Open Source Internet Freedom Tech Fund Seeks Applications

GitHub is proud to be supporting the new funding round of the Open Technology Funds FOSS Sustainability Fund! Internet freedom technologies rely on a stack of foundational open source technologies and protocols whose maintenance is critical to access to information and freedom of expression worldwide. Learn more and apply by May 7, 2026.

11 grants from open-source communities for tech builders worldwide There are many tech builders in my network who contribute to society in a very real way: they maintain open-source projects, strengthen communities, host meetups, and build infrastructure that others rely on. 1) FLOSS/fund Support for open-source maintainers and community work, with flexible use of funds. https://floss.fund/ 2) Wikimedia Community Fun Funding for projects, events, tools, and initiatives across the Wikimedia ecosystem. https://lnkd.in/eAGguJne 3) OBC Collective Development Fund Funding for open infrastructure and open knowledge projects, from tools to community-led initiatives. https://lnkd.in/eNrJdMYA 4) PyCon US 2026 Travel Grants Travel support to attend PyCon US for developers, speakers, and volunteers in the Python community. https://lnkd.in/epDnEpDk 5) Linux Foundation Event Scholarships (various 2026 events) Complimentary registration for major open-source conferences (deadlines vary by event). Example: https://lnkd.in/eVSxU2Bj 6) Solana Foundation — Grants & Community Programs Grants and micro-grants for builders and community initiatives across the Solana ecosystem. https://lnkd.in/e9C4YWbV 7) GitHub Secure Open Source Fund Funding + security education for maintainers of open-source projects. https://lnkd.in/eAzcG9PE 8) NLnet Foundation Grants (NGI family) Grants for open internet / digital commons projects. https://nlnet.nl/propose/ 9) Cline Open Source Grant Up to $10,000 in credits for open-source projects. https://lnkd.in/eUsZQRde 10) Prototype Fund (Open Knowledge Foundation Germany) Funding for open-source software projects with social value. https://lnkd.in/epbFXV3K 11) Sovereign Tech Fund Funding to improve and maintain critical open digital infrastructure. https://lnkd.in/eMRGNAkY Sometimes one grant is all it takes to help meaningful work move from “in progress” to real impact. If you know someone who should see this list, tag them in the comments.

Subtle but meaningful life update: I just concluded a meeting with the LF Decentralized Trust Technical Advisory Committee to potentially sponsor and help curate a new lab called: Open Source Frontiers. This lab is being established as a neutral ground under LF Decentralized Trust to steward open source sustainability best practices across Web3. Its purpose is to develop the architecture, reference papers, white papers, pilot programs, and implementation artifacts ecosystems needed to better support open source development and long-term maintenance. Its areas of focus will include sustainability and maintenance models, decentralized governance design, contributor incentives and funding flows, lifecycle management, portfolio stewardship, and cross-ecosystem interoperability. This builds on ideas I have been developing through the Open Maintenance Framework, the d(OSPO) concept, Cardano’s own Paid Open Source Model, and other emerging efforts across the space. The broader goal is to create a credible, neutral venue where L1s, EVM ecosystems, and other open infrastructure communities can come together to shape practical approaches to open source sustainability. A quiet step, but an important one. It is still very much a new prospect but more to come over coming weeks. https://t.co/WyjRbx0e3M

This is where we get the ball rolling and coordinate as a galaxy of Web3 ecosystems to solve this common issue effectively.

What happens when open source developers, researchers, policy makers, and coral reef conservationists walk into the same room? You get 𝗚𝗪 𝗢𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗡 — and it absolutely delivers. 🐠💻 I had the privilege of attending the two-day GW Open Source Conference at George Washington University in Washington, DC, and it was one of the most intellectually stimulating events I've been to in a long time. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: 📌 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: Dr. Frank Nagle's talk on "The Economic Value of Open Source" set the perfect tone — grounding the conversation in real-world impact and data. 📌 Sessions I thoroughly enjoyed: → Max Turer — A refreshing, honest take on building an internet life beyond Big Tech → Saad Elbeleidy — Peerbots & Vizij: A masterclass in modular open source design → Dan Funk — "Building Cities, Not Empires": Open source as a long-term business strategy → Heather Spence Spence — Bridging open source and environmental science in ways I never expected 🌊 → Mike Saunders Sanders — Practical frameworks for taking research open source → Daniel Kerchner — Pixi: Because reproducible environments shouldn't cost you your sanity 📌 Panel — "The Business of Sharing: The Strategic Case for Open Source": Dr. Frank Nagle, Dr. Angela Newell, Laura McGorman, Marvin McLain, and Remy DeCausemaker brought nuance, candor, and real strategy to a topic that deserves more boardroom attention. Thank you to the General Chair, Planning & Program Committee, and GW Sponsors for curating such a high-quality event. A heartfelt thank you to David Lippert, OSPO Director — your vision and organization made this truly special. Open source is infrastructure. Open source is policy. Open source is community. And after this conference, it's very clear: open source is the future. #GWOSCon #OpenSource #OSPO #TechPolicy #OpenSourceCommunity #WashingtonDC

