Mobile Freedom (MOBIFREE)

Project Information

MOBIFREE

Grant agreement ID: 101135795

DOI

10.3030/101135795

EC signature date 23 October 2023

Start date 1 December 2023

End date 30 November 2026

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 4 899 925,00

EU contribution

€ 4 421 800,00

Coordinated by

E FOUNDATION
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MOBIFREE (Mobile Freedom (MOBIFREE))

Reporting period: 2023-12-01 to 2025-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

MOBIFREE addresses societal and political needs for human-centred and ethical alternatives to dominant mobile ecosystems controlled by non-European Big Tech. These raise concerns over privacy, autonomy, market fairness, and Europe’s digital sovereignty. EU policies such as the Digital Markets Act provide fertile ground for MOBIFREE’s objectives.

The project aims to scale privacy-respecting, open-source mobile technologies developed in Europe and align them with real user needs in four key sectors: young adults, civil servants, developers, and humanitarian providers. These technologies span all layers of the mobile ecosystem: OS (/e/OS), apps (e.g. Conversations, Delta Chat), app stores (e.g. App Lounge, F-Droid), and cloud services (Murena Workspace, Rapid.Space).

The main objectives of the project are to:
1. Develop a framework for human-centred and ethical software + a concomittant guide for ethical software development.
2. Advance over 60 open-source technologies from TRL 3–6 to TRL 6–9 through inclusive co-creation and pilots.
3. Fund additional open-source projects via financial support (FSTP).
4. Support ethical software business models via a Business Development Kit and MOBIFREE Accelerator.
5. Build a pan-European community of ethical IT innovators via shared tools, events, and the Fair Tech Forum.
6. Coordinate a multidisciplinary consortium to deliver outcomes efficiently and on schedule.

MOBIFREE’s pathway to impact is built around structured engagement with developers and users. End-user workshops and pilot tests helped document public values and convert them into software design guidance. These directly influenced software updates and other outputs.

Expected impacts include:
- A sustainable European open-source mobile software ecosystem as an alternative to Big Tech.
- Greater digital sovereignty for EU citizens and institutions.
- High-quality job creation and ethical tech entrepreneurship.
- A growing ecosystem of ethical, user-driven software innovators in Europe.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the first 18 months, MOBIFREE advanced across six work packages, combining research, co-creation, software development and DEC.

1. Human-centred software framework

A draft conceptual framework for ethical, human-centred software development was established, combining Value Sensitive Design (VSD) with EU regulatory principles. This forms the basis for a practical software development guide.

- University of Amsterdam and Waag collaborated to connect legal norms with software design.
- Workshops with 100+ participants across four user groups revealed values guiding software expectations.

2. Co-Creation and Pilot Testing

Waag led co-creation with all software partners and user groups.

- Nine workshops shaped software requirements.
- Pilot tests involved 92 users (young adults, developers, civil servants); one more group to follow in RP2.
- Pilots evaluated usability, ethical alignment and functionality, feeding directly into development.

3. Software Development

More than 60 open-source components were upgraded or created.

- /e/OS: Added parental controls, fake location per app, Whisper voice-to-text, Web Installer, and more.
- Murena Workspace: Implemented SSO, Forms, usability enhancements.
- microG: Expanded APIs, geolocation, billing support, passkeys.
- Delta Chat & Conversations: Improved onboarding, file sharing, encryption and usability.
- F-Droid ecosystem: Released Fastlane plugin, DAPPER Registry, Repomaker upgrades.
- Rapid.Space: Built a disaster-resilient mail server for offline communication via Open Radio Stations.

4. FSTP funding

11 third-party projects were funded, including ATL, OWASP Blint, and Solid Digital Wallet.

5. Scientific Contributions

- Empirical insights from workshops and pilots feeding into academic and practical outputs.
- A framework for human-centred and ethical software.
- Business Development Kit produced to support sustainable ethical software ventures.

In summary, MOBIFREE combines research, co-design and open-source development to deliver user-friendly, ethical mobile software tools. This work will be expanded in RP2.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

MOBIFREE’s first phase produced novel frameworks, methodologies and software across the full mobile stack. These outcomes support broad EU goals:

- Technological: Strengthens EU capacity to provide viable, open mobile alternatives.
- Societal: Embeds values like privacy, accessibility and sustainability.
- Economic: Enables fairer competition and ethical tech entrepreneurship.
- Policy: Offers practical models for aligning innovation with EU values.

To sustain this impact, needs to ensure further success are:

1. Further Research and Validation

- The draft framework and concomittant software development guide need iterative refinement through additional testing.
- Sector-specific insights (e.g. humanitarian) are still under development.

2. Demonstration and Scaling

- Broader pilots and long-term engagement are essential, especially with institutions.

3. Market access and commercialisation

- FOSS projects need support for business model refinement and scaling.
- Public procurement and investor access remain key enablers.
- The MOBIFREE Accelerator will provide support, but wider ecosystem support is needed.

4. Support for Developers on Integration with Human-centred and Ethical Values and Regulations

- Developers need practical guidance on implementing legal and ethical values.
- This will be a continued focus for RP2.

5. Sustainability of open source

- Public sector uptake of European open-source solutions should be actively encouraged.
- The advantages of open source should be communicated more towards citizens.

MOBIFREE lays the foundation for long-term transformation of mobile software in Europe. Continued investment in user-aligned and ethical digital systems is essential to build on these gains.