Interviews

After 3 years, NGI DAPSI is coming to its end. Here are the gathered insights and the main achievements. NGI DAPSI is the European project funded by the European Commission under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, and part of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative.  The Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative, launched by the European Commission back in 2016, aims at shaping the future internet as an interoperable platform ecosystem with values such as: openness, inclusivity, transparency, privacy, cooperation, and protection of data. Why NGI DAPSI? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies since 25 May 2018. Specifically, Article 20 has the purpose of making significantly easier for citizens to have any data which is stored with one service provider transmitted directly to another provider. Now, the new data protection regulation on portability has been developed to give the concerned persons better control over their personal data. NGI ​DAPSI launched 3 years ago, with an aim to foster the advanced research for the delivery of open-source results in the Services & Data Portability field through the support to researchers, SMEs and startups or innovator, engaging them in a 9-months Programme providing up to 150k€ of funding and a pack of services such as coaching and mentoring in technical and non-technical areas. The team During the period of 38 months, the success of the NGI DAPSI project was enabled by the wholesome cooperation of the Project Consortium made of 6 partners: Zabala Innovation Consulting - Project Coordinator (Spain) F6S (Ireland) CAP Digital (France) IMT Starter Incubator (France) Fraunhofer IAIS (Germany) Engineering (Italy) The main project achievements  In the NGI DAPSI 3-years-long Programme, we have defined and tackled the challenges within six main data portability research domain, such as: DATA TRANSPERENCY - For a more personal data storage and a more fine-grained data transfer when exercising personal data access right DATA COMPATIBILITY & INTEROPERABILITY - To facilitate switches between data providers SECURITY & PRIVACY - To ensure that the personal data are transferred in a secure way SERVICE PORTABILITY - To empower...

Every day and nearly all the time, citizens transmit data to their various counterparts and business partners as customers, users, participants, applicants or even as patients.  Data portability refers to the ability of individuals to easily move their personal data from one service or platform to another. The main are in the interoperability, standards, user experience and regulation domains, while the future of data portability is likely to be shaped by a combination of technological developments and evolving regulatory frameworks. On the technological front, it is likely that advances in data interoperability and standardization will make it easier for individuals to move their data between different systems. For example, the development of open APIs (application programming interfaces) and standardized data formats could facilitate the transfer of data between different platforms and services. In terms of regulatory frameworks, it is likely that other countries and regions will adopt similar laws in the future to give individuals greater control over their personal data and to ensure that data portability is a key principle of data protection. There won't be only one perfect and agnostic solution available tomorrow, but what we can see with this EU regulation is the setting up of a cornerstone on the topic, and there are domains, like banking, real estate or healthcare, with specific data portability regulation, that are advancing faster. The development of sectorial oriented regulation and new technological solutions can be extended to other domains to accelerate adoption. The future of data portability is likely to involve a combination of technological and regulatory efforts to ensure that individuals have the ability to easily move their personal data between different platforms and services. Overall, some of the aspects needed to make Data Portability go mainstream are: More education and public awareness on data portability and human centricity benefits. More regulation, and sectoral regulation,...

We talked with Sara Mateo, NGI DAPSI Project coordinator, who took look back at the past 3 years of the project. Here's what we found out. After 3 years, the NGI DAPSI project is coming to an end. As Project coordinator, what is your assessment of the project and what were its main achievements? It has been a long period of hard work to deliver an excellent programme and the best selection of projects to be supported. I would remark the effort done for the first of our three calls as we designed the methodology and approach from the beginning in a context of uncertainty due to the pandemic. We had to increase our dedication to guarantee the good quality in a virtual format and I think we did it! We have successfully supported 46 projects and more than 70 third parties involved in them with funding and mentoring activities and their feedback and satisfaction have been very positive. During the projects lifetime's, 46 teams and their data portability solutions were supported by NGI DAPSI. Having seen so many innovative solutions, what surprised you the most? Even if some of the DAPSI beneficiaries came from a very scientific background, they have been able to grow a lot: establishing a company, signing important collaboration agreements with their target customers or rising investment rounds in few months. Thus, we consider that in some cases DAPSI has been the first step in a promising future adventure exploiting the potential of Data Portability technologies. NGI DAPSI tackled the challenge of developing interoperable solutions that enable data portability. How do you evaluate DAPSI's contribution to the data portability field? I think that our contribution is relevant as through the different open calls we have promoted and guided the applicants to propose open-source solutions. There is a great variety of technologies funded by DAPSI, available...

