Open Internet Stack: development of technological commons/open-source 3C building blocks (RIA)

The EU funding opportunity titled "Open Internet Stack: development of technological commons/open-source 3C building blocks (RIA)" is part of the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action, specifically under the DIGITAL - CNECT program. It is designed to advance Europe’s digital infrastructure through the development of open-source technology components focused on Connected Collaborative Computing (3C) networks. The grant has a total budget of €10 million, with the planned opening date on June 10, 2025, and a submission deadline of October 2, 2025. The funding mechanism follows a single-stage application process, with an expected allocation of up to €5 million for two projects.

Eligible applicants include universities, research institutes, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large companies, public-private partnerships, and non-governmental organizations, emphasizing cross-sector collaboration. The geographic scope encompasses EU member states, European Economic Area (EEA) countries, and associated nations, with the potential inclusion of non-EU countries under specific provisions. The call targets projects in the digital sector, specifically those engaging in open-source technologies, internet infrastructure, and decentralized systems, aligning with EU legal frameworks related to digital services.

Projects should focus on the development and validation of open-source building blocks that support edge-cloud infrastructures, the Internet of Things (IoT), and decentralized intelligence. A successful proposal is expected to deliver applications and services that enhance trust, transaction efficiency, connectivity, and decentralization within the context of the European digital single market. The initiatives should also incorporate compliance tools addressing relevant EU regulations.

The funding allows for financial support to third parties, potentially covering up to 70% of the project's budget, specifically for initiatives aimed at open-source communities. Each project can allocate financial support between €50,000 to €150,000 per third party, with a maximum grant of €400,000 per third party. Proposals must outline strategies for cooperation with the 3C large-scale pilot to ensure effective integration and testing of developed solutions, promoting maximum reuse of components and bridging gaps in existing technology.

The call encourages innovation in trust technologies, network connectivity, and decentralized technologies while emphasizing the importance of community engagement in developing these solutions. It aims to foster a thriving ecosystem of digital contributors by leveraging open-source commons, encouraging collaboration among SMEs, researchers, and individuals to meet critical challenges related to digital sovereignty and user empowerment.

In summary, this grant offers a significant opportunity for collaborative projects focused on creating an open-source framework that supports strategic commons, aligning with the EU’s vision for a secure and interoperable digital infrastructure. Applicants are expected to demonstrate experience and engagement with open-source communities, ensuring that their projects contribute meaningfully to the objectives of the 3C networks and the broader digital landscape in Europe.

The EU funding opportunity HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-11, titled "Open Internet Stack: development of technological commons/open-source 3C building blocks (RIA)", is a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action (RIA) call under the DIGITAL - CNECT (HORIZON-CL4-2025-03) call. The planned opening date is June 10, 2025, and the deadline for submission is October 2, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The total budget allocated to this topic is 10,000,000 EUR, and it is a single-stage application process. The indicative number of grants is 1.

The expected outcomes of this funding opportunity are:

A publicly available and operational stack of strategic commons focusing on internet technologies for trust, transactions, connectivity, and decentralisation implementing the European vision of next generation digital infrastructures, in particular the 3Cs networks (in close cooperation with the 3Cs large scale pilots), and the wider Web 4.0.

A library of inclusive, trustworthy, interoperable, and human-centric applications and services leveraging Open-Source commons building blocks which will increase the value of the network in the respect of European values. These Open Source solutions will be integrated and tested / validated in the 3C large scale pilot.

A flourishing European ecosystem of contributors to digital commons – e.g., individuals, SMEs, academics - stimulated by critical challenges around sovereignty, trust, and user empowerment.

Tools, services, and insights supporting compliance with and implementation of EU legal framework e.g., EUDI, CRA, DMA, DSA, GDPR, Data Act, DGA.

The scope of this action involves fostering an Open-Source framework developed through commons, providing key technology components for the operation of the 3C large scale pilot. The action will address relevant areas, structuring them in a stack and supporting the development of 3C building blocks, making them available through a library of digital commons supporting applications on top of the European providers ecosystem.

The action will mainly cover three technology areas:

Trust technologies: Privacy enhancing technologies, AI-based agents, and trusted technologies for identities allowing exchanges across multiple 3C networks, providing users with transparent, auditable, secure, and resilient building blocks and tools across the internet stack.

Network and connectivity technologies: Addressing the identified needs of the 3C large scale pilot.

Decentralised technologies: For an immersive world notably based on open standards ensuring interoperable flow of data and events across the 3C pilot networks and operators.

Applicants are expected to devise appropriate mechanisms for cooperation with the 3C pilot to ensure the integration of requirements and specifications stemming from the 3C large scale pilots and to ensure the 3C large scale pilot’s swift integration of the building blocks developed by the Open Internet Stack, including envisaging mechanisms for testing and integration of the solutions. Applicants should provide concrete plans on how such work should be organised in close cooperation with the 3C large scale pilot to decide the building blocks that will be prioritised, facilitate their integration in the 3C large scale pilot and avoid any duplication of the work.

Applicants could also decide to select and fund third party projects, wherever required, through up to 70% of their project’s budget for financial support to third parties. If applicants opt for financial support to third parties, they should target calls towards the Open-Source communities actively influencing the course of the Internet. The calls should aim at improving trust, transactions, decentralisation implementing optimal balance between distribution, security (including AI for security), AI usage and energy efficiency targeting climate neutrality objectives. Applicants should then also define the mechanisms for maturing third parties’ projects e.g., security and accessibility audits, packaging of the stack for easy deployment, localisation of the software in EU languages, documentation best practices, performance optimisation and advising on licensing.

