Event

NGI Sargasso at European Research & Innovation Days 2025: Showcasing Transatlantic Next Generation Internet Innovation

The European Research and Innovation Days 2025, the European Commission’s annual flagship event, once again brought together policymakers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and members of the public to engage in meaningful dialogue around the future of research and innovation across Europe and beyond. Held this week in Brussels (Belgium) and streamed online, this year’s edition provided a unique platform to discuss how research and innovation can help build a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future.

NGI Sargasso was proudly represented at the event by our partner, the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation (MWCBF), who took part in promoting and disseminating the project's latest results, among them, the NGI Sargasso Innovators Portfolio. As part of the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, NGI Sargasso facilitates transatlantic collaboration between European and USA and Canada-based Internet researchers and innovators, particularly in areas aligned with the values of openness, trust, privacy, and inclusion.

MWCBF’s presence at the event helped reinforce the significance of international cooperation in digital innovation. David Nogales, Innovation Project Manager at Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation, shared his reflections on the experience:

“Besides the compelling talks, I was able to connect with members of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) and European Commission leaders, and build strong new relationships. These conversations reinforced why now is the time to push forward with large-scale events that spotlight Europe’s innovation potential.” - David Nogales, Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation.

The event offered valuable opportunities to engage with leading figures in the European R&I ecosystem, exchange best practices, and discuss future initiatives that can enhance digital sovereignty and global partnerships. The feedback and enthusiasm from stakeholders reaffirmed the relevance of the NGI Sargasso mission and its contribution to strengthening transatlantic ties in the digital domain.

As we continue to foster open collaboration between researchers and innovators on both sides of the Atlantic, moments like these serve as a powerful reminder of the shared vision driving Europe’s digital future.

by admin

The NGI Sargasso Consortium and Innovators Participate in the NGI Forum 2025 to Join Discussions on Digital Sovereignty

The NGI Sargasso consortium attended the NGI Forum 2025, celebrated on the 19th and 20th of June in the Albert Borschette Congress Center of Brussels, the Belgian capital, in an edition focused on Building an Open Internet Stack for European Digital Sovereignty through several insightful talks, panel discussions and success stories of beneficiaries funded by the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative around the need to build a stronger and more sovereign Europe in NGI terms.

The NGI Sargasso coordinator, European Science Foundation, was there, together with our partners Sploro, AUSTRALO and Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation, to join the discussions on Digital Sovereignty, network with the NGI ecosystem and meet some of our NGI Sargasso Innovators who joined this date.

NGI Sargasso attended the talks on Digital Sovereignty at the NGI Forum 2025 and networked with the NGI Community

The Next Generation Internet Forum, or NGI Forum 2025, kicked off with the NGI Commons workshop on "Digital Commons as tools for building Digital Sovereignty", moderated by Monique Calisti, from Martel Innovate, including an incredible lineup of experts tackling one of Europe's most critical challenges:

• Sean Bohan (OpenWallet Foundation) delivering the keynote on digital sovereignty.
• Panel discussion with Denis Roio (Dyne.org foundation), Pascal Steichen (Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity), and Karin Lammers (Independent Consultant).

The conversation highlighted how digital commons can serve as the foundation for Europe's technological independence while maintaining our values of openness and innovation.

A major moment at the NGI Forum 2025 occurred when Thibaut Kleiner, Director at DG CONNECT at the European Commission, delivered a keynote that's setting the strategic direction for Europe's digital future.

"We started the NGI community 10 years ago, the concept, and now next year we'll have projects still running. My message is that we are also at a stage where we need to move on. We need to build on what we have, and to go to the next stage. We want to go from communities to product, and that's why we introduced this concept of Open Internet Stack," said Thibaut Kleiner.

During the panel breaks, and since we consider key collaborating with the Next Generation Internet Community, we always take the opportunity during physical events to meet our stakeholders and sibling projects, to catch up on our activities and to find potential synergies to keep creating an Open Internet. At the NGI Forum 2025 in Brussels, we had the chance to meet with our colleagues from Open Web Search and NGI Search projects, with whom we started collaborative activities after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). In fact, some months ago, in October 2024, we took similar pictures with them at the Open Search Symposium 2024 (OSSYM24).

