Newsletter: Sovereign Tech Standards network kicks off, international collaboration on open digital infrastructure, hiring & more

Email on 24 August 2026: Sovereign Tech Standards network kicks off, international collaboration on open digital infrastructure, hiring & more Ten open source maintainers are part of the Sovereign Tech Standards network! Antoine d'Aligny, Daniel Supernault, Heiko Schäfer, Job Snijders, Kacper Dalach, Lola Odelola, Marten Seemann, Martine Lenders, Michael Pennisi, and Stephen Curran bring hands-on expertise from critical, open source infrastructure into three standards bodies: the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Heiko Schäfer, Job Snijders, Marten Seemann, and Martine Lenders, who are participating in IETF Working Groups, were already on the ground in Vienna for the IETF 126 in July 2026, along with Ted Hardie and Sovereign Tech Agency technologist Tara Tarakiyee. Earlier this year, the Sovereign Tech Agency, together with the German Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, proposed a new policy network at the Internet Governance Forum dedicated to open digital infrastructure. For their special issue on digital sovereignty, she argues that our ability to shape and use technology greatly depends on the resilience of our shared software infrastructure, its open source components and standards, as well as the openness of the software ecosystem itself. “Those seeking not only independent alternatives to dominant software products today, but also long-term digital sovereignty, must shift their focus to digital infrastructure and the open software ecosystem.“ The projects and technologies commissioned by the Sovereign Tech Agency share updates about their work.