120 lines
5.1 KiB
HTML
120 lines
5.1 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
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<html newsdate="2026-05-28">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>Restack: a new European consortium for a digital Europe</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Restack: a new European consortium for a digital Europe</h1>
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<p>Recent geopolitical events have highlighted Europe's need for a
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resilient, homegrown technology ecosystem free from critical
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dependencies. The new Horizon Europe project Restack aims to accomplish
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it. The FSFE is a partner of the
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Restack consortium, providing legal and licensing support for potentially
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over 200 Free Software projects and assisting their growth into part of a
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wider European digital commons.</p>
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<figure>
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<img src="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/66/78/8e3bc9eb32c3f871c23c119bf4c5.jpg"/>
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</figure>
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<p>Europe urgently needs to regain the capabilities to run its own
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digital infrastructure. The “cloud-first” strategy that has dominated in
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the past decade has shown itself to be an unsustainable long-term
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strategy in light of geopolitical stressors. Despite this need for
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digital sovereignty, <a href="/news/2024/news-20240719-01.html">funding for European projects
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such as the Next
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Generation Internet Zero (NGI0) programme was cut</a>.
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As a result, the FSFE’s ability to provide legal and licensing support
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for Free Software projects that have the potential to improve the
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internet as a platform would have come to a halt in 2027. In light of
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this setback, the FSFE and our fellow NGI0 consortium partners have been
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searching for an alternative to provide similar support for Free
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Software projects.</p>
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<p>These efforts proved successful in February 2026, when the proposal
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for <a href="https://nlnet.nl/news/2026/20260131-restack.html">Restack</a>,
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spearheaded by our consortium partner the <a href="https://nlnet.nl/">NLnet Foundation</a>, was approved. Operating
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under Horizon Europe, this new 10M€ initiative will enable the
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consortium partners to continue strengthening the European ecosystem of
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contributors to the digital commons with financial and practical
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support.</p>
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<p><a href="https://nlnet.nl/news/2026/20260131-restack.html">The Open
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Internet Stack framework</a> is a cascade funding programme designed to
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retain the strength of the NGI Zero approach: nurturing bottom-up
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innovation by providing small- and medium-sized grants to creators of
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free and open technologies, including Free Software, Open Hardware, and
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Open Data related projects. It will also provide a pipeline of tailored
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support to strengthen the quality and maturity of these projects. The
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main novelty within Restack is that a significant amount of targeted
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effort will be added to wrap the resulting innovation catalogue into a
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coherent stack.</p>
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<p>Restack aims to support projects that can help accomplish the
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following goals:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Strengthening the “Free and Open” technology ecosystem, based on
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sovereignty and privacy;</li>
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<li>Improving the resilience of the internet;</li>
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<li>Addressing and reducing the environmental impact of digital
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technology; and</li>
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<li>Improving transparency in the technological supply chain.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>The hope is that, by supporting the growth of such European projects,
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Restack will contribute to a healthy Free Software and technological
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environment that supports collaboration and transparency. Such an
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environment can also strengthen privacy and security for different
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groups, ranging from consumers to vulnerable communities such as
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minorities and journalists. Additionally, we hope that this project can
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help develop economic incentives that encourage collaborative strategies
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and community engagement.</p>
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<p>As Restack is currently still in its early stages, more information
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about how Free Software projects can apply for funding and technical
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support will be shared in the coming weeks.</p>
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<h3>Next Generation Internet and the FSFE</h3>
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<p>Since 2018, the FSFE has been a consortium member of the <a href="/activities/ngi.html">Next
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Generation Internet (NGI)</a>, supported by the European Commission's DG
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CNECT. The NGI has the mission to re-imagine and re-engineer the
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internet in order to shape a value-centric, human, and inclusive society
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for all.</p>
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<p>The FSFE's team provides guidance to successful grantee projects on
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legal and licensing issues, and helps them become <a href="https://reuse.software/">REUSE compliant</a>.
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Through individual assessments and direct assistance, we aim to promote
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the display of unambiguous, human-readable, and machine-readable licence
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and copyright information. Other consortium partners provide support on
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issues that can improve each grantee software project, such as security,
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accessibility, and translations, among others. A similar workflow is
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expected to be enacted for software projects that are supported under
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Restack as well.</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="news">News</tag>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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<tag key="ngi">Next Generation Internet</tag>
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<tag key="reuse">REUSE</tag>
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<tag key="licensing">Licensing</tag>
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<tag key="legal">Legal</tag>
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<tag key="highlights">highlights</tag>
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</tags>
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<image url="https://pics.fsfe.org/uploads/medium/66/78/8e3bc9eb32c3f871c23c119bf4c5.jpg"/>
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<translator/>
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</html>
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