NLnet; NGI TALER

<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/><meta charset="utf-8" /><meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff" /><meta name="robots" content="index,follow" /><link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" /><link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/favicon.ico" /><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/nlnet.css" media="screen, projection" /><link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="NLnet News" href="/feed.atom" /><title>NLnet; NGI TALER</title> </head> <body class="support" id="topofpage"> <div class="notice"><a href="#main" class="skip">To main content</a><div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col12" id="call_banner"><strong><span><a href="/news/2025/20250401-call.html">Send in your ideas. 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Yet online payment systems tend to allow for far less privacy than paying with a bank note or coins, especially when using proprietary solutions like Google Pay or Apple Pay. When interacting with the offline economy comes into play, the alternative of paying with all kind of volatile cryptocurrencies isn't a viable option either.</p> <p><strong>NGI TALER</strong> is a pilot funded by the <a href="#ack">European Commission</a> and the <a href="#ack">Swiss State</a> with the very concrete objective to roll out a new, best-in-class <strong>electronic payment system</strong> that benefits everyone: people, merchants, banks, financial authorities, auditors and anti-corruption researchers. The project doesn't have to start from scratch either, but builds on the strong foundations of <strong><a href="/project/GNUTaler">GNU Taler</a></strong> — the privacy-preserving digital payment system developed by the <a href="https://www.gnu.org/">GNU community</a> and <a href="https://taler-systems.com">Taler Systems SA</a> with support from the NGI initiative. This offers privacy for those that make payments, while enforcing transparency on those that sell. By providing <strong>micro payments</strong> at <strong>very low overhead</strong>, GNU Taler permits internet business models to shift away from advertising revenue or subscription models, especially for online publishers. <strong>No-risk transactions</strong> can lower transaction fees and open online payments for the underbanked population and citizens marginalized from digitalisation.</p> <p>In Europe, there has been a lot of discussion about a <strong>digital Euro</strong> in recent years. Having an efficient and privacy-respecting commercial-grade (but libre) payment system that doesn't require invasive practices is a strong alternative to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). And it isn't just GNU Taler or privacy experts saying this, but several <a href="https://www.snb.ch/en/mmr/papers/id/working_paper_2021_03">national</a> <a href="https://www.oenb.at/dam/jcr:0e3c00d6-2e0a-4089-b23c-5604e60ebde5/07_Mop_Q1-2_22_A-digital-euro-and-the-future-of-cash.pdf">banks</a> have already come forward stating their support for GNU Taler. With GNU Taler, citizens do not suffer from surveillance when paying, while businesses can be held accountable for their income and pay their taxes. Moreover, the software is <strong>transparent</strong> and <strong>free</strong> in every sense of the word — meaning that anyone can see its inner workings, deploy it for whatever use case they have, and adapted it to their needs without asking anyone for permission.</p> <div class="row"> <div class="col6"> <div class="interlude"><q>Privacy is most meaningful when it is guaranteed via technical measures, as opposed to mere policies.</q></div> </div> <div class="col6"> <p>Part of the budget of NGI TALER (15% to be precise) is reserved for <strong>open calls</strong> to fund <strong>additional</strong> free and open source efforts that are aligned with the topics and approach of NGI TALER. We invite your contributions to help reshape the state of play of <strong>digital payment systems</strong>, and to help create an <a href="#NGI">open, trustworthy and reliable internet for all</a>.</p> <p>Of course you can contribute exciting <strong>new capabilities</strong> to GNU Taler itself, build <strong>auxiliary tools</strong> or work on <strong>user experience</strong>, but you could also be developing <strong>integrations</strong> into FOSS applications and open standards (enabling P2P micropayments in for instance an instant messenger, open social media platform or video conferencing tool), or work on improvements to <strong>infrastructure components</strong> like merchant backends. Together with the rest of the NGI, we move towards restoring and subsequently maintaining European sovereignty and to secure democratic ownership of our digital societies.