STRENGTHENING DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY

THE SOVEREIGN TECH FUND WANTS TO SUPPORT A STABLE OPEN SOURCE ECOSYSTEM

» INNOVATION WILL NOT SUCCEED WITHOUT A FUNCTIONING INFRASTRUCTURE. «

SPRIND AND SOVEREIGN TECH FUND

WHY WE ARE COMMITTED

Because open digital basic technologies form the basis of innovation and the digital ability to act.

Because strengthening the open source ecosystem is essential for a digital and sovereign society.

Because a secure digital infrastructure must be understood as the task of digital services of general interest.

WHAT WE DO

We incubate the Sovereign Tech Fund. We invest in open digital basic technologies in a pilot project.

THE POTENTIAL WE SEE

A strong digital foundation for the future.

Digital sovereignty for society, economy and administration in Europe. Sustainable and efficient use of open software. A secure and vital open source ecosystem enables innovation, new business models and sustainable resources for all.

OPENNESS, USABILITY AND SECURITY

With the Sovereign Tech Fund, we want to secure the selfdetermined use and design of digital technologies.

We often only notice how critical a functioning infrastructure is to our lives when it no longer works. There are many examples of this in the digital world: the Heartbleed Bug discovered in 2014, problems in data collection and poorly digitized administrative structures in the corona pandemic or the massive vulnerability Log4j discovered in 2021. These problems show how far-reaching the dependencies are and how large the effects of software infrastructure on the economy, administration and society are. This is a situation that Fiona Krakenbürger and Adriana Groh no longer want to accept. With their focus on sustainability and diversity in technology development as well as democratic innovations, they are promoting the digital sovereignty of Europe.

“Innovation will not succeed without a functioning infrastructure. Innovative digital technologies in particular are almost never completely new,” Fiona Krakenbürger explained, who has many years of experience in open source funding that she acquired working for the Open Technology Fund in Washington D.C., inter alia. “Existing software components are always used or existing code is repaired and adapted to write new applications based on them.” The use of such open digital base technologies, or ODB for short, can thus greatly simplify new and further development and reduce development costs, since the large number of modules and code libraries can be used. This means that proper infrastructure maintenance can increase the innovative strength and the pace of development, which is especially crucial for developing disruptive technologies.

Adriana Groh, former director of the Prototype Fund, a program for innovation promotion in the field of open source software, and Fiona Krakenbürger, who also worked there, began work on a funding program feasibility study for ODB. This was carried out on behalf of the Federal

Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and showed many deficits in the open source, but also potential areas.

“The maintenance of open digital basic technologies, on which many applications and products depend, is too often the voluntary work of individuals,” Fiona Krakenbürger reported. ODBs are of central importance for an innovative economy and secure administration, because they are often installed throughout the entire supply chain. Examples of such basic technologies are code libraries or standardized protocols that are used by developers to write application software and ensure that it works. While many commercial users employ the software, too few also check the functionality and up-to-dateness or provide further developments or improvements to the open source ecosystem.

Open Basic Technologies As Part Of Digital Services Of General Interest

“This creates a structural problem. Because ODBs are installed in a large number of systems in good quality thanks to easy availability and licenses, their scaling is often larger than the resources of the code developers allow,” Adriana Groh explained. “Open digital enabling technologies are to be understood as a digital public good and as part of a digital public service.” They evade individual responsibility and the free rider problem arises: Every user assumes that someone else will take care of providing or maintaining the material. “We need targeted investments to offset these negative effects and strengthen a solid digital foundation for the future.”

The solution that the feasibility study suggests: the Sovereign Tech Fund, which was conceived by Fiona Krakenbürger, Adriana Groh and other fellow campaigners with the exact intention to undertake this, is now supported by SPRIND. The concern and desire for better care of the digital infrastructure is discussed internationally in open-source communities and the knowledge from this network, for example, the work of the technology researcher Katharina Meyer and the experiences of Felix Reda , former member of the European Parliament and fellow at Harvard University, have been incorporated into the creation of the Sovereign Tech Fund.

“By supporting a long-term resilient and sustainable open-source ecosystem, the development and maintenance of relevant software components can be improved and competitiveness and innovative strength as well as efficient administration and an effective civil society can be strengthened as a result,” Fiona Krakenbürger explained. The goal of digital sovereignty, i.e., the self-determined use and design of digital technologies and sys - tems by individuals, private organizations and the state, cannot be achieved without a robust open-source ecosystem. Open basic digital technologies are of particular importance here. “We must understand the design and maintenance of our digital infrastructure as a public task,” Adriana Groh stated, “because it is crucial for the future that our infrastructure is resilient and accessible not only in crises. The effectiveness and speed of our innovations always depend on it.”