With the hard shift to the right in US tech, Europe can no longer afford to sit idly by in tech development. The myth of neutrality has always been a convenient lie – if we don’t actively counterbalance this hard right shift – we risk watching the #FOSS and #openweb movements collapse, taking with them a core pillar of our democratic and digital future. These movements aren’t just about code; they are one of the foundations of a fair, open, and just society. So it should be easy to say now is the time to step up, not stand by.
For the past five years, I’ve been applying for funding for the #OMN native #openweb projects -projects rooted in real, grassroots needs rather than the normal hidden common sense corporate gatekeeping and academic abstraction. The problem? #NLnet and the wider #EU funding landscape lack people who can actually judge #FOSS projects in this real space. The results are predictable, at best we end up with:
- Bureaucratic checklists
- Conservative, incremental funding
- Projects chosen based on who fills out forms best, not who builds the tech we actually need.
So the real question is has this changed? Because right now, I am seeing the same mistakes repeating. We have proposals:
- #MakingHistory – Restoring a radical, federated approach to storytelling and digital archiving.
- #IndymediaBack – Rebooting independent media with the lessons of past failures baked in.
- #OGB (Open Governance Body) – A vital step toward decentralised, federated governance -something we desperately need to keep tech in the hands of communities, not corporations.
The #makeinghistory one is in process with #NLnet at the moment. These proposals should not be niche, should not be afterthoughts, they should be a part of the core of NGI funding strategy as the checks and balance on the bigger tech projects. That is if the EU is to be at all affective about counterbalancing the rightward shift in global tech.
So let’s ask again – Has #NLnet and the #EU stepped up this time? Are we funding the future, or are we just shuffling papers while the #deathcult eats our humanistic heritage and the last remains of the #openweb? The risk, as always, is that the funding just shifts to the next well-polished pitch deck, rather than the real, messy work of change. But hey, one can but prod – because without that, nothing moves at all.
UPDATE01: they did not last time
UPDATE02: the #makeinghistory is in at the moment, but not heard anything back, so not looking good for progressive European values in tech?
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