PRESS RELEASE - StandICT.eu & NGI Sargasso: A New Collaboration to Engage with Innovators in Future Internet

PISA – Italy, 29.06.2023 - StandICT.eu & NGI Sargasso announce their collaboration framed with a Memorandum of Understanding. This collaboration targets to leverage both projects’ engagements and contributions to international standardisation for the future internet.

StandICT.eu fosters the participation of European experts in international ICT standardisation. To reach this goal, it has three main axes:  firstly, it will fund 400+ European standardisation experts in a series of 9 Open Calls providing a total of almost 3M€ of funding. Secondly, it manages the European Observatory for ICT Standardisation (EUOS), which is an interactive online ecosystem including an up-to-date standards repository as well as working groups sharing insights about ongoing standardization efforts across different initiatives. Thirdly, via its Academy, it trains future experts in ICT standardisation.  StandICT.eu focuses on horizontal and vertical ICT fields, as defined in the Rolling Plan for ICT Standardisation; one focus is the future internet and related topics, namely trusted information, digital identity and interoperability.

NGI Sargasso aims to establish a collaborative ecosystem for EU-US and/or EU-Canada partnerships in Next Generation Internet (NGI) technologies. The project seeks to revolutionise NGI technologies, services, and standards while promoting a human-centric approach of the Internet Commons. Over 36 months, it will run an open call providing a total of 4.8m€, attracting European, American, and Canadian teams working on emerging topics. Up to 96 projects will receive up to €100,000 in equity-free funding and up to a 9-month capacity-building program that includes mentoring, coaching and other services to drive success. The project encourages proposals addressing NGI standardisation challenges, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing through a common language across global borders.

This announced collaboration could consolidate these commitments of both initiatives.

“StandICT.eu’s core focus is to support the contribution of EU experts to international ICT standardisation, ensuring that future technology standards meet European values, policies and regulations. NGI Sargasso Programme funding over 90 cross-Atlantic innovation projects run by international ICT experts brings great value to our StandICT.eu community by opening it to new stakeholders and even towards Northern America. I am sure we can initiate valuable joint actions for our respective stakeholders interested in international standardisation!” reflects Mona Marill,  StandICT.eu Fellowship Programme Manager.

“Collaborating with Stand ICT offers our candidates a valuable chance to access a rich knowledge pool in the field of standardization. Within the context of NGI Sargasso, which primarily aims to foster a robust trans-Atlantic collaboration for advancing next-generation internet technology, standards become a pivotal subject. They facilitate the development of a shared language that transcends borders.”, says Raquel Carro,  NGI Sargasso Communication & Dissemination Manager.

StandICT.eu 2026 runs a series of Open Calls funding experts who contribute to developing ICT standards, and so far, 5G and beyond have been among the most funded fellowship areas. NGI Sargasso’s community can benefit from the forthcoming open calls and the findings of the already-funded fellowships.

StandICT.eu 2026

Consortium: Dublin City University (IE) - Financial and Administrative Coordinator, Trust-IT Srl (IT) - Technical Coordinator, OpenForum Europe (BE), AUSTRALO (ES), European Digital SME Alliance (BE), and Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI (DE).

For more information on StandICT.eu 2026, contact us at info@standict.eu and follow us on our social media channels: Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube

StandICT.eu 2026 has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe Programme under Grant Agreement no. 101091933.

NGI Sargasso

Consortium: European Science Foundation (BE), Sploro (ES), Mobile World Capital (ES), AUSTRALO (EE), US Ignite (USA)

For more information on NGI Sargasso, contact us at ngisargasso@australo.org and follow us on our social media channels: Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube

NGI Sargasso has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe Programme under Grant Agreement no. 101092887.