet in Europe, stimulate the uptake of NGI-funded solutions, and support the emergence of technologies that reflect EU values—privacy, security, fairness, equity, sustainability, and democratic participation. By the end of the project, NGI4ALL.E sought to deliver a more coherent and visible NGI ecosystem, improved accessibility and inclusion, better-aligned policy engagement, and stronger foundations for community-driven innovation. Its results were intended to catalyse long-lasting change in how Europe develops, deploys, and governs Internet technologies, supporting both the competitiveness of European innovators and the broader societal shift towards a more human-centric digital future.
During the project, NGI4ALL.E carried out a set of technical and scientific activities that strengthened the NGI ecosystem and supported the development of a more human-centric Internet. A major achievement was the expansion and consolidation of the NGI Innovators Database, now comprising over 1,100 innovators from 46 countries, which enabled detailed analyses of technological domains, community structure, and diversity gaps. Building on this foundation, the project conducted extensive mapping and qualitative research with more than 1,500 innovators, 44 women-in-tech organisations, 30+ grassroots communities, and 20 end-user interviews. This work produced a refined taxonomy of societal needs and digital-rights priorities, informing future NGI research directions.
The project applied participatory and user-centred methodologies, running five workshops and targeted interviews to understand the socio-technical implications of NGI technologies, particularly in areas such as accessibility, digital inclusion, privacy, and algorithmic fairness. Technical accessibility work led to measurable improvements of the NGI online ecosystem, which achieved a 97.4% W3C accessibility compliance score through iterative audits, blind-user testing, and updated Accessibility Guidelines.
The NGI Online Community Platform continued to evolve as a collaborative technical space supporting over 3,000 members, enabling structured interaction among researchers, innovators, and open-source contributors. Data-related activities were consolidated in the updated Data Management Plan (D5.3) ensuring full adherence to FAIR principles, GDPR requirements, and Horizon Europe standards. Overall, NGI4ALL.E delivered a robust set of analytical, methodological, and technical outputs that enhance the NGI’s ability to support trustworthy, inclusive, and sustainable Internet innovation in Europe.
The project applied participatory and user-centred methodologies, running five workshops and targeted interviews to understand the socio-technical implications of NGI technologies, particularly in areas such as accessibility, digital inclusion, privacy, and algorithmic fairness. Technical accessibility work led to measurable improvements of the NGI online ecosystem, which achieved a 97.4% W3C accessibility compliance score through iterative audits, blind-user testing, and updated Accessibility Guidelines.
The NGI Online Community Platform continued to evolve as a collaborative technical space supporting over 3,000 members, enabling structured interaction among researchers, innovators, and open-source contributors. Data-related activities were consolidated in the updated Data Management Plan (D5.3) ensuring full adherence to FAIR principles, GDPR requirements, and Horizon Europe standards. Overall, NGI4ALL.E delivered a robust set of analytical, methodological, and technical outputs that enhance the NGI’s ability to support trustworthy, inclusive, and sustainable Internet innovation in Europe.