Sovereign Tech Agency

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Short description: German funder of open source software

The Sovereign Tech Agency is a subsidiary of the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, aimed at providing financial support to open-source software. The initial funds were allocated by the Bundestag in May 2022.[1][2]

Purpose of funding

According to the federal budget of Germany plan, the program aims to promote and secure open-source foundational technologies.[3] It intends to make the open-source ecosystem more resilient against external attacks, thereby enhancing cybersecurity and resilience across the German economy. This initiative fulfills a demand from the coalition government.[4] This is also an approach to the classic free-rider problem faced by many open source projects.[5]

The funding is described as time-limited and targeted at specific challenges or security vulnerabilities.[6][7]

Scope and organization

In 2022, the program had a budget of 13 million euros,[8] which increased to approximately 22 million euros in 2023 and was expected to reach up to 16 million euros in 2024. The executive team consists of:

  • Adriana Groh (co-CEO), previously from the Open Knowledge Foundation's Prototype Fund[9]
  • Luisa von Beust (co-CEO), previously at several commercial organizations
  • Fiona Krakenbürger (CTO), previously worked at the Open Technology Fund[10][11]

Current programs

The Sovereign Tech Agency operates through several programs designed to strengthen the security and sustainability of digital infrastructure:

  • Sovereign Tech Fund: This program provides strategic investments in open-source software components deemed essential for economic competitiveness and innovation. It focuses on core digital infrastructure to achieve cross-sector scaling, specifically benefiting startups and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
  • Sovereign Tech Resilience: This initiative takes a proactive approach to protecting critical digital infrastructure. Beyond discovering and fixing existing vulnerabilities (including through bug bounty initiatives), the program aims to increase the long-term resilience of open infrastructure against future threats.
  • Sovereign Tech Fellowship: Through a "Maintainer-in-Residence" model, the agency provides financial support to individual experts and maintainers. The program aims to ensure the sustainability of the human labor behind critical codebases, which is often underfunded or unrecognized.
  • Sovereign Tech Challenge: Through a competition-based model, this program identifies structural challenges in the open-source ecosystem. It encourages the development of innovative solutions for emerging technologies and the securing of existing technological dependencies.

