Digital for Planet
Horizon Europe
The Decentralised Web and the NGI
The Decentralised Web is here.
The brightest minds across the globe are working on something: a decentralised internet that puts the power back in the hands of the people. From internet inventor Tim Berners-Lee’s recent launch of a new decentralised internet platform, to Europe’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative: the Decentralised web, or Dweb, is big news right now.
“People want to have a web they can trust. People want apps that help them do what they want and need to do — without spying on them.” Tim Berners-Lee, Medium 29 Sep 2018.
The internet in its current form sees most people’s user data concentrated in the hands of a few, large, mostly US-based private corporations. This runs the risk that your info can be hacked, there’s privacy and ethics concerns, as well as a lack of awareness about and protection from surveillance and censorship. Plus if any of those services shuts down, all your data and connections can be lost.
“The [interet’s] services are kind of creepy in how much they know about you,” says Brewster Kahle, the founder of the Internet Archive. The DWeb, say proponents, is about giving people a choice: the same services, but decentralised and not creepy. It promises control and privacy, and things can’t all of a sudden disappear because someone decides they should.” [Decentralisation is the next big step for the World Wide Web The Guardian Technology, 8 Sep 2018]
In Europe, we’ve been working on this for a while now. Back in 2016, the EC set up the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative as part of its digital strategy to promote a decentralised and democratised internet. It’s about using next generation technology such as blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Smart Devices to serve humans first and foremost, above corporations and technology itself.
“Rather than human behaviour being dictated and constrained by the technology, the Next Generation Internet puts people back in control. It also seeks to redress the balance of power and profits, which is so often weighted towards governments and large private companies,” said Dr Monique Calisti, CEO of Martel Innovate and HUB4NGI project coordinator.
The NGI Inititiave began within the European Commission, it is present in the Smart Cities of Europe, research organisations and in State departments, and it’s spreading. The initiative has already attracted some of the best minds in internet R&D, innovation, academia and policy. The NGI brings together European values of fairness, equality, open data and human dignity. We are designing, building and strategizing for the Decentralised Web, the next generation internet.
Join the NGI to stake your place in this historic initiative and help us build the internet of tomorrow, today.
Facts and Figures
Since the NGI’s inception in 2016
- 23 Member States/Associated Countries have nominated their NGI Contact Points
- 178 actors are registered in the online NGI map
- 15 workshops (since 2017) organised by NGI Contact Points
About Martel and the NGI
Started in January 2017, the EU funded HUB4NGI was the first Coordination and Support Action dedicated to transforming the Next Generation Internet initiative into an increasingly dynamic, collaborative, vibrant and participatory Research and Innovation Ecosystem.
HUB4NGI aims to offer a collaborative platform capable of effectively supporting and coordinating activities across the whole NGI context by combining knowledge, tools and processes to reach and engage top-notch Internet researchers and innovators.
Martel Innovate is the HUB4NGI project coordinator
Next on the horizon will be setting up an NGI Outreach Office to coordinate communication and marekting efforts in this important area.
Contacts
Join the NGI by signing up to the mailing list, participating in open calls, adding your organisation to the map and answering the NGI survey at https://www.ngi.eu/join-ngi/
NGI Survey: https://consultation.ngi.eu/ngi-survey
Twitter: @NGI4EU