NGI Sargasso Innovators joined the NGI Forum 2025

Besides attending the inspiring talks, the NGI Sargasso consortium networked with some NGI Sargasso Innovators to learn more about the impactful work they’re doing to shape the future of the Internet.

We met Andrea D'Intino, Co-Founder at Forkbomb BV, partner leading the project DIDroom Uni Credentials, building a use case for digital identity and credentials that is interoperable for universities in Canada/USA and Europe, selected in our Open Call 4.

Benoît Maïsseu and François Chiron, from Werenode, proudly represented their NGI Sargasso-funded project from our Open Call 3 IoTPay, Internet of Things Payment System, aiming to build a secure and interoperable decentralized payment ecosystem for connected objects, reducing fraud, errors, and enhancing efficiency.

More about the NGI Forum 2025: Building an Open Internet Stack for European Digital Sovereignty

The NGI Forum 2025 is the flagship event of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative. It brings together some of Europe’s top Internet innovators at work to build an Internet of Trust, empowering end-users with more choice and control over their data and digital identity.

The 2025 edition focused on the building of an Open Internet Stack as conducive to European digital sovereignty and users’ empowerment. It served as a key platform to bring together innovators, policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders. The Forum provided an opportunity to reflect on major developments in digital sovereignty, open internet infrastructure, and digital commons, while fostering collaboration between diverse stakeholders shaping Europe’s digital future.

The aims of the NGI Forum 2025 were to:

• Promote the NGI vision and its latest advancements
• Engage key stakeholders in meaningful discussions on internet governance, digital innovation, and policy development
• Facilitate networking and collaboration among the NGI community, industry leaders, and policymakers
• Provide a space for knowledge-sharing on open-source development, trust technologies, and decentralized digital ecosystems

By bringing together experts and innovators, the Forum strengthened Europe’s position as a leader in digital innovation, ensuring that new technologies align with European values of openness, trust, and security, and at NGI Sargasso we feel very proud to contribute to this collective effort to build a free and democratic society!

by admin

NGI Sargasso Joins EuroDIG 2025: The European Dialogue on Internet Governance

"An inspiring edition putting Human Rights as the highest priority" - Mariette Vandermersch-Desmartin, Mission Coordinator at European Science Foundation (ESF).

This is the quote summarizing what EuroDIG 2025 was according to Mariette Vandermersch-Desmartin, Mission Coordinator at European Science Foundation (ESF), the NGI Sargasso project coordinator.

The 2025 edition of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) took place in Strasbourg (France) under the theme: 'Safeguarding Human Rights while Balancing Regulation and Innovation'. The ESF team, represented by Mariette, together with Hélène Schaffner, Bilingual English Administrator, participated on behalf of NGI Sargasso, and they were impressed by the quality and diversity of speakers and discussions.

Mariette and Hélène jumped into conversations about Next Generation Internet (NGI) and Internet Governance, while networked with other participants to explain how our NGI Sargasso Innovators are building an Internet of humans with their projects supported by our cascade funding program. Their discussions on standardization, digital identity, and cybersecurity were notably of great interest for the NGI Sargasso community.

EuroDIG 2025 reaffirmed the essential role of multi-stakeholder dialogue in shaping the future of Internet Governance. The need for robust and forward-looking standardization frameworks –especially concerning NGI– was a recurring theme across sessions, reflecting Europe's commitment to building a secure, interoperable, and rights-respecting digital future.

More about EuroDIG 2025: 'Safeguarding Human Rights while Balancing Regulation and Innovation'

The European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) is an open multi-stakeholder platform to exchange views about the Internet and how it is governed. First organized in 2008 by several organisztions, government representatives and experts, it fosters dialogue and collaboration with the Internet community on public policy for the Internet –culminating in an annual conference that takes place in a different European city every year. EuroDIG ‘Messages’ are prepared and presented to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

In 2025 EuroDIG took place from May 12 – 14 in Strasbourg (France), hosted by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Luxembourg Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

by admin

NGI Sargasso Joins Transfiere 2025 to Connect with the European Science, Technology and Innovation Community

The NGI Sargasso partner Mobile World Capital Barcelona joined Transfiere 2025, celebrated from the 12th to the 14th of March in the Spanish city of Málaga. We shared the booth with our colleagues from The Collider, to join discussions with key stakeholders driving the future of science, technology and innovation in Europe.

