The Sovereign Tech Agency is a subsidiary of the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, aimed at providing financial support to open-source software. The initial funds were allocated by the Bundestag in May 2022. [1] [2]
According to the federal budget of Germany plan, the program aims to promote and secure open-source foundational technologies. [3] It intends to make the open-source ecosystem more resilient against external attacks, thereby enhancing cybersecurity and resilience across the German economy. This initiative fulfills a demand from the coalition government. [4] This is also an approach to the classic free-rider problem faced by many open source projects. [5]
The funding is described as time-limited and targeted at specific challenges or security vulnerabilities. [6] [7]
In 2022, the program had a budget of 13 million euros, [8] which increased to approximately 22 million euros in 2023 and was expected to reach up to 16 million euros in 2024. The executive team consists of:
As of April 2025, the following projects received funding: [8] [12]
