NGI Assure Open Call to support projects for the Next Generation Internet
The goal of NGI Assure is to support projects that design and engineer reusable building blocks for the Next Generation Internet as part of a complete, strong chain of assurances for all stakeholders regarding the source and integrity of identities, identifiers, data, cyberphysical systems, service components and processes. Furthermore contributions can be made to address underlying real-world challenges in deploying and validating such building blocks, such as energy efficiency and sustainability, scalability and throughput, security, privacy/confidentiality, plausible deniability, robustness and crypto-agility, side-channel resistance, interoperability, governance and compliance to regulatory frameworks – where needed to turn the above into reproducible and trustworthy end-to-end solutions that can withstand the hostile battle grounds of the modern internet.
NGI Assure is looking for building blocks that contribute to providing such assurances include (but are not limited to) quantum-proof cryptography, public key infrastructure, (augmented) authenticated key exchange, ratchet mechanisms (such as the Noise protocol) that securely chain key material, distributed hash tables and DAGs to make P2P interaction more secure, conflict-free replicated data types, mixnets and onion routing mechanisms, consensus protocols, distributed ledgers and (post) blockchain technologies that create redundant data sets managed independently by mutually distrustful parties, a priori usage control, symbolic and formal proofs, and tamperproof open hardware implementations of core cryptographic primitives. The work needs to become available under free and open source licenses.
We are looking for deep tech components; the outcomes of NGI Assure shall contribute towards identifying and solving current issues, but do not need to provide a complete solution by themselves (although they may).
NGI Assure strengthens the means we have for collaboration among all humans, replacing assumptions and potentially unjustified trust with uncompromising safeguards and verifiability where possible.
The following types of activities qualify for financial support, provided they are cost effective and have a clear link to the topics directly relevant to NGI Assure mentioned above – providing – and the objectives set out in the call:
- scientific research
- design and development of open source software and open hardware
- validation or constructive inquiry into existing or novel technical solutions
- software engineering aimed at adapting to new usage areas or improving software quality
- formal security proofs, security audits, setup and design of software testing and continuous integration
- documentation for researchers, developers and end users
- standardisation activities, including membership fees of standards bodies
- understanding user requirements and improving usability/inclusive design
- necessary measures in support of (broad)er deployability, e.g. packaging
- participation in technical, developer and community events like hackathons, IETF, W3C, RIPE meetings, FOSDEM, etc. (admission fee, travel and subsistence costs)
- other activities that are relevant to adhering to robust software development and deployment practices
- project management
- out-of-pocket costs for infrastructure essential to achieving the above
Project proposals should be in line with the NGI vision and the topic of trustworthiness and technical assurances. They should have research and development as their primary objective, and should be complete and concise (no longer than two pages for the main application).
Proposals should have a clear European dimension.
Expected duration of participation: 1-12 months (may change according to the needs of the projects)
Maximum amount of financial support for each third party: 50.000 € – 200.000 €
More information about NGI Assure Open Call: https://assure.ngi.eu
About Next Generation Internet