Sovereign Tech Fund, a funding pot supported financially by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and hosted by the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation, has once again been one of Open Source’s great friends and supporters.
After providing €1 million in financial support to GNOME at the end of last year and investing €203K in GStreamer and €157K in FFmpeg earlier this year, the company is now making another impressive donation to the open-source ecosystem.
The FreeBSD Foundation has announced a €686,400 investment from STF to enhance the FreeBSD operating system’s infrastructure and security.
The organization, which has been at the helm of supporting and advancing the FreeBSD operating system, will manage the investment. Scheduled to commence this August and extend through 2025, the initiative will focus on several critical areas:
- Zero Trust Builds: Upgrading tooling and processes to bolster security.
- CI/CD Automation: Streamlining software delivery and operations to enhance efficiency.
- Reducing Technical Debt: Introducing tools to maintain low technical debt.
- Security Controls: Updating and broadening security frameworks to aid regulatory compliance.
- SBOM Enhancements: Improving tools and processes related to the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM).
This investment aims to enrich the developer experience, making it world-class, and bolster FreeBSD’s reputation for security and digital sovereignty.
Aligning with global security trends, this initiative follows closely on the heels of the U.S. Office of the National Cyber Director’s report earlier this month, highlighting the importance of securing the open-source software ecosystem.
By enhancing FreeBSD’s security controls and SBOM tooling, the Foundation is ensuring that FreeBSD remains a leader in secure software practices and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms.
Fiona Krakenbürger, co-founder of the Sovereign Tech Fund, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership. “This investment in critical digital infrastructure will accelerate the modernization of FreeBSD, enhance security hygiene, and improve developer experiences,” she stated.
These improvements are expected to significantly affect global public sector entities, research sectors, and commercial users, extending beyond the FreeBSD community.
Deb Goodkin, the Executive Director of the FreeBSD Foundation, shared her gratitude and optimism. “We are deeply grateful for this significant investment from the Sovereign Tech Fund, which will further enhance security and infrastructure for FreeBSD developers and users,” she noted.
For more information, visit the FreeBSD Foundation’s announcement. The STF website is expected to post more information about the investment in the coming days.