</p> </div> </div> <p>In order to enable you to make such contributions, we will award at least <strong>676 000 euro</strong> in small to medium-size R&D grants towards technology commons that empower users, and establish a new generation of privacy-friendly digital payments systems. The programme will run between now and November 2026, but budgets are limited — so grab your opportunity.</p> <p>Project results must be made available under a free and 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. We are seeking project proposals <strong>between 5.000 and 50.000 euro's</strong> — if the project works out well you can subsequently scale up in other programmes funded by NLnet such as <a href="/core">NGI0 Core</a>. Reliable, low-cost, secure and resource efficient payments should become the 'new normal' of the internet, something ordinary users should not have to worry about — users should be in control. So let's make it happen. <strong>Note that GNU Taler itself was <a href="/project/GNUTaler">funded</a> <a href="/project/GNUTaler-KYC">through</a> <a href="/project/GNUTaler-LocalCurrencies">such</a> <a href="/project/Taler-iOS-wallet">Next Generation Internet</a> <a href="/project/RSA-PQ-BlindSignatures">projects</a>, so there is every opportunity to grow.</strong></p> <p>The <a href="background">consortium behind NGI TALER</a> is wholly committed to make this opportunity come to life: there is a limited window of opportunity. Through the open calls, we assist you and other independent researchers and developers to join in and create powerful new technologies and put these in the hands of future generations as building blocks for a fair and democratic society. The <a href="https://ich.taler.net/och">GNU Taler Integration Community Hub</a> is waiting to help you.</p> <p>Help us build a sustainable and open economy that benefits all, and <a href="/propose">submit your idea today</a>. Not sure whether your idea fits? Don't be afraid to send something completely out-of-the-box if you think you can contribute to the topic (and your idea fits with the <a href="eligibility">eligibility criteria</a>): <strong>it really is an open call</strong>. Note that if you have a good idea that doesn't immediately fit, you can probably submit to another of our funds (e.g. the <a href="/commonsfund">NGI0 Commons Fund</a>) instead.</p> <div class="box marge bg_grey rounded"> <div class="row"> <div class="col6"> <p>The seventh call of NGI TALER opened up on <strong>April 1<sup>st</sup> 2025</strong>, with a deadline of <strong>June 1<sup>st</sup> 2025 12:00 CEST (noon)</strong>. <a name="preamble"> </a>Check out the <a href="./guideforapplicants">guide for applicants</a> and the <a href="./faq/">frequently asked questions</a>.</p> </div> <div class="col6"> <p>Want to <a href="https://taler.net">learn more about Taler</a> before you submit a proposal, or have other questions? Take a look at the <a href="https://taler.net">technology</a>, the <a href="https://taler.net/en/ngi-taler.html">NGI Taler</a><a></a> site or join the <a href="https://ich.taler.net/och">GNU Taler Integration Community Hub</a> to have a chat about your ideas.</p> </div> <p class="center"><a class="buttonlight" href="/propose">Submit a proposal</a></p> </div> </div> <h2 id="NGI">Next Generation Internet</h2> <p><q>A human centric Next Generation Internet shall reflect the openness, diversity and the inclusion that are at the core of European values </q> - <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/internet-humans-how-we-would-internet-future-be">Roberto Viola</a></p> <div class="row box marge bg_grey rounded"> <div class="col6"> <p>The overall mission of the Next Generation Internet initiative is to <a href="https://ngi.eu/vision">re-imagine and re-engineer the internet</a> for the third millennium and beyond to shape a value-centric, human and inclusive society for all. How we share and retrieve information is an essential part of that equation. The internet can and should bring out the best in all of us. It should enable human potential, mobility and creativity at the largest possible scale — while dealing responsibly with our natural resources. Doing so is essential to preserve and expand the European way of life. The Next Generation Internet initiative aims to mobilise the best ideas to improve how we find and connect people, devices, services and ideas.