NGI Sargasso Innovators at Transfiere 2025

NGI Sargasso was also represented by two of our Innovators, who were in the stand E1A:

• Roberto Medina Bujalance, CEO at Sosteco (Spain), shared insights about his project SmartBreath: AI Based SmartBreath Cloud, selected in our Open Call 4. SmartBreath AI is a comprehensive respiratory care platform to prevent respiratory complications in both hospital settings and at the point of care. The AI-based SmartBreath Cloud aims to enhance patient outcomes by leveraging real-time respiratory and pulmonary data collected through incentive spirometers. This project is partnered by Sonoma State University (USA).
• Juan Luis Ramos Villalón, from Nebulous Systems (Spain), spoke about DecentraLabs: Decentralized Online Laboratories for Education and Research, beneficiary of our Open Call 5. This project, also partnered by The University of British Columbia (Canada) is making online labs sustainable through the application of decentralized technologies.

More about Transfiere

Transfiere is the largest European event on R&D and knowledge transfer connecting the entire Spanish innovation system and boosting its international reach. Talent, scientific and technological development, access to investment, and business opportunities are all at a high-potential event for generating global alliances and synergies.

In 2025, they closed their 14th edition with over 5,200 professional visitors, over 600 companies, institutions, and administrators, and over 400 experts in attendance.

by admin

NGI Sargasso Innovators Shine with their Solutions Shaping a Human-Centric Internet at 4YFN - MWC 2025 in Barcelona

The Hall 8.1 was the scenery that saw nine of our NGI Sargasso Innovators shine at 4YFN 2025, the startup side event of Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025, celebrated in the Spanish city of Barcelona from the 3rd to the 6th of March.

During the four days of the hectic international event, nine teams selected in the NGI Sargasso open calls had the opportunity to present their projects creating the Next Generation Internet in a Pitching Session, and to network in their own booths located in the Hall 8.1 of 4YFN, from 8.1 B63.4 to 8.1 B63.8.

We also counted with the special visit of Stergios Tsiafoulis, our Project Officer from the European Commission, who spoke with our beneficiaries about the progress of their projects, and one of the coaches individually mentoring and supporting them during the OnCampus Program months, Juan Juan. It was a unique week for NGI Sargasso, in which some of our innovators could meet in person for the first time with the NGI Sargasso consortium partners supporting them to build an Internet of Humans: European Science Foundation, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Sploro and AUSTRALO.

https://youtu.be/tOzvedKYJjg?feature=shared

Next-Generation Internet: Bridging Continents, Innovating Together

"Next-Generation Internet: Bridging Continents, Innovating Together". This was the title of the NGI Sargasso panel we hosted in the morning of Tuesday, the 4th of March, in the Hall 8.1 B55 of 4YFN 2025. 'What does NGI mean?', 'How is NGI Sargasso supporting innovation in Next Generation Internet?'

Four of our NGI Sargasso Innovators took the stage to discuss these and some other questions, moderated by our coordinator Emmanuel Detsis, from ESF - European Science Foundation.

Yuting Jiang, CEO of Agora Citizen Network, spoke about how she is developing a citizen network purposefully designed for civic dialogues, since today social networks are "very powerful tools to manipulate public opinion", in which users can prove anonymously that they are humans, and not bots, she explained. Alex Bourlier, Co-Founder of Startin'blox, is creating data spaces making access to data easier. He highlighted the possibility given by NGI Sargasso to access top business opportunities in the USA market. Christos Stefanatos, Project Leader at EV Loader, remarked that the NGI Sargasso Brokerage Platform to find a partner across the Atlantic was a "matchmaking heaven". He is developing a software to optimize and streamline payments in electric vehicles charging stations, protecting users' data. Erik Hieta-aho, Senior Scientist at VTT, reflected about why quantum algorithms are the future that will impact every company. With HPQCSSI, or Hybrid PQC Self-Sovereign Identity Stack, he is making digital credentials more secure.

