Open Digital Infrastructure

Open Digital Infrastructure represents the set of open-source code, standards and knowledge assets that digital building blocks like software libraries, compilers, communication or network protocols are composed of.

They are created by individuals, volunteer communities, in research institutions and SMEs or other corporate environments. Together, they form a foundation of free and public code that is designed to solve common challenges – firstly, in programming, but when applied, also to provide a multitude of core functions for society.

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Digital Infrastructure Insights Fund

Open Calls &
Research Commissions

About

The D//F (Digital Infrastructure Insights Fund) is a multi-funder initiative by Ford Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Omidyar Network, Schmidt Futures and Open Collective sustaining a platform for researchers and practitioners to better understand how open digital Infrastructure is built and deployed.

We’re creating a body of research and implementation insights that advance our goal to ensure a public commons of technology, sustainably developed and maintained, for the benefit of everyone.

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Open Call

Our 2024 RFP invites new proposals and research implementations to study the production, maintenance, governance and use of open digital infrastructure, looking at, but not limited to, the aspects listed in our Funding Scope.

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Projects RfP#3

(What Comes) After FOSS?

How do critical technologists imagine the future of their work on digital infrastructure in light of the pyrrhic victory of Free and Open Source Software development?

Beyond Openness, Toward the Common?

The role of open technologies in environmental research

Building Thriving African Open Source Software Communities by Translating Collective Intelligence Methods

How effectively do Interactive Management Research interventions advance thriving in distributed African open source software communities?

Cutting through open washing

To what extent should open source AI systems be exempt from regulation?

Fediverse Governance Successes & Gaps

Analyzing Effective Governance and Infrastructure Gaps in Medium-to-Large Sized Servers for Enhanced Social Networking

Infrastructure in Recession

Economic impacts of tech layoffs on FOSS communities

OSS Transition Calculator

A Calculated Approach to Transitioning from Founder Models to Community-Governed Ecosystems

Strengthening City Governments

Enhancing Security, Governance, and Public Service Delivery through Open Source Promotion and Vulnerability Mitigation.

Understanding the shift away from free and Open Domain Name Servers Resolvers

What factors limit the adoption and use of open digital infrastructure in the domain name system?

Unmaintained dependencies

How to design tools that encourage and support the replacement of unmaintained dependencies without overwhelming maintainers?

Find the detailed press release about the RfP#3 project selection here.
All prior research findings and descriptions of former grantee projects can be found here.

Contact

For inquiries or potential collaboration, reach out to Program Director Katharina Meyer:

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