Transatlantic Matchmaking: Why you Need a Partner across the Atlantic to Develop your Next Generation Internet Idea
NGI Sargasso helps you find your Transatlantic counterpart with our Brokerage System to be able to apply for our open calls to get up to €100,000 equity-free funding
NGI Sargasso is a unique collaborative ecosystem and program for promoting the Transatlantic cooperation for Next Generation Internet (NGI) technologies through open calls providing equity-free funding to the selected innovators.
The objective of NGI Sargasso is to create partnerships between Europe and the USA/Canada in the different Next Generation Internet technologies areas of the NGI initiative. To facilitate these partnerships, the NGI Sargasso consortium has designed a two/fold matchmaking system for applicants to share knowledge and connect Europeans with USA and Canadian partners to apply for our funding programme: the Brokerage System and the Matchmaking webinars.
Our Dual Approach to Matchmaking: Webinars and the Brokerage System
At NGI Sargasso, we understand the importance of finding the right partner for your project. To facilitate this, we offer:
1. Matchmaking Webinars: Connecting Innovators in Real-Time
Our webinars, held twice during each open call, are interactive online sessions designed to foster immediate connections. Here's what you can expect:
- Live presentations from potential partners outlining their expertise and project ideas at the designated open tables for your NGI area of interest.
- Q&A sessions to explore potential collaborations in real-time.
- Networking opportunities to discuss mutual interests and form preliminary connections.
These webinars are perfect for those looking to make quick, informed decisions about potential partners and to gain insights into the latest trends and opportunities in the NGI Sargasso space and to clear all doubts about the application process!
2. The Brokerage System: A Continuous Platform for Tailored Matches
The Brokerage System, operated by NGI Sargasso consortium partner Sploro, offers a more nuanced approach to matchmaking. This system is ideal for those seeking a tailored match and who prefer to take time to explore and build a strong, collaborative relationship with their counterpart. It is perpetually open, even when our open calls are closed, allowing you to prepare a connection with the next call. The way it works is simple, users have to register on NGI Sargasso Brokerage System to fill in a questionnaire about their areas of interest and baseline technologies. At this stage, our consortium looks for a counterpart on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean who is focused on the same area, making it a match that is ideal for both parties, so they can collaborate to turn their ideas into a reality. We take into account:
- Type of organization
- Contact details of registered organizations
- Country
- Areas of Knowledge
- Baseline Technologies
- Expectations / Offers
- What each project is looking for
The NGI Sargasso Brokerage System enables streamlined connections between entities across the United States, Canada, and Europe. It promotes international cooperation, interdisciplinary solutions, and growth within the research communities. By simplifying the process and offering personalized recommendations, the platform unlocks the potential of cross-border research and innovation.
By submitting your profile, you gain access to a vast pool of potential partners from the EU, USA, and Canada. This unique opportunity allows you to forge a strong team of experts from diverse backgrounds, ensuring your project is equipped with the expertise it needs to thrive. Together, you can bring your visionary Next Generation Internet project to life, making a significant impact in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Transatlantic teams can get up to €100,000 equity-free funding after joining our Brokerage System
During the 36-month duration of the project, NGI Sargasso will run 5 open calls for proposals, attracting +300 EU-USA/Canada teams working on emerging topics, such as trust and data sovereignty, digital identity, internet architecture renovation, decentralized technologies, and standards. We plan to support up to 96 projects that will benefit from up to €100,000 equity-free funding per Transatlantic team after entering a 9-month Capacity Building program.
This means that to qualify for funding, we only accept team applications, formed by a partner from Europe and its counterpart from the USA or Canada. That is why the first step to apply is to register in the NGI Sargasso Brokerage System, continuously open.
We have already closed four open calls, but our fifth and last open call will be launched on the 23rd of September 2024, so we encourage you to submit your profile and find your ideal partner. Join our Brokerage System today to unleash the Internet of the Future with us!