Our Project Officer Stergios Tsiafoulis was in charge of opening this session to speak about NGI - The Next Generation Internet initiative, creating an Internet of Humans for Europe by funding over 1.500 ideas. He also emphasized that NGI Sargasso was the first project fostering collaboration between Europe and USA and Canada. In fact, we have funded 50 innovators through five open calls, distributing a total €4.8M.

Monique Calisti, CEO of Martel Innovate and NGI Outreach Office Director, encouraged the audience to keep building an Internet of Trust, and to apply for the NGI open calls.

Together, we will keep building bridges for the future of the Internet!

NGI Sargasso Showcase: Pioneering Innovations for Europe’s Digital Future

Right after the panel, five more NGI Sargasso Innovators joined Yuting, Alex, Christos and Erik in the pitching session "NGI Sargasso Showcase: Pioneering Innovation for Europe's Digital Future", in which each of them had three minutes to present their project funded by NGI Sargasso to the audience:

• Ángel Hernando-Veciana, Full Professor at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, presented "GMM: A Global Market Maker for Decentralized Token Exchanges". He was joined by Marcelo Bagnulo Braun.
• Yuting Jiang, CEO at Agora Citizen Network, presented her alternative social media network.
• Julien Bringer, CEO at Simeon, presented his platform.
• Giovanni Pettorru, PhD Student at Università degli Studi di Cagliari, presented "POSIDONIA: POSition Information with Digital twin Offloading in trustworthy Next-generation Internet Applications". He was accompanied by Francesca Marcello, Virginia Pilloni, and Marco Martalo.
• Erik Hieta-aho, Senior Scientist at VTT, presented "HPQCSSI: Hybrid Post-Quantum Cryptography Self-Sovereign Identity Stack". Valtteri Lipiäinen was with him during the event days.
• Alex Bourlier, Co-Founder at Startin'blox, presented "RSFA: Rosetta Stone for API".
• Jordi Mongay Batalla, Professor at Warsaw University of Technology, presented "EvORAN: Evaluation of Open RAN network equipment including underlying".
• Christos Stefanatos, Project Lead at EV Loader, presented "EVI US Pilot: Electric Vehicle Identity US Pilot". His colleagues Nikolaos Karadimos and Alexios Karadimos were with him at 4YFN 2025.
• Fernando Gómez Gil, Co-Founder at Training Experience, presented "VeriRecruit: AI-Driven Interview Analysis for Precision Hiring". Nicolas Ladino Calvo joined Fernando at their 4YFN booth.

Check our portfolio to discover more ground-breaking ideas creating the Next Generation Internet with a human-centric approach for our generations to come.

✨THANK YOU✨ to everyone who joined NGI Sargasso's mission of empowering NGI innovation across continents during the 4YFN 2025 week in Barcelona! 

In case you missed our sessions, you can watch them below:

https://youtu.be/fZw_JkG95y4?si=hYcyAgqMiCT6W48m

by admin

NGI Sargasso at MWC - 4YFN 2025: A Panel and Pitching Session with our Innovators to Bridge Continents on Next Generation Internet

One more year we are happy to announce that NGI Sargasso will attend 4YFN 2025, the startup side event of Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona, with an agenda full of activities, especially in the morning of the second day of the event, on Tuesday the 4th of March starting at 11:15h. Keep reading to discover them, and save this location in Fira Barcelona: Hall 8.1 - Stand 8.1.B.55!

The NGI Sargasso Panel at 4YFN 2025

We have gathered some of our innovators and stakeholders from the Next Generation Internet (NGI) community in a panel titled "Next-Generation Internet: Bridging Continents, Innovating Together". The panel will start at 11:15h on Tuesday, the 4th of March, in the Hall 8.1 - Stand 8.1.B.55, and four of our beneficiaries will explain how they are shaping transatlantic collaboration on NGI technologies and services.

