NLnet Funds 67 New Open-Source Initiatives

NLnet has officially announced the distribution of grants to 67 distinct open-technology projects. These awards are part of the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, aimed at fostering a digital ecosystem that is resilient, human-centric, and open.

"We congratulate the developers and engineers involved with these projects, and thank them for their forthcoming contribution to an open, resilient and human-centered internet."

📅 Call for Proposals

If you have an idea for NGI Taler or NGI Fediversity, the window is open!

Submit your proposal
Review guidelines
Deadline: August 1, 2026

🏗️ The Funding Framework

The grants are distributed across three primary funding streams, each targeting a specific pillar of the internet's evolution.

Fund Name	Primary Focus	Core Objective
NGI Zero Commons Fund	General Open Tech	Broad support for the open-source stack
NGI TALER	Privacy-Preserving Payments	Private payments $\rightarrow$ Transparent merchants
NGI Fediversity	Hosted Services	User autonomy and service portability

💳 NGI Taler & 🌐 NGI Fediversity

These two "Pilot" programs utilize a consortium of partners to build practical, domain-specific solutions. While they have core goals, they also allocate budget to external projects.

NGI Taler

Focuses on an electronic payment system where the payer remains anonymous, but the seller's transactions are transparent.

Fleetbase $\times$ Taler: Creating privacy-centric, low-cost payments for the logistics sector.
Taler PoS: Developing Point-of-Sale software.
GNU Guix Integration: Bringing GNU Taler into the functional package manager.
iOS Development: Implementing automated UI testing and type generation for the mobile app.

NGI Fediversity

Aims to provide hosted internet services that prioritize personal freedom and the ability to move data between providers.

Nocloud: A dedicated file-hosting platform.
Magic Nix VFS: A system for on-demand software distribution via cache servers, essentially creating a massive virtual Nix store.

🛠️ NGI Zero Commons Fund: A Diverse Tech Stack

The Zero Commons Fund covers everything from raw silicon to high-level AI. ~~Proprietary silos~~ Open standards are the priority here.

🔌 Hardware & Circuitry

The selection includes a wide array of physical and low-level engineering:

Energy & Logic: An open-source Hybrid Flow Battery and CflexHDL for FPGA design.
CPU & IP: A libre-licensed CPU featuring a programmable decoder for multiple instruction sets, and the Dot Product Unit (DPU) for efficient vector math: $\text{DPU Output} = \sum_{i=1}^{n} a_i b_i$
Boards & Devices:
- Ringdove EDA: New format importers for PCBs.
- Einszeit: An innovative encryption device.
- Unbinare RET: A platform for reverse engineering.
- mikroPhone: An open-hardware smartphone.
Platform Ports: Porting Apicula to the Gowin GW5A platform.

💻 Operating Systems & Browsers

Innovation continues at the kernel and interface levels:

OS Evolution: Virtualized microservices for the Rust-based Redox OS, kernel observability for Landlock, and the Island sandboxing solution.
Wayland Ecosystem:
- River: A non-monolithic compositor with a decoupled window management protocol.
- Support for e-reader (electrophoretic) displays.
- Wayland integration for the Disthro audio plugin framework.
Web Engines: Enhancing Servo (multimedia and writing modes) and the Bisque project for better desktop integration.

🧪 Science, Math, and AI

Support for the academic and engineering community includes:

Tools: Accessibility upgrades for $\LaTeX$ , a framework for Zotero plugins, and QUATT for solid-state quantum circuit design.
Simulation & Data: The Nexus GPU multi-physics engine, procedural visualizations, and integrating Ovolesti (high-dimension sampling) into GNU Octave.
Specialized Software:
- pgmpy: Causal AI focusing on cause-and-effect.
- Open Instrument Control: Transport-level protocols for T&M instruments.
- Selective Data Disclosure tools.

🔐 Security, Networking, and Languages

Ensuring the plumbing of the internet is secure and efficient:

Protocols: MultiPath TCP, microTCP, and improvements to the Routing Policy Specification Language.
Infrastructure: Solutions for physical optical fiber deployment and DMRSEC for securing Digital Mobile Radio (critical for emergency services).
Supply Chain: SecObservePlus and SBOMVert for software transparency.
Compilers & VMs:
- AtomVM: A clean-room implementation of the Erlang VM.
- Funk: A compiler for functionally safe, hard real-time systems.
- Ribbit: A multi-target compiler (Scheme $\rightarrow$ JS, C, Python, etc.).
- Haskell: Improving generalized algebraic data types to eliminate specific security vulnerabilities.

🗺️ Mapping and Data Commons

Finally, the grants support the democratization of geographic and shared data:

OpenStreetMap: Enhancements to iD-presets and iD-tagging.
CoMaps: A FOSS mobile mapping application.
Other: Various projects targeting large-scale open data commons.

// Example of the type of innovation being funded
fn main() {
    println!("Supporting the open-source ecosystem!");
    let projects_funded = 67;
    if projects_funded > 0 {
        println!("The internet is becoming more resilient.");
    }
}