I've been part of multiple conversations over the years with some of you that goes something like this ... "It is just as important to fund entities that can build, support and sustain test suites, open source projects, tooling etc. as it is to fund companies working to build capabilities and solve problems"
To which my response has been "I understand your point, but I am constrained by my remit in that anything that I fund has to show a direct line benefit to my organization. So while I seek to fund work that sits at the Venn of what my org needs, what the technical community needs, and public interest, directly funding only basic science in the public interest, as much as I would want to, is really not something within my remit."
For those of you, and you know who you are, I just came across a new program that is being started by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that may have an answer to your needs. See below ..
NSF is introducing a new program called "Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems" (POSE). The purpose of the program is to harness the power of open-source development for the creation of new technology solutions to problems of national and societal importance. Many NSF-funded research projects result in publicly accessible, modifiable, and distributable open-sourced software, hardware or data platforms that catalyze further innovation. The goal of the POSE program is to fund new OSE managing organizations, each responsible for the creation and maintenance of infrastructure needed for efficient and secure operation of an OSE based around a specific open-source product or class of products. The early and intentional formation of such managing organizations is expected to ensure more secure open-source products, increased coordination of developer contributions, and a more focused route to impactful technologies.
https://beta.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/pathways-enable-open-source-ecosystems-pose
Take a look and apply if you think it can help your ecosystem!
Best Regards,
Anil
Anil John
Technical Director, Silicon Valley Innovation Program
Science and Technology Directorate
US Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC, USA
Email Response Time - 24 Hours
[A picture containing graphical user interface Description automatically generated]<https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology>[/Users/holly.johnson/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Outlook/Data/Library/Caches/Signatures/signature_1972159395]