SPEAKERS

• Moderator: Emmanouil Detsis, NGI Sargasso Project Coordinator - ESF Foundation.
• Keynote speaker: Stergios Tsiafoulis, NGI Sargasso Project Officer - European Commission.
• NGI Sargasso Innovators:
  • Yuting Jiang, CEO at Agora / ZKorum - Project: Agora / EeDP - Empowering eDemocracy for Peace (Open Call 3).
  • Alex Bourlier, Co-Founder at Startin’blox - Project: RSFA - Rosseta Stone for APIs (Open Call 2).
  • Christos N. Stefanatos, Project Lead at EV Loader / Parity Platform PC - Project: EVI US Pilot - Electric Vehicle Identity US Pilot (Open Call 3).
  • Erik Hieta-Aho, Senior Scientist at VTT - Project: HPQCSSI - Hybrid Post-Quantum Cryptography Self-Sovereign Identity Stack (Open Call 2).
• Closing speaker: Monique Callisti, NGI Outreach Office - Martel Innovate. 

AGENDA

• 11:15h - 11:20h → Opening keynote by Project Officer.
• 11:20h - 11:25h → Brief project tagline by each NGI Sargasso Innovator on stage.
• 11:25h - 11:45h → Open debate.
• 11:45h - 11:50h → Q&A.
• 11:50h - 11:55h → An brief intro into the NGI initiative.
• 11:55h - 12:00 → Coordinator closing and opening of the following pitching session.

The NGI Sargasso Pitching Session at 4YFN 2025

Right after the NGI Sargasso panel at 4YFN 2025, we will start the second part of our session at 12:00h in the same location, in the Hall 8.1 - Stand 8.1.B.55: "NGI Sargasso Showcase: Pioneering Innovations for Europe’s Digital Future", a one-hour pitch session and Q&A featuring some of the NGI Sargasso projects.

NGI Sargasso is proud to present some of the most outstanding projects funded during the course of our program. This dynamic one-hour session offers a platform for our beneficiaries to pitch their transformative ideas and share insights into the next-generation internet landscape. Each innovator will have the opportunity to walk the audience through their objectives, methods and achievements.

 SPEAKERS

• Moderator: Emmanouil Detsis, NGI Sargasso Project Coordinator - ESF Foundation.
• NGI Sargasso Innovators:
  • Yuting Jiang, CEO at Agora / ZKorum - Project: Agora / EeDP - Empowering eDemocracy for Peace (Open Call 3).
  • Alex Bourlier, Co-Founder at Startin’blox - Project: RSFA - Rosseta Stone for APIs (Open Call 2).
  • Christos N. Stefanatos, Project Lead at EV Loader / Parity Platform PC - Project: EVI US Pilot - Electric Vehicle Identity US Pilot (Open Call 3).
  • Erik Hieta-Aho, Senior Scientist at VTT - Project: HPQCSSI - Hybrid Post-Quantum Cryptography Self-Sovereign Identity Stack (Open Call 2).
  • Jordi Mongay Batalla, Professor at Warsaw University of Technology - Project: EvORAN - Evaluation of Open RAN Network Equipment including Underlying (Open Call 1).
  • Ángel Hernando Veciana, Full Professor at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid - Project: GMM - A Global Market Maker for Decentralized Token Exchanges (Open Call 3).
  • Julien Bringer, CEO at Kallistech SAS - Project: D3ICA - Democratizing Decentralized Digital Identity through Cloud Agents (Open Call 1).
  • Giovanni Pettorru, PhD Student at University of Cagliari - Project: POSIDONIA - POSition Information with Digital Twin Offloading in Trustworthy Next-Generation Internet Applications (Open Call 3).
  • Fernando José Gómez Gil, Co-Founder at Training Experience - Project: VeriRecruit - AI-Driven Interview Analysis for Precision Hiring (Open Call 2).

