Celebrating 5 years of innovation and unlocking the power of digital commons at the NGI Forum 2023 – We made it happen!

The NGI Forum is the flagship event of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative.

The 2023 edition, the first in person since before the pandemic, marked a significant milestone in the journey towards reimagining and re-engineering the Internet for a safer, open, and citizen-centric digital environment. Martel Innovate, as the coordinator of the NGI Outreach Office, played a pivotal role in the organisation and success of this event, and proudly stands as a major contributor to the growth of this community and the impact of its efforts.

Empowering a Human-Centric Internet: NGI Forum Highlights

The NGI Forum 2023 brought together more than 220 participants in place and more than 700 that participated remotely across the two days, including thought leaders, policymakers, and technologists committed to advancing a resilient and democratic digital landscape. Throughout the two days, plenaries and workshops provided a dynamic platform for participants to engage in discussions and collaborative efforts toward building the internet of tomorrow.

The event delved into crucial topics, including digital commons, digital identity, quantum internet, large language models, web search, decentralised social media, and the security of the open-source supply chain.

Director-General of DG CONNECT at the European Commission, Roberto Viola, set the tone opening the event with a thought-provoking keynote, calling to action the whole NGI community – the word “apathy” should not be in our dictionary. Director General Roberto  emphasised the importance of open-source efforts in shaping a citizen-centric internet and the pivotal role of embracing new economic models, while ensuring a trustworthy and secure digital environment for all.

The NGI Forum 2023 was also the opportunity to celebrate the 5th anniversary since the first NGI Research and Innovation projects started and promote the over 1000 groundbreaking NGI solutions that have been created and made available via the NGI portal. Across the two days, many researchers and innovators had the opportunity to showcase their achievements and tell about their “impact stories,” presenting open-source solutions prioritising privacy, traceability, and digital identity enhancement.

Digital Commons: Shaping Europe’s Digital Future

Our CEO, Dr Monique Calisti, who is the Director of the NGI Outreach Office since the NGI started, moderated the first plenary session steering discussions on opportunities and challenges for digital commons development, adoption and governance in Europe. 

Dr Calisti guided discussions with the 5 experts in the panel, namely Sophie Bloemen (Commons Networks), Gabriele Columbro (Linux Foundation Europe), Adriana Groh (Sovereign Tech Fund), Michiele Leenaars (NLnet Foundation) and David Manset (ITU), to discuss, the centrality of Digital Commons to ensure Europe digital sovereignty, their role of in shaping a more human-centric internet and how to bridge the gap between bottom-up movements and top-down regulatory efforts.

Key takeaways from the panel include:

• Digital commons are and will play a crucial role in Europe’s digital future.
• Collaboration between private and public sectors is essential.
• The term “commons” may not inherently mean openness, posing challenges in terms of governance and business models.
• Protection and growth of digital commons require the right legal instruments and the involvement of various stakeholders.
• Motivating and educating citizens about the value of their data is a complex but a necessary process.

Dr Calisti reflected on the importance of having this panel at the NGI Forum 2023. “The NGI is home to many digital commons efforts that are changing the destiny of the internet, bringing it back to its origins in the way it was conceived and engineered. As a digital common: shared, open, free and interoperable, preserving privacy by design”.

Martel leading the NGI Commons initiative

Martel is the coordinator of the NGI Commons initiative that gathers together prominent players in the European Digital Commons scene and that aims to foster a stronger integration of NGI values and efforts with digital commons initiatives and relevant policies, deliver a long-term strategy for internet commons, providing recommendations for future public and private investments.

As the NGI Forum 2023 wraps up, Martel Innovate looks forward to continued collaboration and innovation with many top players in Europe and beyond, contributing to a more inclusive, secure, and sustainable development of our society and economy.

The organisation of this event, reconfirms our valued collaboration with Tipik, FundingBox, and Ideas for Change. The collaborative spirit and dedication of all NGI Outreach Office partners were instrumental in making the event a resounding success.

In case you missed it, watch the recordings from the NGI Forum 2023!