</p> </div> <div class="col6"> <div class="interlude">The internet can and should bring out the best in all of us. <br /><div class="signaturelogo_container"><a href="https://ngi.eu" class="blank"><img src="/image/logos/NGI_tag.svg" alt="Next Generation Internet initiative logo" class="signaturelogo" /></a></div> </div> </div> </div> <h2 id="ack">Acknowledgements</h2> <div class="row"> <div class="col3"><a name="ack" href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/communications-networks-content-and-technology_en" class="blank"><img src="/image/logos/EC.svg" alt="Logo European Commission" width="100%" /></a></div> <div class="col6"> <p>This project has received funding from the European Union’s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizoneurope/">Horizon Europe</a> research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. <a href="https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101135475">101135475</a>. Additional funding is made available by the <a href="https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/sbfi/en/home.html">Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation</a> (SERI).</p> </div> <div class="col3 terzijde"><a href="https://www.sbfi.admin.ch/sbfi/en/home.html"> <img src="/image/SERI.logo.svg" alt="SERI" width="100%" /> </a></div> </div> </div> <div class="col4 reorder"> <div class="part"> <h3>Search</h3> <form onsubmit="/js/searchbutton.js" method="get" accept-charset="UTF-8" action="/search/static.html" class="sitesearch"><input id="searsia-input" type="text" name="q" class="form-control" value="" autocomplete="off" /><label for="searsia-input"><span class="hide">Search</span></label><input type="submit" id="searsiasubmit" name="submit" value="Search" /><label for="searsiasubmit"><span class="hide">Submit search</span></label></form> </div> <div> <ul class="pointer"> <li><a href="/taler/guideforapplicants/index.html">Guide for Applicants</a></li> <li><a href="/taler/background/index.html#organisation">Who is behind this?</a></li> <li><a href="/taler/eligibility/index.html">Eligibility</a></li> <li><a href="/taler/faq/index.html">FAQ</a></li> <li><a href="/thema/NGITALERFund.html">Ongoing projects</a></li> <li><a href="/taler/index.html">About TALER</a></li> </ul> <p><a href="/taler" class="blank"><img src="/image/logos/NGI_TALER_tag.svg" alt="NGI TALER logo" class="signaturelogo" /></a></p> <p class="box marge"> <h5>Currently open for proposals:</h5> </p> <ul class="pointer"> <li><a href="/commonsfund/">NGI0 Commons Fund</a></li> <li><a href="/taler/">NGI TALER</a></li> <li><a href="/mobifree/">NGI Mobifree</a></li> <li><a href="/fediversity/">NGI Fediversity</a></li> </ul> <div><a href="/foundation/jobs/regionalrepresentative.html" class="part part_link part_green"><img src="/image/git-merge-2.svg" width="40" height="40" alt="git merge icon" /> <h5 class="color_white">Job openings</h5> <font color="white">NGI Zero is looking for Regional Representatives.</font> </a></div> <div><a href="https://podcast.nlnet.nl/@NGIZero" class="part part_link part_blue"><img src="/image/ic_antenna_white.svg" width="40" height="40" alt="podcast logo, antenna with radio waves" /> <h5 class="color_white">Listen to our podcast</h5> <font color="white">Conversations with people building the Next Generation Internet</font> </a></div>  </div> <div class="part"> <h3>Events</h3> <p class="h-event"><a href="/events/20250201/FOSDEM/index.html"><span class="dt-start dt-end">2025-02-01</span> - <span class="p-name">Let's meet at FOSDEM 2025</span></a></p> <p class="h-event"><a href="/events/20241227/38C3/index.html"><span class="dt-start dt-end">2024-12-27</span> - <span class="p-name">38C3 Here We Come!</span></a></p> <p class="h-event"><a href="/events/20241128/index.html"><span class="dt-start dt-end">2024-11-28</span> - <span class="p-name">Webinar: Ask Us For Help: Practical Support for NGI Beneficiaries</span></a></p> <ul class="pointer"> <li><a href="/webinars">Upcoming webinars & recordings</a></li> <li><a href="/events">Event archive</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="part"> <h3>News</h3> <p><a href="/news/2025/20250401-call.html">Apply for funding before June 1st 2025</a> 2025-04-01</p> <p><a href="/news/2025/20250321-call-announcement-core.html">56 Projects Receive Grants for Improving Core Technological Building Blocks</a> 2025-03-21</p> <p><a href="/news/2025/20250201-call.html">Apply for funding before April 1st 2025</a> 2025-02-01</p> <p><a href="/news/2025/20250122-project-selection-pilots.html">Seven New Projects Selected to Strengthen the NGI Pilot Programmes</a> 2025-01-22</p> <p><a href="/news/2025/20250120-FOSDEM-talk-Michiel.html">Michiel Leenaars Speaks at FOSDEM about NGI and Europe's Digital Sovereignty</a> 2025-01-20</p> <ul class="pointer"> <li><a href="/news">More news</a></li> </ul> </div> <div><a href="/help" class="part part_link part_green"><img src="/image/ic_hand.svg" alt="" /><h5 class="color_white">Want to help?</h5>Help us by protecting open source and its users with 5 minutes of your time. </a></div> <div><a href="/donating/" class="part part_link part_blue"><img src="/image/ic_flower.svg" alt="icon of a flower" /><h5 class="color_white">Donate today</h5>Your donation can help grow the future! 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NLnet; NGI TALER