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tags: grants
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[Our Applications](https://hackmd.io/gDDWHpPeQaGEzv2T-dW_Kg?edit)

# Sovereign Tech Fund

Website: https://sovereigntechfund.de/en/
Application: https://sovereigntechfund.de/en/applications/

## Sprin-d

### Disruption
### Sprung Innovation
Innovation creates value or solves problems, but its adoption depends on the potential benefits versus the barriers to adoption. Disruption happens when high adoption barriers are outweighed by benefits with an absolute competitive edge which eventually forces everyone to overcome those barriers to adoption to stay competitive, leading to a clear before-and-after for those affected. Rarely, a revolutionary disruption occurs when innovation happens low in the technology stack of society gets adopted and causes a massive downstream impact, as seen with the steam engine, the internet, or the printing press.

To encourage innovation adoption and make positive disruption more likely, it's important to lower adoption barriers by removing all non-essential changes for the innovation to happen from the potential adopters experience.

## PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
- the old internet was developed in the USA and is not decentralized. Web 2.0 is also not decentralized and doesn't enable digital sovereignity.
- Management Summary: Initial Situation
- old vsnew digital base tehcnologies. if you are just funding the old ones, google, bitcoin, bluesky etc. will build the future and you will again depend on this new technology. solution: fund and improve the new approaches. why could google, facbeook etc. win? because the old technology was not capable doing what it is supposed to do, so we need new capabilities on top of which the innovation will be built. new technology, that is open source, is there: blockchains, mastodon, activity pub, nostr, dat, ipfs... but they are underfunded. and if they don't get enough funding, then sillicon valley and web2.0 will invest and take over these new technologies. and the future will again depend on the big tech. see chat gpt example - it is huge, but it is controlled by a few. and if you want digital sovereignity, you need to put money towards the projects that can bring you there.
- Management Summary: Solution Approach
- we have infrastrucure from the dawn of the internet. who supports them? google etc. these projects are funded. the things that is not there is - howdo we get to the next level
- Management Summary: An Innovative Funding Approach
- companies need new infrastructure that will force them to change, if you don't support the new ways of doing things (open source), then the industry will not innovate. so supporting only existing open source that is already in use, will not bring innovation. but the goal is to get to the soveregnity - you need to have everything you use every day to enable the sovereignity. so all the software, all the solutions that people use, have to be independent of big tech. so, all the open source infrastructure needs to support the modern needs that apps and businesses need to satisfy the end users. so, what open source are we missing. because currently there are googles and facebooks and amazons etc. winning, because there is no open source alternative that would enable building apps like this (but for the future, now, open source did catch up, but to win in this field it is too late)
- Open Digital Base Technologies (ODBTs)
- if the existing implementers don't use your open source you don't get anything. only those who are in use. but german companies are not competititve on the market, that is why end users flock to the american companies. if we support the existing maintainers who supply existing (unsuccessful) implementers, then you are losing for sure. no innovation is possible.
- if you are always funding old and existing, you are sending signals to the companies to never try and build anything unusual, different, new, because there is never any money. in this kind of world, you always get the same, because you also always support old, tested, used, 'safe'.
- message you are sending: go ahead, for profit company, use free open source and don't give anything back, because 'government to the rescue'

## Sovereign tech fund

### GOALS:
1. we enhance and secure Dat (open digital base technology)
2. focus on security, resilience & critical open software components (at infrastructure level)
3. interoperability in architectures
4. dat's open ecosystem of companies can finally innovate freely without the fear of losing interoperability
- e.g. sonar (implementer)
- cliqz
- more companies can finally become more innovative to offer people end2end encrypted web apps where users own their data and data portability is achieved
- also at dramatically lower costs (no cloud/servers) required for the vast majority of computation and data transfer
- no lock-in (competitive advantage over US based web2.0 companies)
-
5. A data hub for networking and knowledge transfer between research, users, providers and the various software communities will be created.

>There is a need for a novel type of funding program to
provide targeted and sustainable support to Open Digital
Base Technology projects that are critical to security,
innovation, and digital sovereignty.

