NGI Commons - Open Source and Internet Commons for Europe’s Digital Sovereignty

ongoing

The NGI Commons project aims to align and integrate Next Generation Internet (NGI) efforts within the broader European Digital and Internet Commons (DC/IC) landscape, addressing key governance issues such as digital sovereignty, cybersecurity and personal data self-determination. To achieve the EC Call objectives, the project’s consortium combines expertise in Digital/Internet Commons, Open Source, the European digital policy landscape with a deep understanding of the overall NGI initiative. Digital Commons, including open source software, hardware, design, standards and data, are essential to support sovereignty, trust and democratic values in society. Their economic and geopolitical importance has been recognized in the EU's Digital Decade Strategy. To unlock the full potential of Digital Commons, efforts must be made to overcome fragmentation and bridge the gap between bottom-up movements and top-down regulatory efforts, a role that the NGI Commons project can effectively play. The project's approach focuses on creating value for all stakeholders in the NGI community and facilitating access to NGI resources and funding for DC/IC initiatives. It leverages the consortium's deep understanding of NGI tools and mechanisms and its well-established connections across Europe and beyond. The project will conduct a thorough economic analysis of the NGI initiative's impact and the broader DC/IC landscape, which will contribute to creating a strategic agenda for supporting Digital Commons throughout the current MFF period and beyond. The main objective is to help the NGI initiative to integrate and align with other European and national Digital Commons policies in order to develop a long-term strategy that is critical for sovereignty, trust and European democratic values. The ultimate ambition is to create a more coherent European funding landscape to make the Digital Commons a core building block of EU digital sovereignty and public digital infrastructure.