Mirko Boehm from Linux Foundation Europe Inspires NGI Sargasso First Open Call Innovators as a Host for Transatlantic Open Source Projects
NGI Sargasso open call one beneficiaries received an inspirational talk as part of their 9-month Capacity Building program to discover how Linux Foundation Europe works as a host for transatlantic cooperative community-based projects
The afternoon of the 19th of December 2023 the teams behind APSIDE, D3ICA, DDIP, EBSI-CAN, EvORAN, INTEROP4DID, SBAS and SNDS, NGI Sargasso innovators from our first open call, received a talk from Mirko Boehm, senior director for community development at Linux Foundation Europe, illustrating how they host cooperative projects across the Atlantic.
Why did the Linux Foundation land in Europe?
The Linux Foundations as the globally largest open source collaboration platform established its European chapter in September 2022 with the aim of acting as a catalyst for bringing European open source players closer into a global collaboration hosted at a local level.
Today, 31% of the Linux Foundation members are European, and the foundation is deeply involved in EU legislative initiatives like the Cyber Resilience Act and the Product Liability Directive, to give Europeans open source contributors a stronger voice and position.
“Open source is a positive sum-game that fits into the tech landscape and into how our societies embrace digitization. When we talk about AI, we are talking about how it would impact various parts of our society and the ethical aspects. Open source can be a driver for positive change” - Mirko Boehm.
He spoke about the open source grassroots community, the open source commercial and financial ecosystems and the collective value and social innovation fostered by the academic sector and by public funding programs like NGI Sargasso, key players in developing early stage technologies to a point where they can become mainstream, even in business applications.
“We are essentially a member-driven neutral governance entity, which means that no single company controls the collaboration”, stated Boehm. That’s another reason why the Linux Foundation landed in Europe, allowing their members to participate at a high level in building the open source ecosystem, so small and larger businesses can work together. No membership is required to contribute to Linux Foundation Europe projects.
Open source is widely viewed as a vital part of the future of multiple industry sectors that traditionally don't think of themselves as primarily software-driven, explained Mirko according to one of their reports. He added that as digitalization spreads to all industry sectors, open source is becoming the default collaboration mechanism.
In short, the role of the Linux Foundation Europe is to enable local collaboration with the European open source community.
Mirko highlighted that open source is not primarily a tool to achieve political goals, it is a tool to work together when you can agree on licensing and open governance of the projects, and that this technology is available to the whole world:
“There is absolutely no restriction on who can use the technology and where and for what purpose. That is the nature of open source” - Mirko Boehm.
How does the Linux Foundation host transatlantic cooperative projects?
When people hear about the Linux Foundation, they usually think of the Linux operating system. It was the starting project, the first of the over 850 they have now.
The Linux Foundation hosts the projects, and not a single company owns their assets. Instead, it’s all community-based, clarified Mirko.
In numbers, the Linux Foundation manages about 1,000 different domains and server names; 700 trademarks; 15,000 different source group repositories, and over 3,000 member companies.
“We basically translate the funding that we get from our member companies into support for the projects, and aim to come out with zero at the end of the year”, said Mirko.
To the question “What do you require if you want to be a project?”, Mirko answered that members need neutrality of the technology, meaning that the assets are handled by the community, setting up an environment where they can trust that transparency is there, and that they, as participants, can join the project. “It's really up to the community to drive it”, he clarified, and “that's what we call open governance: it's a community project and it will remain to be a community project, because projects come to us seeking a neutral home”.
The Linux Foundation doesn’t require projects to be large, instead, they focus on important technology developed in the right way, which for them, means open source. Some projects have funding, but some others don’t.
As usual, the inspirational talk ended up being an interactive online session with vibrant discussions with our innovators.
Startups, SMEs, Researchers and NGOs and Foundations Can Get up to €100,000 for their Future Internet Ideas
Startups, SMEs, researchers, and NGOs focused on Next Generation Internet (NGI) technologies can bring their visionary ideas to life with NGI Sargasso. This is a European-funded project part of Next Generation Internet initiative, fostering a unique collaborative ecosystem and cascade funding program for promoting the Transatlantic cooperation to shape the Internet of the future.