Supported projects

As of April 2025, the following projects received funding:[8][12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "51 Millionen Euro für Open Source und digitale Souveränität" (in de). 2022-05-20. https://www.embedded-software-engineering.de/51-millionen-euro-fuer-open-source-und-digitale-souveraenitaet-a-2f8988949f6a7611b1f01fa92ef8784a/. 
  2. ↑ "Germany to launch sovereign tech fund to secure digital infrastructure" (in en). https://sciencebusiness.net/news/cybersecurity/germany-launch-sovereign-tech-fund-secure-digital-infrastructure. 
  3. ↑ Bundeshaushaltsplan 2023, Einzelplan 09, Federal Budget Plan 2023, Single Plan 09, Chapter 09 01 – Title 685 03.
  4. ↑ "51 Millionen Euro für Open Source und digitale Souveränität". 2022-05-22. https://www.embedded-software-engineering.de/51-millionen-euro-fuer-open-source-und-digitale-souveraenitaet-a-2f8988949f6a7611b1f01fa92ef8784a/. 
  5. ↑ "Open-Source Software is in Crisis - IEEE Spectrum" (in en). https://spectrum.ieee.org/open-source-crisis. 
  6. ↑ Response from State Secretary Udo Philipp, October 26, 2022, to a written question from Member of Parliament Dr. Petra Sitte (THE LEFT), Parliamentary Paper 20/4209, p. 19., Bundestags-Drucksache 20/4209, S. 19.
  7. ↑ "The Open Source Way - Sovereign Tech Fund – Investing in the Future Today" (in en-US). 20 December 2023. https://podcast.opensap.info/open-source-way/2023/12/20/sovereign-tech-fund-investing-in-the-future-today/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Inga Pöting (2022-12-30). "Steuermillionen für Hobbyprojekte". Zeit Online GmbH. https://www.zeit.de/digital/internet/2022-12/open-source-software-sovereign-tech-fund-foerderung/komplettansicht. 
  9. ↑ "How to innovate? Prototype everything!". 19 December 2017. https://blog.okfn.org/2017/12/19/how-to-innovate-prototype-everything/. 
  10. ↑ "Sovereign Tech Fund" (in en). https://www.sprind.org/en/projects/sovereign-tech-fund. 
  11. ↑ "Episode 368 – The Sovereign Tech Fund with Fiona Krakenbürger" (in en). 2023-03-27. https://opensourcesecurity.io/2023/03/26/episode-368-the-sovereign-tech-fund-with-fiona-krakenburger/. 
  12. ↑ Niklas Dierking (2022-11-14). "Freie Software: Bund fördert Open Source". https://www.heise.de/news/Bund-foerdert-Open-Source-7324588.html. 
  13. ↑ "Arch Linux Package Management (ALPM) gets funding from Sovereign Tech Agency" (in en). 2024-12-10. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/12/arch-linux-package-management-alpm-gets-funding-from-sovereign-tech-agency/. 
  14. ↑ "Drupal Association secures $300,000 in funding from Sovereign Tech Fund" (in en). 2024-01-11. https://www.drupal.org/association/blog/drupal-association-secures-300000-in-funding-from-sovereign-tech-fund-1. 
  15. ↑ "Sovereign Tech Agency Investing €515k Into The Eclipse Foundation" (in en). https://www.phoronix.com/news/STA-Invests-In-Eclipse. 
  16. ↑ "Germany's Sovereign Tech Fund Now Supporting FFmpeg" (in en). https://www.phoronix.com/news/Germany-STF-For-FFmpeg. 
  17. ↑ "FFmpeg" (in en). https://www.sovereign.tech/tech/ffmpeg. 
  18. ↑ "Fortran" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/fortran. 
  19. ↑ "Sovereign Tech Fund to Invest €686,400 in FreeBSD Infrastructure Modernization" (in en). https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/sovereign-tech-fund-to-invest-e686400-in-freebsd-infrastructure-modernization/. 
  20. ↑ "GNOME" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/gnome. 
  21. ↑ "GNOME Recognized as Public Interest Infrastructure – The GNOME Foundation" (in en-US). https://foundation.gnome.org/2023/11/09/gnome-recognized-as-public-interest-infrastructure/. 
  22. ↑ "For Drupal to Remain Well and Alive: An Exclusive Conversation with Tim Doyle". 2024-04-02. https://www.thedroptimes.com/interview/38423/drupal-remain-well-and-alive-exclusive-conversation-with-tim-doyle. 
  23. ↑ "OpenJS Foundation" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/openjs. 
  24. ↑ Foundation, OpenJS. "Sovereign Tech Fund" (in en). https://openjsf.org/sovereign-tech-fund. 
  25. ↑ "OpenJS Foundation Receives Major Government Investment from Sovereign Tech Fund for Web Security and Stability" (in en). https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press/openjs-foundation-receives-major-government-investment-from-sovereign-tech-fund-for-web-security-and-stability. 
  26. ↑ "OpenSSH" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/openssh. 
  27. ↑ "PHP" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/php. 
  28. ↑ "Sovereign Tech Fund Makes New Investments Into GNOME & PHP, Bug Bounty For systemd" (in en). https://www.phoronix.com/news/Sovereign-Tech-Fund-PHP-GNOME. 
  29. ↑ Gran, Sarah (2023-07-11). "$1.5M from Sovereign Tech Fund to Fuel Memory Safety". https://www.abetterinternet.org/post/1.5m-for-memory-safety/. 
  30. ↑ Tarakiyee, Tara (2024-05-22). "On Rust, Memory Safety, and Open Source Infrastructure" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/news/on-rust-memory-safety-open-source-infrastructure. 
  31. ↑ "Samba" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/samba. 
  32. ↑ "The Yocto Project" (in en). https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/tech/yocto. 
  33. ↑ Knight, Megan (2023-10-10). "Sovereign Tech Fund Boosts Yocto Project" (in en-US). https://www.yoctoproject.org/blog/2023/10/10/sovereign-tech-fund-boosts-yocto-project/. 
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