Over the last five years, there has been growing international recognition of Digital Commons and digital public goods (DPGs) terms as essential to a more equitable digital cooperation model that operates in service of the public interest.
At a time when the EU seeks to redefine its industrial strategy, this publication provides insights into the policies that have supported Digital Commons over the past 20 years. Unlike previous studies that have examined subsets of Digital Commons, such as open source software (OSS) or Open Data, this report offers a holistic perspective.
Digital infrastructure is increasingly recognised as the ‘rails’ on which our digital futures run, with recent news drawing attention to the expanding role of digital infrastructure and the interests it serves.
What an extraordinary year 2024 has been! We’ve thoroughly enjoyed connecting with all of you at various gatherings worldwide to…
The General Assembly of the NGI Commons initiative concluded yesterday, 28th November 2024, in Brussels, Belgium, following productive discussions. Approaching…
The Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative projects announced their decision to discontinue the use of X social media platform, effective…
NGI Commons is a three-year European initiative which aims to elaborate on a long-term strategy for digital/internet commons which are…
The concept of the Digital Commons describes a wide array of digital systems and solutions that are owned, developed, and maintained by groups rather than by single individuals or entities. Unlike businesses or state institutions, these groups coordinate not through pricing or subordination but through peer collaboration.
Open source software (OSS) has become critical digital infrastructure, powering approximately 96% of codebases and constituting up to 90% of commercial software stacks. Traditionally maintained by volunteer communities, recent high-profile security vulnerabilities, such as Log4Shell in 2021 or the xz utils backdoor this year, have highlighted the unsustainability of relying solely on volunteer labour for maintaining such crucial infrastructure.
On 24th September, the NGI Commons project was invited to participate in the ‘Toward European Digital Independence: Building the EuroStack’ event, where the focus was on Europe’s considerations to secure its own digital sovereignty. The event was organised and moderated by Cristina Caffarra and Francesca Bria, both members of the NGI Commons Strategic Advisory Panel (SAP).
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