Applicants should detail the path to growth for third parties’ projects e.g., by actively animating communities, creating momentum among like-minded efforts, defining how projects will gain critical mass and what services will be provided for reaching such stage. Proposals should also detail the strategy for standardisation.

In addition to contributing to the 3C large scale pilot, applicants should demonstrate how the software produced will be operationalised as a stack of open libraries accessible through a common European repository and maximising re-use, reproducibility, and resilience for adopters.

Applicants should actively manage the portfolio of funded projects and provide a coherent overall picture in relation to the 3Cs objectives, describing how mature solutions are and ensuring trusted and easy deployment capabilities for each building block through packaged stack.

Applicants should strive for identification of common tools and stimulate maximum re-use of components coming from other funded projects e.g., interoperable identity and credential management tools, common packaging solutions, tools for decentralised social media.

Applicants should seek active collaboration with other initiatives addressing internet commons of relevance to 3Cs at national, European levels and beyond Europe including with European technology industries.

Applicants should demonstrate their experience and understanding of Open-Source communities and their expertise covering the full Open-Source life cycle through proven track record including years of experience and indication of volume of Open-Source projects supported.

The Commission considers that proposals in this topic with an overall duration of typically 36 months would allow these outcomes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other durations.

In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.

Third parties will be funded through projects typically in the EUR 50 000 to 150 000 range per project, with indicative duration of 9 to 12 months. The consortium should provide the programme logic for the third-party projects, managing the projects lifecycle, and provide the necessary technical and non-technical support: these tasks cannot be implemented using the budget earmarked for the financial support to third parties.

The general conditions for admissibility, eligible countries, financial and operational capacity, exclusion, evaluation and award, and legal and financial set-up are detailed in the annexes of the Horizon Europe Work Programme and the Online Manual. Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties, with a maximum amount of EUR 400,000 per third party. A maximum of 70% of the total requested EU contribution could be allocated to financial support to third parties, selected through open calls.

Application form templates are available in the Submission System, and standard evaluation form templates will be used with necessary adaptations. Guidance is provided in the HE Programme Guide, HE MGA, and call-specific instructions. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2025, HE Programme Guide, HE Framework Programme 2021/695, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, EU Grants AGA, and Funding & Tenders Portal documents.

Partner search announcements can be viewed and edited by LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants after logging into the Portal. The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.

This funding opportunity aims to foster the development of an open-source framework for internet technologies, focusing on trust, transactions, connectivity, and decentralisation. It seeks to create a publicly available and operational stack of strategic commons, contributing to the European vision of next-generation digital infrastructures, particularly the 3Cs networks and the wider Web 4.0. The initiative encourages collaboration between applicants and the 3C large-scale pilot to ensure the integration of requirements and the swift adoption of developed building blocks. A significant portion of the project budget can be allocated to financial support for third parties, specifically targeting open-source communities. The goal is to leverage the European open-source community, including SMEs, research institutes, and individual developers, to improve trust, security, and energy efficiency in line with EU rules and values. The projects should also focus on the operationalisation of the software as a stack of open libraries, accessible through a common European repository, to maximise re-use and reproducibility.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include SMEs, research institutes, and individual researchers and developers. The call specifically targets the European Open Source community.

Funding Type: The funding type is primarily a grant, specifically a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (HORIZON-RIA) and HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA) and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA). Beneficiaries may also provide financial support to third parties in the form of grants.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU member states, associated countries, and potentially non-EU/non-associated countries with specific provisions as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The program targets the digital sector, specifically focusing on open-source technologies, internet infrastructure, trust technologies, network connectivity, decentralised technologies, and compliance with EU legal frameworks related to data and digital services.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity does not explicitly mention specific countries but refers to EU member states and associated countries. It also mentions non-EU/non-Associated Countries that may have specific provisions for funding.

Project Stage: The project stage ranges from research and development to innovation and demonstration, with an emphasis on integrating and validating solutions in the 3C large-scale pilot. The projects should aim to develop key technology components and building blocks, suggesting a development and demonstration stage.

Funding Amount: The funding amounts vary depending on the specific topic within the call. For example, HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DATA-11 has a budget of EUR 10,000,000, while HORIZON-CL4-2025-03-DIGITAL-EMERGING-07 has a budget of EUR 85,000,000. Third parties will be funded through projects typically in the EUR 50,000 to 150,000 range per project. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 400,000.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants. They will also receive non-monetary services through access to resources, guidance, and support networks provided by the Horizon Europe program.

Application Stages: The application process involves a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The text does not explicitly mention a co-funding requirement from the applicant. However, it notes that a maximum of 70% of the total requested EU contribution could be allocated to financial support to third parties, implying that at least 30% of the budget should be used for the applicant's own activities.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, part of the DIGITAL - CNECT (HORIZON-CL4-2025-03) program, focuses on fostering an open-source framework for next-generation digital infrastructures, particularly the 3Cs networks. It aims to fund projects that develop key technology components and building blocks, making them available through a library of digital commons. The call targets the European Open Source community, including SMEs, research institutes, and individual developers, to create solutions that improve trust, transactions, connectivity, and decentralisation in line with EU values. Projects should address trust technologies, network connectivity, and decentralised technologies, and applicants are expected to cooperate closely with the 3C large-scale pilot to ensure integration and avoid duplication. A significant portion of the budget can be allocated to financial support for third parties through open calls, with individual projects typically funded in the EUR 50,000 to 150,000 range. The overall goal is to create a publicly available and operational stack of strategic commons that supports the European vision of Web 4.0 and a flourishing ecosystem of digital contributors. The call is a single-stage process with a planned opening date of June 10, 2025, and a deadline of October 2, 2025.