Another EU push for open standards here with Germany's Sovereign Tech Agency recently announcing the Sovereign Tech Standards initiative.
This will provide funding for open source maintainers to help shape open standards through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Here's what they're actually providing:
The Sovereign Tech Standards network closes the gap between those who write open standards and those who implement them. This ensures that the technologies comprising our digital infrastructure remain interoperable, open, and grounded in real-world practice. For this pilot program, we're selecting up to ten open source maintainers to participate in standards work at the IETF, W3C, and ISO. The program includes training, mentoring, and financial compensation to make sustained engagement possible.
What the program offers:
- A fixed monthly payment of €4800 to €5200 to enable sustained participation, covering time spent contributing to standards work
- Training and onboarding, including an online course on how standards bodies operate and participation in a first in-person meeting with the cohort at a standards development organization (SDO)
- Ongoing mentoring from experienced standards contributors throughout the program
- Peer exchange within a network of maintainers engaging across the IETF, W3C, and ISO simultaneously
- Reimbursement for SDO participation fees and support for travel to in-person meetings
Applications are open through 19 May 2026.
See their news post for more info.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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6 comments
The great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from. /s
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Caldathras 9 hours ago
Quoting: GrishnakhThe great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from. /sThe other great thing about standards bodies such as this is that they create more jobs for bureaucrats. /s
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This actually seems like a pretty good idea. There are going to be standards and standards bodies, and what they do is going to have an impact. So apparently these guys are saying "Gee, it might be kind of good if some of the open source programmers who have to deal with the results, who write the plumbing of our digital world, could have a voice on those bodies that make the standards." That makes a fair amount of sense to me.
People bitch about bureaucrats, but without them what you have is Somalia.
People bitch about bureaucrats, but without them what you have is Somalia.
5 Likes
Cloversheen 5 hours ago
Thank you Germany for your continued support! 🥰
2 Likes
Quoting: Purple Library GuyThis actually seems like a pretty good idea. There are going to be standards and standards bodies, and what they do is going to have an impact. So apparently these guys are saying "Gee, it might be kind of good if some of the open source programmers who have to deal with the results, who write the plumbing of our digital world, could have a voice on those bodies that make the standards." That makes a fair amount of sense to me.Also standards primarily benefit open source, because contrary to big tech monopolies it doesn't have a centralized management structure for smooth integration, nor a big tech master dependency that dictates terms.
People bitch about bureaucrats, but without them what you have is Somalia.
Standard openness is preferential, but optional in this.
Thanks to POSIX bsd, MACOS and Linux coexist in app development space, thanks to C porting Linux to a new architecture is no more than writing a solid compiler, thanks to transitional docx Libre Office can compete with Microsoft office, etc.
Apple just forces everybody to recompile, rewrite and redo all their programs to their next architecture.
Linus can't do that, but he can hide changes behind standard C and POSIX interfaces.
Microsoft can just demand printer drivers.
The bsd team can't do that, but they can support driverless printing standards.
On the bureaucrats part.
Yeah, bureaucrats do good work.
Bureaucrats are the backbone of the power of the civilian parts of government.(planning a coup, try doing that without money and your every move published)
Bureaucrats are what makes customary law tick and thus keep the juridical branch in check(for a large part this is what went wrong in the USA).
Bureaucrats allow one to launch asymmetric economic sanctions.
Bureaucrats are the checks in checks and balances.
I do admit I think the EU gives them a little bit too much legislative power(the exclusive right of amendment as an executive branch of government), but that is because it was founded and nurtured by them.
Also they are boring and that is a good thing. The will of the people is absolute, but also fickle. Spread elections and the boring parts of government are what allows a democracy to middle out this fickle will into one direction.
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PlayingOnLinuxphone 2 hours ago
Finally a good news from Germany. There are also not much since conservatives lead the country again.
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