14 May
2026
14 May
'26
9:38 a.m.
Not an XSF thing, but there's a Standards programme going on at Soverign
Tech that can fund open source maintainers to get to IETF (and other)
meetings. It's aimed at those who cannot otherwise go, to bring new voices
in.
I've not been to an IETF week in a while, but they're truly fascinating,
and I'd highly recommend it. If you're maintaining open source software and
want to go, but can't afford to, then you've a few days left to sign up.
This really is a great opportunity!
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Ted Hardie <ted.ietf(a)gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 14 May 2026 at 09:05
Subject: Re: Pilot project for standards participation
To: IETF <ietf(a)ietf.org>
I wanted to bump this both because the deadline is coming soon: 19 May
2026 at 11:59 PM and because there were a number of questions about whether
folks could apply if they would be invoicing via an institution*. *There's
an updated FAQ on that: https://www.sovereign.tech/programs/standards/faq.
The key text is:
"Generally, it is our strong preference to work directly with open source
maintainers through this program, either as a freelance agreement or as a
contract with a sole proprietor.
We do recognize that open source maintainers operate in a variety of
organizational settings. If you meet the requirements of the program
<https://www.sovereign.tech/programs/standards#requirements> but can only
invoice us through a legal entity that employs others, you are welcome to
apply. Please bear in mind the following:
- We may exclude applications for any reason at our sole discretion. As
per our goal to bring missing and underrepresented voices into standards
organizations, applications from organizations which do not require public
support for this work are likely to be excluded.
- The program is centered around building a relationship with individual
maintainers. If an organization's relationship with the individual ends or
changes in a manner impacting the work, Sovereign Tech Agency's
relationship with the organization will also come to an end.
- We will not be able to accommodate significant changes to our standard
legal agreements, which we will ask strong applicants to review ahead of
time."
So if that was holding anyone back from applying, please consider whether
the update changes your ability to take advantage of the opportunity.
regards,
Ted Hardie
On Thu, May 7, 2026 at 1:49 PM Ted Hardie <ted.ietf(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I sent this information to the hackathon and
open-source lists, but it was
suggested I share a bit more widely.
Some time ago, the Sovereign Tech Agency run a survey on the ability of
open source maintainers to participate in standards work. Based on that
data, they have now developed a pilot project for supporting open source
maintainers that want to get involved with standards. That pilot has
launched, with the IETF as one of the targets (along with the W3C and
ISO). Background information is here:
https://www.sovereign.tech/news/join-sovereign-tech-standards-network
along with the application details:
https://www.sovereign.tech/programs/standards
Here's a direct link to the application as well:
https://ats.talentadore.com/apply/sovereign-tech-standards/mXw0q0
If you know of open source folks who might be interested in this kind of
support, please share it with them.
thanks,
Ted Hardie