Sovereign Tech Agency funds maintainers for open standards

The federal government's Sovereign Tech Agency has launched a new funding program to support maintainers who work in the field of open standards and interoperability and want to get involved with the standardization organizations IETF, W3C, or ISO. Ten places are available for this, with a monthly remuneration of 4800 to 5200 euros for the time spent on standardization work and committee meetings.

In addition, the program also includes training and onboarding, for example, with an online course on the working methods of standardization bodies and initial personal meetings at one of the organizations. There will also be mentoring by experienced contributors to standardization work and a network for exchange with like-minded people. Furthermore, support will be provided for travel to in-person meetings, and participation fees will be reimbursed.

Funding “long overdue”

The results of a survey of open-source maintainers were incorporated into the design of the funding. According to the survey, three-quarters of respondents stated that while they actively rely on standards, hardly anyone can afford to participate in their development long-term. “We are of the opinion that meaningful support for those who help shape open standards is long overdue,” explained the Sovereign Tech Agency.

Candidates for the program are expected to work on standards for around 10 hours per week and attend meetings of one of the three organizations. Anyone who actively manages an open-source infrastructure project related to the standards relevant to IETF, W3C, and ISO or plans to make significant contributions to one of the three organizations is invited to apply. Prior experience in standardization processes is not required by the call for applications. Implementation experience and the relevance of the work to the respective standards are decisive.

The Sovereign Tech Agency is accepting applications until May 19. The funding program is initially intended as a pilot project running until 2027. Further details about the program and the application process can be found in the FAQs.

The Sovereign Tech Agency is a subsidiary of the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation and is dedicated to supporting open-source technology. It emerged in 2024 from the Sovereign Tech Fund. Most recently, it supported the improvement of the decentralized microblogging service Mastodon with 614,000 euros.

(axk)