Next Generation Internet Zero

7 September 2023 | Updated on 12 June 2024

The Next Generation Internet (NGI) is a European Commission initiative that aims to shape an internet that responds to people’s fundamental needs, including trust, security and inclusion. NGI Zero's mission is to contribute to an open, resilient, human-centred internet for all by supporting the development of free/libre/open source software and hardware, open standards and open data.

APC is one of the members of a consortium led by the NLnet Foundation. This consortium is composed by several not-for-profit organisations, each with a specific area of expertise to make the digital commons more robust.

Over the next three years, the consortium will be responsible for implementing a range of actions aimed at providing an agile, effective and low-threshold funding mechanism, where funded projects – in addition to receiving a grant – will be supported by domain experts in various fields, such as diversity, security, accessibility and licence compliance, among others.

APC and partners have different roles within this consortium, mostly focusing on project-level community building by contributing to broadening communities of practice, reaching technology innovators at a very early stage, while strengthening ties with technical, operational and research communities and fostering an active relationship with the rest of the wider NGI ecosystem.

APC is uniquely positioned to bring into this initiative the power of its network of members and partners, where diversity and inclusion are core values, and incorporate a feminist and intersectional perspective, a human rights approach and a global South perspective.

NGI Zero supports strategic technology research and development, more particularly the development of free/libre/open source software and hardware, and the establishment of open standards and open data – technologies that can be used, studied, modified and shared by anyone for any purpose, without having to ask anyone for permission. Through these programmes, a total of over EUR 30 million is being granted to hundreds of independent researchers and open source developers working on a better internet. The NGI Zero Review programme supports the wider NGI community with various services that help to mature these technology commons.

NGI Zero Entrust

Trustworthiness and data sovereignty

This is a grant programme to strengthen the trustworthiness, openness and security of the internet. It invests in technology commons such as robust and reliable software applications, open standards that promote freedom of choice and interoperability, all the way up to open hardware devices that can be verified from the bottom up.

Between 2022 and 2025 this grant programme will be able to award projects EUR 5,000 to EUR 50,000 (and potentially even more) to contribute to research and open source development in this field.

Continue reading about NGI0 Entrust and see the ongoing projects.
Propose a project, and make sure to read the guide for applicants and the frequently asked questions.
Meet the members of the consortium involved in the NGI Entrust programme.

NGI Zero Core

Moving the internet forward

This is a grant programme with a focus on modernising the internet. It funds free and open source technological building blocks and developing and delivering new internet standards to users – working towards a more resilient, trustworthy and sustainably open internet for all.

Between 2023 and December 2026, this grant programme will be able to award projects EUR 5,000 to EUR 50,000 (and potentially even more) to contribute to bringing the next generation of the internet closer.

Continue reading about NGI0 Core.
Propose a project, and make sure to read the guide for applicants and the frequently asked questions.
Meet the members of the consortium involved in the NGI Core programme.

NGI Zero Review

Supporting quality and maturity of digital commons

NGI Zero Review is a three-year support programme offering various targeted services to free and open source projects within the Next Generation Internet initiative. Its goal is to improve the quality and inclusiveness of these projects, and make them more sustainable where possible by supporting the most promising ideas to live up to high standards in terms of security, privacy, accessibility, open source licensing compliance, standardisation, etc.

NGI Zero Commons

Reclaim the public nature of the internet

The goal of this new fund is to help deliver, mature and scale new internet commons across the whole technology spectrum, from libre silicon to middleware, from P2P infrastructure to convenient end user applications. We have a holistic, full-stack approach, simply because there is no other way. If we want to reclaim the public nature of the internet and yield the full benefits from technology as a society, we need to have full coverage – period.

NGI0 speaker bureau - Invite experts to your event

If you are interested in bringing the next generation internet to your event, fill in this form to invite a speaker. For info on how the speaker bureau works, see frequently asked questions below the form.

Free resources from NGI Zero

Best practices for secure, accessible, localised, inclusive technology

While the focus of NGI Zero is on producing relevant technological building blocks, we are happy to share the things we have learned, too. The lessons learned and best practices developed by NGI Zero are publicly available for everyone to learn from and build on. Below you can find the currently available documentation.