NLnet Foundation temporarily pauses open technologies funding submissions to take stock and prepare for transition
The NLnet Foundation just announced a temporary pause on its open calls under the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, and in particular the NGI Zero programmes. After nearly 10 years of uninterrupted implementation of back-to-back NGI calls, NLnet explained that this pause will allow them to take stock of NGI Zero and prepare for the emerging challenges that come with the Tech Sovereignty package announced by the European Commission on 3 June 2026.
With funding from the European Commission, NGI Zero (NGI0) supports open source, open data, open hardware and open standards projects. APC is a member of the NGI0 consortium led by the NLnet Foundation that implements a range of actions to provide a funding mechanism to hundreds of independent researchers and open source developers working on and for a better internet.
In practice, NLnet will temporarily not accept new submissions from now on until an evaluation of NGI Zero is completed, with the exception of the two ongoing pilot programmes NGI Fediversity and NGI Taler. For these two programmes, proposals can still be submitted according to the regular bi-monthly schedule. Ongoing projects are not affected by this measure. After the European summer, the foundation plans to reopen its regular open calls as well as launch no fewer than three new programmes as part of the transition to the new "Open Internet Stack".
"As NGI is in a concluding phase, after the summer the regular application process will be opened with three new programmes under the new Open Internet Stack umbrella. In the meantime, only proposals for the remaining two NGI pilot projects NGI Taler and NGI Fediversity can be submitted. Ongoing projects are not affected," the foundation summarised in its announcement.
NLnet alone received over 10,000 applications over the lifetime of NGI, of which over 2,500 applications were submitted in just the first five months of 2026, according to its announcement. So far, from almost 8,500 applications across five NGI Zero programmes, a total of 1,215 projects were funded – and another 215 projects came from almost 2,000 applications through adjacent NGI programmes involving NLnet. These range from post-quantum cryptography and libre silicon toolchains to decentralised social media, independent mobile operating systems, productivity tools and new internet standards.
The interview series “Building a Free Internet of the Future”, published monthly by APC, has been highlighting experiences and perspectives of individuals and communities supported by NGI0. In a recently published book compiling interviews conducted in 2024 and 2025, many of the interviewees highlighted access to funding as a major challenge for their initiatives, describing a scenario in which NGI0 resources can truly make a difference. Beyond the financial resources, NGI0 grantees also receive practical support in different ways, including mentoring, testing, security testing, accessibility, dissemination and more.