Restack Open Call for open-source building blocks of the Open Internet Stack

Di cosa tratta questo bando?

The call awards small research and development grants for open-source software and hardware that contribute to an open, trustworthy internet stack. Anyone can apply, including private individuals and organisations of any type.

Cosa finanzia questo bando?

Scope

Restack aims to deliver, mature and scale new internet commons across the whole technology stack, from open chips and middleware without vendor lock-in to productivity tools, local-first infrastructure and end-user applications. The call supports the Open Internet Stack, a European Commission initiative for a resilient, trustworthy stack of strategic technology commons.

Expected outcomes

The key objective is potential breakthrough contributions towards a robust Open Internet Stack. The call encourages the creation and use of norms and standards for interoperability, and is interested in improving and decoupling infrastructure layers, service management and deployment, as well as services and their client-side counterparts.

Support offered

Small to medium-sized R&D grants are awarded, with the possibility of a later, significantly larger scale-up for projects with proven potential. Non-financial help is also offered, such as accessibility scans, security audits, reproducible packaging, copyright compliance, governance and standardisation support.

Eligible activities

Activities qualify if they are cost-effective and clearly linked to the call objectives, for example:

• scientific research and the design and development of open-source software and open hardware;
• validation of existing or new technical solutions and software engineering to improve quality or adapt to new uses;
• formal security proofs, security audits, software testing and continuous integration;
• documentation and educational materials for researchers, developers and end users;
• standardisation work, including membership fees of standards bodies;
• user requirements, usability and inclusive design, and packaging for wider deployment;
• participation in technical and community events (admission, travel and subsistence), project management and essential infrastructure costs.

Conditions and evaluation

All scientific outcomes must be published as open access, and new software and hardware must be released in full under a recognised free and open-source licence. Proposals should focus on research and development, be concise (about two pages for the main application) and have a clear European dimension. They are scored on a 7-point scale for technical merit (30%), strategic relevance (40%) and value for money (30%), and need a weighted score above 5.0. AI-generated proposals are in principle not welcome; any use of AI requires a full prompt log and marking of generated content.

Quando scade il bando?

3 November 2026.