**How do we match**
- need for "non-monetary" support, we crave for help from service providers to help us with:
- community building
- consulting on sustainability + developing business models
- communucation
- design
- coaching

- Why do we fit the program

- We maintain and enhance dat as open digital base technology (ODBT)
- with a main focus on security. self-authenticating data structures, end-to-end encryption are literally the foundation and enabler of dat protocls and apps
- dat is a stack (10 years old) used by more and more projects around the world, open source and small innovative companies
- dat enables innovation that provide users with digital sovereignity (full control over their data, data portability, independence from the cloud)
- enahcning dat with user data vault standard so implementers can build apps that inherently provide their users with data portability and ownership

- dat is 10 years old (counts as open digital base technology)
- for **scaling** it needs to solve vault (which enables interoperability)
- tight budgets prevent dat ecosystem projects from being able to put enough efforts into researching and agreeing on interoperability standards
- which benefit end users by preventing lock-in and enable data portability, but require funding to put in the necessary more abstract effort
- a user giving access of their data to many apps requires focusing on **security** standards for sandboxing and data permission prompts
- having secure and scalable baseline interoperability layer that empowers the users, will likely cause a cambrian explosion of apps
- following the stards for interoperability
- and empowering the user with abundance of choice for apps and data portability
- the lack of a vault standard is precisely what prevents that core feature to enable ecosystem explosion

- we are 100% open source licensed in everything we do
- we are 100% based on or developing open standards specifically for the purpose of interoperability, between apps build on top of our core technology
- furthermore focusing on empowering users with data portability and full control over their data

### FUNDING

#### Areas of focus
- innovative strength
- digital sovereignity
- needs open source license (increases security/re-usability/independence)

**How do we match**
- BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT:
- we are maintaining software repositiroes (used by devs, not users) and which are undersupplied (used by many, but maintained by few)
- we create documentation and knowledge basis to answer all frequently asked quetsions and allow developers to find the information they need to build on dat

- Societal foundamental technologies
- dat makes it trivial to deploy and independently operate infrastructure.
- dat allows anyone to permissionlessly join and operate infrastructure (we call them nodes, not servers) and they all join and scale the same p2p based network
- dat standards simplify module integration. the enhancement we currently undergo is enabling building apps using the web stack which makes module integration much simpler and doesnt even require compilers

- strengthening the social production bases of open basic infrastructure
- e.g., through networking,
- further training in DevOps,
- moderation of processes, etc.,

plays a very important role in impact orientation.

Therefore, these factors must also be understood as funding objects, as the long-term success of digital basic infrastructure depends on them.

#### Criteria
- criticality and reach
- undersupply and resilience
- interoperability and dynamization
- development potencial
- new generation internet
- data portability/sovereignity
- preparedness to co-design and be consulted
- openness of applicants to receive consultation services, e.g. from coaches and the funding program team, and to jointly develop a funding plan are included in the selection process

**How do we match**
- dat ecosystem exists 10 years, mny projects building on top of it
- compared to ipfs, who as investors, we are undersupplied
- to stay independent, not locking users in, keeping maintainers and contributors around, there is a need for funding
- interoperability is designed together with many projects through the consortium of projects
- dat consortium - multi stakeholder body instead of old dat which was single centralized organization - is now enabling open governance
- whole dat is now open organization where departments of organization are its own independent companies/organizations, which enhances the decentralization also in the organizational sense

#### Funding modalities
- 50-500.000
- average 250.000
- 6-24 months
- if you are full time, go for long term so you don't need to apply all the time
- additional support
- coaching, audits, consulting, legal advise (proper licences), sustainability strategy
- stragety support
- usability + startup issues support
- development of teams and communities support
- this is extra to the funding
- non monetary
- recipients
- no or few restrictions

**How do we match**
- additional support:
- they can give us security audit, UX review/feedback/improvements for the apps built in ecosystem
- we give API and standards for devs to build, but we need to figure out permission system and UX for end users
- additional services we need
- UX and accessibility research
- legal research about the licences
- sustainability research for the datashell (bubble up)
- in growth program to teach the tech, but we would also like to offer all these projects UX/design/communication support

#### Implementation criteria of STF
- strong links with the community,
- a high level of flexibility, and
- appropriate accessibility of the program

#### Success criteria of STF
- sustainability
- resilience of open source ecosystem
- knowledge and skills in the community/economy
- innovative strength
- securing, maintaining and expanding open software components
- how is this benefiting germany economy/SMEs
- sonar: audio search: pioneering next generation internet, innovating on dat technology
- cabal chat: swedish open chat system with a lot of german early bird users
- apps built with dat and datashell are GDPR compliant and data is fully controlled by the users (no fear of hacking attacks, which means german startups can build next gen apps faster, more secure and empower the users) => example keet: streaming service, not relying on US based servers, completely sovereign and can be used by any company in germany to not depend on closed source Zoom
- digital sovereignity
- enabling users to make self determined decisions
- increases security and control over technologies
- allows technical development to be shaped according to European values and interests, especially with regard to data protection and accessibility
- security and techn:l:gical s:vereignty :f c:mpanies and
public instituti:ns in Germany

**How do we match**
- our data vault and growth program will develop and teach skills in the community
- by having the vault, we are making our ecosystem more resilient (users can easily switch to another project, if one project goes down, but also in general there is more option for alternatives)
- no dependence on oversees services, all p2p, local first

