The Next Generation Internet (NGI) is an EU initiative aimed at driving internet technology towards a human-centric internet aligned with European values. The NGI program provides financial support to grassroots open source projects covering various layers of the Internet. The program started operationaly in 2019 mobilising about 140M€ over 5 years and supporting more than 1000 projects. This benchmark study evaluates the impact of NGI projects based on the following criteria: alignment with EU Digital rights, enabling EU legislation, impact on standardisation, provision of alternative solutions, and sustainability. The study aims to provide quantitative and qualitative insights into the NGI portfolio's performance and technological building blocks, as well as recommendations for the future evolution of the initiative. The findings aim to inform policy-making decisions and shape future work programs. Overall, the NGI program has had a significant impact in shaping an EU tech landscape that is sustainable, sovereign, and aligned with EU policy and values.
Authors
Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission, Gartner, Valayer, Clémentine
- Catalogue number
- KK-05-24-246-EN-N KK-05-24-246-EN-C
- Citation
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, Valayer, C., Benchmarking the impact of the next generation internet initiative – Final study report , Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2759/062218
- DOI
- https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2759/243573 https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2759/062218
- ISBN
- 978-92-68-14314-8
- Pages
- 85
- Published in
- Belgium
- Themes
- Information technology and telecommunications
Table of Contents
- Executive summary 7
- 1. Introduction 10
- 2. NGI Portfolio landscape 12
- 2.1. Geolandscape 12
- 2.2. Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs) and project categories 13
- 3. Quantitative impact on EU values, on policy, standardisation, choice and sustainability 18
- 3.1. Society and EU Digital Rights 18
- 3.2. EU legislation and policies 19
- 3.3. Standardisation 21
- 3.4. Alternatives, freedom of choice 26
- 3.5. Sustainability 28
- 3.5.1. Sharing and reuse of the solution 28
- 3.5.2. Community 33
- 3.5.3. Project outcomes 34
- 3.6. Conclusion 37
- 4. Qualitative impact description per technology cluster 38
- 4.1. Open hardware 38
- 4.2. Network and Transport 41
- 4.3. Internet technology evolution 44
- 4.4. Web 3.0 and cryptography 47
- 4.5. Web 4.0 and virtual worlds 49
- 4.6. Decentralised social media 50
- 4.7. Instant messaging 53
- 4.8. Collaborative tools 54
- 4.9. Crowdsourced data and AI 55
- 4.10. Digital identity and signatures 57
- 4.11. Software supply chain 61
- 5. Grantees’ Feedback 65
- 6. Conclusion 72
- 7. Annexes 73
- 7.1. Annex 1: Project categories within RIAs 73
- 7.2. Annex 2: Methodology 76
- 7.2.1. Scope 76
- 7.2.2. Overall approach 77
- 7.2.3. Step 1: NGI 1000 – Quantitative Benchmark 77
- 7.2.4. Step 2: NGI 50 – Qualitative Benchmark 82