During the 36-month duration of the project, NGI Sargasso will run 5 open calls for proposals, attracting +300 EU-US/Canada teams working on emerging topics, such as trust and data sovereignty, digital identity, internet architecture renovation, decentralized technologies, and standards, and plans to support up to 96 projects that will benefit from:
- Up to 100,000€ in equity-free funding.
- Up to 9-month Capacity-building programme.
The benefits for applicants willing to unleash future Internet with a human-centric approach are:
- Various capacity-building programs:
- 9-month program with up to €100,000 funding.
- 6-month program with €75,000 funding.
- 3-month program with €50,000 funding.
- Comprehensive Support, such as mentoring, coaching, and access to leading tech conferences and innovation summits.
- Community Engagement with free access to a dynamic community of over 3,000 Internet innovators.
NGI Sargasso open call matchmaking service: the Brokerage System
The first step to apply for NGI Sargasso’s open calls is to register in their Brokerage System, a platform where European entities can be matched with the USA or Canadian ones - or the other way around. The application process is as follows:
- Registration in the Brokerage Platform to match your Transatlantic partner.
- Sign a Letter Support with your Transatlantic partner and draft your project together.
- Submit your joint application on the NGI Sargasso website - the European counterpart.
https://youtu.be/zT9p936KK_A?feature=shared
The third call will be launched in Spring 2024, and the rest of the open calls, during 2024 and 2025.
Why dream when you can create? Tech enthusiasts, join hands across the Atlantic, and turn your ideas into groundbreaking innovations with NGI Sargasso.
How NGI Sargasso is Fostering EU-US/Canada Tech Innovation with €4.8M Funding
NGI Sargasso is a European Commission funded project, part of the Horizon Europe Programme, aiming to create a unique collaborative ecosystem to harvest EU-US or EU-Canada technology breakthroughs that aim to revolutionize the Next Generation Internet technologies, services and standards, and contribute to the evolution of the Internet according to a human-centric approach of the internet commons through five open calls to fund 90 Transatlantic teams to redefine future Internet with a budget of €4,800,000.
In addition, the NGI Sargasso project is part of the umbrella initiative, the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, launched by the European Commission in 2016, which supports this vision of building bridges internationally.
In this context, NGI Sargasso is focused on creating a unique collaborative ecosystem and program for promoting the cooperation for NGI technologies across the Atlantic, matching European innovators with their USA or Canadian counterparts to unleash the Internet of the future on topics such as trust, data sovereignty, digital identity, Internet architecture and renovation, decentralized technology, interoperability and standardization, and new internet commons.
Up to €100,000 equity-free funding for Transatlantic teams
The NGI Sargasso open call offers participants a comprehensive program that includes up to €100,000 in equity-free funding for their projects. Additionally, they receive mentoring and coaching from leading business and industry experts, exposure at top technology events across Europe, and access to startup events. Participants also benefit from the NGI Sargasso Brokerage Platform, which facilitates matchmaking with potential Transatlantic partners. The platform is continually open for new registrations, ensuring ongoing opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Who can apply? Our target audience includes a versatile community encompassing startups, SMEs, NGOs, Research centers, Universities and various other stakeholders eager to enhance Next Generation Internet technologies and services.
The first open call has successfully concluded, with its selected eight projects:
- APSIDE - Asset profile standards for interoperable decentralized ecosystems.
- D3ICA - Democratizing decentralized digital identity through cloud agents.
- DDIP - Decentralized digital identity profile.
- EBSI-CAN - EBSI and verifiable credentialing in Canada.
- EvORAN - Evaluation of open-ran network equipment including underlying.
- INTEROP4DID - Interoperable decentralized identity and wallet infrastructure.
- SBAS - A secure underlay for the Internet.
- SNDS - Secure named data sharing.
The second open call closed in December 2023 with almost 80 innovators ready to reshape our Internet. The selected beneficiaries will be announced by the end of this month.
The third open call is set to launch in Spring 2024 and will accept applications from the UK, timed to coincide with the 4YFN event in Barcelona from the 26th to the 29th of February, where our partners will gather to present our funding opportunities for the Next Generation Internet stakeholders.