Much of the world’s digital infrastructure depends on open source software. But behind every critical component there are people maintaining it. The Sovereign Tech Fellowship invests exactly there — in the people behind the code. Applications are now open for maintainers, community managers and technical writers. 🔗 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/geKFm6xX #OpenSource #FOSS #SoftwareSustainability #DigitalInfrastructure

🇪🇺 European Open Digital Ecosystems and Digital Commons. 🔓Analysis. Aditya Singh y Alek Tarkowski 🇪🇺 In January 2026, the European Commission launched a call for evidence for a proposed Open Digital Ecosystems Strategy. The proposal explicitly links open technologies to digital sovereignty and emphasizes the importance of supporting the full lifecycle of open source technologies, from development to market integration. This marks a significant shift from previous open source-related strategies that were largely internal facing, towards a more strategic approach that looks beyond technical artefacts and licensing and adopts an ecosystem‑level approach. For instance, the 2020–2023 Open Source Software Strategy was explicitly framed as a ‘practical instrument for the digital transformation in the Commission’, focused on internal culture and reuse. In contrast, the new proposal is positioned to support open digital ecosystems across the Union and to address barriers such as access to growth capital and shared infrastructure. This echoes a diagnosis that Open Future has articulated in the Strategic Agenda for the Digital Commons—around the need for more strategic approaches to scaling open source and public-value based technologies, with an explicit focus on cultivating an ecosystem capable of fostering genuine alternatives to dominant platforms. The Commission’s new framing has clearly resonated. The consultation received more than 1,600 responses, unusually high for this kind of exercise (the consultation for the Cloud and AI Act, by contrast, received around 190 responses). This indicates both the breadth of stakeholder interest and a degree of convergence around the urgency of this positioning. Based on a review of the submissions, several themes stand out: calls for EU-level funding to support critical open source components; a push to treat open source as more than just an open licensing requirement; a convergence around the importance of public procurement as a strategic lever; and calls for including various other types of Digital Commons within the scope of the strategy. These themes have been explored through our policy work with NGI Commons. This analysis looks at them in detail. 🇪🇺 Europe needs a Sovereign Tech Fund 👑 🔗 En primer comentario #soberaníaTEC #sovereignTech #Europe #Europa

Over the last decade I’ve been involved in open source both directly and indirectly. But the last five years in particular have been a deep learning journey around one persistent challenge: open source sustainability, especially inside Web3 ecosystems and their funding structures. Blockchains are built on open-source software. Yet outside of infrastructure costs and the core protocol, we rarely have clear answers for what sustains the broader ecosystem—SDKs, APIs, tooling, and the many projects' developers rely on every day. After years of observing, experimenting, and learning from peers across the open source and Web3 communities, I’ve tried to compile what I’ve learned into something practical. The result is two complementary ideas: • The decentralized OSPO (dOSPO) — a concept for who coordinates open source sustainability in decentralized ecosystems. • The Open Maintenance Framework (OMF) — a framework for how open source maintenance can actually be operationalized. OMF is designed to be adaptable. It offers guiding philosophies, operational methodologies, practical considerations, and existing models that ecosystems can adapt or build upon. The goal isn’t to prescribe a single solution, but to give builders something tangible they can use to start addressing a fundamental issue. Because if Web3 ecosystems want to mature, we need to move beyond simply saying we value open source by ethos. We need structures that actually support the maintainers, projects, and community ladders that make these ecosystems work. This framework is my attempt to give something back to the broader Web3 community; a collection of lessons learned and insights from many contributors and peers who helped shape this thinking along the way. I hope others take it, adapt it, and build something even better. Special thank you to Hart Montgomery, Sebastian Pabon, Terence McCutcheon, Diane Mueller, Silona Bonewald, Christian Grobmeier, Georg Link, PhD, Patrick Sheridan, Andrew Aitken, Heather Meeker for all the insights, lessons learned, partnerships, last minute meetings, and general guidance for this journey.

The latest development from our founder on open source sustainability. A framework designed to address the long-standing sustainability gap in open source, structured as a modular and portable model that can be adapted across different Web3 ecosystems.

At a time when many Web3 ecosystems are grappling with questions around sustainability, governance, and long-term coordination, it is refreshing to see thoughtful leadership and innovative thinking emerge from within the open-source community. The perspective and work led by Christian Taylor are a strong reminder that thriving ecosystems are not the result of chance, but of intentional design, principled decision-making, and a commitment to building public goods that benefit the broader community. Although there is still a long road ahead for Web3, initiatives like this demonstrate that sustainable paths forward are possible when builders come together with clarity of purpose. Congratulations on the launch, Christian. The industry is fortunate to have you, pushing these conversations and initiatives forward. On a personal note, I’m also grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the paperwork. Being able to support this effort, even in a small way, was both meaningful to me. Looking forward to seeing the impact this work will have on the ecosystem and the industry.