The Sovereign Tech Fund to be made permanent
For Immediate Release: Berlin, Germany, on 20 November 2023
The Sovereign Tech Fund (STF), whose purpose is to strengthen and sustain fundamental open digital technologies in the public interest, announced it will be established as an independent subsidiary of SPRIND, stabilizing and scaling the organization.
The STF was launched in 2022 with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) to make strategic investments in the open source ecosystem with a focus on security, technological diversity, and resilience.
An investment in digital sovereignty
For the initial implementation phase, the STF was located directly within the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND). Now, as an independent entity, the project is scaling up and positioned for autonomy. This underscores the significance of investment in the open source ecosystem and bolsters the STF's sustainability.
The spin-out of the STF comes after a successful first year, during which it pioneered several initiatives for strengthening the open source ecosystem. The STF team analyzed and evaluated hundreds of technologies, supporting over 40 critical technologies like Pendulum, Prossimo, logback, and the Yocto Project.
“We have identified a great need and that is why we want and need to scale up. As open source technologies are the foundation of almost all digital undertakings, both in the public and private sectors, securing and maintaining the digital infrastructure is in society's best interests.”
The open source ecosystem is the foundation for innovation, competition, and public digital infrastructure
Open source software components, frameworks, libraries and other tools that enable the efficient development of software are essential building blocks for digital innovation and can significantly accelerate software development, while also making it more open and participatory. This is important for economic competitiveness, as well as the long-term development of digital products and services in the public interest.
Long-term investment in open source digital infrastructure is an important foundation for innovation and cybersecurity.
“This takes public digital infrastructure seriously and is recognition of an important new mission in the public interest. It strengthens digital sovereignty, innovation, and competitiveness by investing in critical and essential software.”
As an independent subsidiary of SPRIND, STF will continue to develop and scale as a successful mechanism for providing support for critical open source software. To increase the STF’s impact and sustainability, additional ideas are planned in areas like fostering a new generation of open source developers and increasing diversity, complementing the investments in technologies.
More about the Sovereign Tech Fund's goals and vision can be found on the new website: sovereigntechfund.de
Press Contact
- Powen Shiah info@sovereigntechfund.de
+49 15114934113 - www.sovereigntechfund.de
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