#### Fund
- **goals**: innovation, security and digital sovereignity
- **mission**: The development, improvement, and maintenance of open basic digital technologies will be supported by a Sovereign Tech Fund. The goal is to sustainably strengthen the Open Source ecosystem, with a focus on **security**, **resilience**, **technological diversity**, and the **people** behind the projects.
- **sustainability**: sustainable funding that supports not only projects but also entire ecosystems beyond funding periods, thus achieving a long-term impact
- **resilience**: increase the resilience of funded projects,
- **security**: enhance the security of the open-source ecosystem,
- **technological diversity** through interoperability,
- **digital sovereignity** - contribute to the goal of digital sovereignty.
- **people** - individuals and their individual development as well as organizational development and the needs of communities. The social layer of open, decentrally organized software development is both USP and potential.

#### Conclusion

- open source
- publicly available
- (critical for 10 year old dat-ecosystem and security relevant)
- used by many individuals in the open source world + companies in the dat-ecosystem (e.g. including german company arso/sonar + their clients)
- and worldwide by all kinds of businesses, like audio radio broadacastinsher in argentina, etc...
- improve connectivity (with a offlije/local first) approach and redundant p2p network connections (as proofen in the past by incensorable bittorrent)
- privacy
- security
- access to information

**How do we match**
- our solution is made for developers to build solutions for SMEs to make them independent from big tech and to own their data

--------------------------------------

## Evaluationsbericht - Pilotphase

### Goals:
- sustainable strengthening of the open source ecosystem & people behind the projects
- resillience
- technological diversity

- digital sovereignity

- experts for pilot round: Frank Rieger (CCC), Karsten Nohl (srlabs), Corinne Cath-Speth (OTF), Fieke
Jansen (Critical Infrastructure Lab) und Aaron Glenn (RIPE Community)

## Requirements
1. **Proposed activities:** the activities listed in the application must be related to developing or maintaining open digital base technologies. (Development is our primary focus)
2. **Estimated costs:** The application must exceed €150,000 (current funding minimum).
3. OSI-approved or FSF Free/Libre licenses are acceptable for code

**The Sovereign Tech Fund invests in **open digital base technologies that are vital to the development of other software or enable digital networking.**
* We invest in projects that benefit and strengthen the open source ecosystem
* e.g.
* libraries
* programming languages
* package managers
* communication protocols
* developer tooling
* crypto libraries
* ...and more...
* **no user facing apps** (no messengers, no file storage services)
* must have "societal relevance"
* e.g. vulnerable groups depend on it
* e.g. broad public benefit

measured not only by users, but also criticality of particularly imporatnt areas of society

FUNDING GOAL: self-determined use of digital technologies + security, stability, tech-diversity (interop)

UNDERSUPPLY/OVERUSE:
To receive funding from the Sovereign Tech Fund, technologies must be under-supplied or threatened by other circumstances, acute or long-term, such as market consolidation or severe dependencies. The lack of support and resources or technical alternatives places the technologies in a vulnerable state that threatens the existence and sustainability of the project. Applicants must clearly state the extent to which there is underuse or overuse. We understand that these can have different manifestations and causes.

MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA:
1. RELEVANCE
2. UNDERSUPPLY
technologies whose longevity or safety is at risk to be vulnerable.
- lack of financial support, lack of personnel or a lack of governance structures
3. OTHER CRITERIA
1. project plan quality
- well structured feasible & appropriate activities
2. people behind project
- team/org capable of implement requested activities
- does project have a community
4. how well is it matching OTF's strategy and mission
- the goal of sustainably strengthening the open source ecosystem in the public interest.

prevalence of technology + technology sector

is longevity + safety at risk to be vulnerable?
- lack of financial support
- lack of personnel
- lack of governance structures

TIMELINE:
- take up to eight weeks for us to get back to you with a decision

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## Application name
Dat ecosystem

## Project title
Dat ecosystem interoperability initiative

## Describe your project in a sentence.
The Dat ecosystem initiative works towards an open standard for GDPR-compliant data vaults for developers to make their apps interoperable by empowering users with full control over their data, seamless data portability and the ability to self-authenticate across all ecosystem applications.

## Describe your project more in-depths. Why is it critical?
- status quo & problem
- dat in the past = protocol + toolsets
- dat today = many projects building on top of dat stack
- despite that each project is a tiny island
- connecting islands is blocked by:
- accounts are not portable
- data is not portable
-
- vision
- make projects securely interoperable
- solution
- standard for data vault -> secure data portability for users (api+protocol)
- standard for data vault UX
- standard for app sandboxing
- standard for source code verification and auditing for all modules within apps
- process
- write standards
- talk to all projects to include their needs
- implement prototype
- work with projects to adopt standards