We gathered the final impression about NGI DAPSI with Augustin Radu from IMT Starter Incubator. Here's what he shared with us. Can you briefly introduce yourself and explain what was the role of IMT Starter Incubator in the NGI DAPSI project? Augustin RADU, PhD engineer, entrepreneur and investor with more than 20 years of experience in the French Start-up ecosystem. I’m in charge with the Business Development and International Partnerships at IMT Starter Incubator. Our structure was in charge with the business training andmentoring for the NGI projects. During the projects lifetime's, 46 teams and their data portability solutions were supported by NGI DAPSI. Having seen so many innovative solutions, what were the most common business challenges faced by the teams and what suprised you the most? Most of the solutions we have seen were extremely technical and based on open source. We know that the business models around open source are not always very trivial. Therefore, our challenge was to make think the teams (except people from established companies were things were different) a littledifferent. Our goal was to “extract” the value of their products/services and always ask the question of “why” before starting to code. We have accomplished our mission because most of the teams worked very well and now they face the challenges with a different angle. After 3 years, the NGI DAPSI project is coming to its end. What were the main benefits for IMT Starter Incubator to participate in NGI DAPSI? For IMT Starter is very important to be involved in European Projects. It is part of our strategy. Each partner had a very big value in the actual project. Furthermore, being connected with the European ecosystem is a very valuable asset for the projects and start-ups that we have or we had in our programs that look for new...

We gathered the final impressions with Alfonso Pietropaolo from Engineering. Here's what he shared with us. Can you briefly introduce yourself and explain what was the role of Engineering in the NGI DAPSI project? Hey there, my name is Alfonso and I have been a Researcher and Project Leader in Engineering for over 10 years. In DAPSI, my role was to oversee the Infrastructure, Training, and Tools. The main goal of ENG in this project was to support Start-ups and SMEs in developing their solutions by providing them with a free Cloud Platform based on OpenStack and FIWARE technologies. Additionally, we offered support tools and technical training sessions to assist all participants throughout their journey. During the projects lifetime's, 46 teams and their data portability solutions were supported by NGI DAPSI. Having seen so many innovative solutions, what were the most common infrastructure-related challenges faced by the teams, and what suprised you the most? Well, the level of knowledge about Cloud Infrastructures was high among all participants. They all had previous experience using Cloud technology, so I didn't encounter any major issues. However, one common challenge was convincing them to use our OpenStack Infrastructure instead of popular providers like Amazon or Google. Sometimes, the biggest challenges and changes are not technological, but rather related to peoples mindset andhabits. After 3 years, the NGI DAPSI project is coming to its end. What were the main benefits for Engineering to participate in NGI DAPSI? Participating in the DAPSI program has allowed us to acquire valuable knowledge and expertise in the areas of Privacy and Data Portability. We plan to share this knowledge with our internal competence centers and with the wider FIWARE ecosystem, helping to promote a greater understanding and awareness of these important issues. In addition, we will carefully review the list of DAPSI startups and...

Here's what Normand Overney from DYBLI says about the NGI DAPSI Final Event. In brief, describe the benefits of your participation at the NGI DAPSI Final Event. The three words I would use to describe the final DAPSI event are: meeting like-minded people. Can you describe your NGI DAPSI journey in one sentence?