AGENDA

• 12:00h - 12:05h → Pitching Session intro by Emmanuoil Detsis as continuation of the previous panel.
• 12:05h - 12:25h → NGI Sargasso Innovators Pitches.
• 12:25h - 12:45h → Q&A, closing and networking catering.

All the NGI Sargasso Innovators will also be during the four days (3-6 March) of 4YFN / MWC 2025 in the NGI Sargasso startup pods from 8.1 B63.4 to 8.1 B63.8 ready to network and connect with you!

• HPQCSSI
• Agora Citizen Network
• RSFA
• EV Loader
• Simeon - Kallistech SAS
• VeriRecruit
• GMM
• POSIDONIA
• EvORAN
• EBSI-CAN

More about 4YFN and Mobile World Congress Barcelona

4YFN is the event partner of MWC Barcelona, the world’s largest and most influential connectivity event, bringing together the latest innovations and leading-edge technology alongside today’s most influential visionaries in Barcelona from the 3rd to the 6th of March 2025.

This means this congress not only brings all the players you need for a winning digital startup together (like investors and corporate innovators), but it also springboards startups onto the radar of the most powerful decision makers in the connectivity ecosystem – such as CEOs from global mobile operators and frontier tech companies.

All this helps new business ventures sprout the wings they need for a breathtaking launch.

Have a look at what we did last year at 4YFN 2024, and see you soon in Barcelona to create an Internet of Humans together!

https://youtu.be/kjjH9cp-3lc?feature=shared

by admin

NGI Sargasso Networks with the Open Internet Search Ecosystem and other NGI Projects at OSSYM24

The Open Search Symposium 2024 (OSSYM24) brought together the Open Web Search community in Europe for the sixth time, and NGI Sargasso attended it to network with the open search ecosystem and other NGI-funded projects.

Organized by the Open Search Foundation at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Munich (Germany) from the 9th to the 11th of October 2024, the hybrid conference provided a forum to discuss and further develop the ideas and concepts of open internet search, search and AI, and related topics in various formats including scientific talks, panels, workshops, demonstrations, student challenges and informal discussion spaces. Participants included researchers, data centres, libraries, policy-makers, legal and ethical experts, and society.

During the first day Helmut Reiser, the Deputy Director at Leibniz Supercomputing Centre, and Florian Herrmann, State Minister, Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery, gave the Welcome Session, followed by Roberto Viola, DG CONNECT's General Director, who delivered the Opening Keynote.

Then, the Science Tracks took over the agenda, focusing on:

• Crawling and Infrastructure.
• Search Applications and Technologies.
• Preprocessing and ML for Search.
• LLMs and RAG.

In the afternoon, the Next Generation Internet (NGI) session was hosted, including presentations from NGI Search and OpenWebSearch.eu.

During the second and third days, more keynotes were offered to the participants, being Richard Socher (CEO of You.com), Martin Andree (Bestselling Author and Researcher at the University of Cologne), and Nina Leseberg (Head of Communities & Engagement, Wikimedia Deutschland) the speakers. The rest of the agenda was completed with sessions and workshops focused on Ethics and Society, Legal Aspects of Open Web Search, Economic Aspects of Open Web Search, and an Industry Track titled “Alternative Search Engines”. 

Our partners Sara Abu and Laura Argilés, from AUSTRALO, were there to join the discussions, while getting insights from the ecosystem's researchers, policy-makers and other relevant stakeholders about Next Generation Internet Transatlantic cooperation.

Potential synergies with NGI Search and OpenWebSearch.eu

OSSYM 2024 was attended by two more NGI-funded projects: NGI Search and OpenWebSearch.eu.

Sara and Laura took the opportunity of meeting them in person in Munich to discuss potential collaborations and synergies to work together in the creation of an Internet of Trust with a human-centric approach. They networked with Megi Sharikadze (Head of Research at Leibniz Supercomputing Centre) and Stefan Voigt (Founder and CEO of Open Search Foundation) from OpenWebSearch.eu, and Mirko Presser (Associate Professor at Aarhus University), representing NGI Search.

Together, we will shape a better Internet for our future generations!

by admin