Find out what Luca Roffia from the team DASI Breaker had to say about the NGI DAPSI Final Event. In brief, describe the benefits of your participation at the NGI DAPSI Final Event. I would say networking, knowledge and visibility. Can you describe your NGI DAPSI journey in one sentence?

We asked some of the teams to tell us more about their participation at the NGI DAPSI Final Event. In brief, describe the benefits of your participation at the NGI DAPSI Final Event. I've had a chance to get to know my DAPSI coach (Augustin Radu), DAPSI coordinators likeSara Mateo and Miguel Gonçalves, and other DAPSI participants that I usually met via Zoom back in 2020/2021. Can you describe your NGI DAPSI journey in one sentence?

On 14th December 2022, NGI DAPSI held its Final Event in Paris - and it was a great final adventure! On 14th December, we organised our final data portability voyage in Paris, at the Apidays conference - leading industry tech and business series of conferences in APIs and the programmable economy. NGI DAPSI Village At the amazing venue of City of Science and Industry  we had our own NGI DAPSI Village which gathered all parties involved in the project throughout past three years. Of course, everyone interested in discovering new solutions to the challenges of data portability, sovereignty, transparency, compatibility and interoperability was welcome to join us and find out more about the impact NGI DAPSI had to these areas. NGI DAPSI Village was a perfect pin point for networking, exchanging impressions, learnings and plans for the future. NGI DAPSI Final Event After initial introductions and networking, at 14:10 CEST it was time for NGI DAPSI Final Event. All participants gathered and the event started with the warm welcome from Sara Mateo, NGI DAPSI Project coordinator. In her speech, Sara presented NGI DAPSI and emphasized its main achievements for the past three years: NGI DAPSI supported 46 innovators (both teams and individuals) who designed top-notch data portability solutions. More than 50% of awarded teams were new to Horizon 2020. More than 60% of awarded teams were new to NGI. NGI DAPSI distributed almost 5.6 million euros to the internet innovators. NGI DAPSI gathered 71 third parties from ~20 countries. Moreover, Jean-Luc Dorel, Programme Officer from NGI - The Next Generation Internet, reflected the NGI Data Portability and Services Incubator journey and welcomed all interested to join other funding opportunities available at NGI website. After the introduction from Sara and Jean-Luc, the participants had an opportunity to hear success stories directly from top-notch teams supported by NGI DAPSI: CLISK Orvium DYBLI DPella DASI BREAKER IDISS Exo DACAPEDA The pitches were inspiring and...

Don't miss the opportunity to get funded, apply! NGI Zero Core 1st Open CallWe want a more resilient, trustworthy and open internet. We want to empower end-users. Given the speed at which the ‘twin transition’ is taking place, we need a greener internet and more sustainable services sooner rather than later. Neither will happen at global scale without protocol evolution, which — as the case of three decades of IPv6 introduction demonstrates — is extremely challenging. NGI0 Core is designed to push beyond the status quo and create a virtuous cycle of innovation through free and open source software, libre hardware and open standards. If we want everyone to use and benefit from the internet to its full potential without holding back, the internet must be built on strong and transparent technologies that allow for permissionless innovation and are equally accessible to all. Opening date: 1st February 2023 Closing date: April 1st 2023 12:00 CET Short description:  We are looking for troubleshooters that help society tackle the ossification of the internet and other hard but very very important challenges, each of which has significant social and economic consequences. We need new ideas and disruptive core technologies, while at the same time evolving and growing existing technologies that are still enough future-proof. The project results become available under an open source license, so anyone can read and validate the source code, and anyone can use the code to create technology that fits their own purposes. The right to reuse and right to repair not only allow for unrestricted scrutiny and permissionless innovation, but also help to reduce e-waste. And the use of standards enables interoperability and redundancy in implementation to reduce the risk of compromise and failure. We are seeking project proposals between 5.000 and 50.000 euro’s — with the possibility to scale them up if there is proven potential. Reliability, confidentiality, integrity, security, and resource efficiency should be the ‘new normal’ of the internet, something ordinary users should...