Update from OWS.EU partner projects: Part 1

In November 2023 OWS.EU successfully onboarded six new partner projects looking into technical, legal and economic research topics in support of the European Open Web Index that is currently in the making. The projects were selected in 2023 following an open call. Currently projects from the second and third calls are being reviewed with updates following soon.

Market potential assessment by Mücke Roth & Company

One of the endeavours from call #1 was the MRC project, dealing with economical questions related to an Open Web Index. The project was initiated by Mücke Roth & Company (MRC) with the goal to assess the market potential of OWS.EU.

The analysis is already fully executed, with a comprehensive study on the market potential of OWS.EU being the major result of the project. The study that has revealed substantial economic and societal benefits of OWS.EU will be presented to the public in autumn 2024.

Key achievements of the MRC work include a cost-benefit analysis, the identification of key customer segments and market dynamics through competitor benchmarking and a quantification of the European search engine market potential.

Figure 1: Share of Benefits & Costs on Net Benefit over time (Market Potential Assessment for OWS.EU by Mücke Roth & Company)

Last but not least, the assessment incorporates additional customer feedback and further interviews validating the findings of the MRC project. Strategic recommendations were provided to OWS.EU by the MRC team based on the results of their work.

Currently implications of the EU AI Act are monitored in order to adapt the strategy in case new regulations may arise.

More about the MRC project

Legal, Intellectual Property & Cyber Security Aspects of Open Web Search

The OWS.EU-Project raises a multitude of highly complex legal questions. LISA (Legal, Intellectual Property and Cyber-Security Aspects) is one of the legal projects that has taken the challenge to determine legal questions, identify relevant legal risks and adequately address them. The goal is to define a legal framework for the development and operation of an Open Web Search Index.

In the first half of the project, the team around Prof. Dr. Matthias Wendland from the University of Oldenburg defined what constitutes illegal content and established the legal duties for operators of an Open Web Index. Legal requirements for takedown requests, including those for criminal content, IP infringements, and data protection were set out. Additionally, the ownership of digital content and of the Open Web Index was clarified and the legal framework necessary for sharing the index was created. Furthermore, the team drafted an End User License Agreement (EULA).

Figure 2: Data Centers & Legal Territoriality in OWS.EU (from the LISA framework)

In the remaining time of the LISA project, the team plans to focus on the design of a comprehensive legal framework for the Open Web Index, including governance structures and guidelines as well as best practices for its operation. Additionally, the End User License Agreement (EULA) to facilitate the sharing and usage of the index will be finalized and European legislative acts that came into force recently, will be monitored closely and incorporated to project’s plans and policies when necessary.

More about the LISA project

 

Second year around: #FreeWebSearch Day – a day for free access to digital information is happening again

Freedom of information and democracy within the digital sphere requires open access to online resources. The #FreeWebSearch Day on 29 September brings this topic to the agenda.

In 2023 the Open Search Foundation (OSF) – one of our 14 consortium partners, brought to life the International #FreeWebSearchDay, which on 29 September each year stands for free and transparent internet search: Via the #FWSD website people are invited to participate and advocate for free, transparent and open web search.

Intransparent information: A core problem

#FreeWebSearch Day on 29 September is all about raising awareness for the current lack of transparency within internet search.

“Many internet users still think that search results at the top of their results list are good, correct and trustworthy, even though they cannot know the criteria of the rankings,” states Christine Plote.

However, freedom of information is the most important foundation of a functioning democracy. There is still a huge lack of knowledge on how search results come about and are ranked or how a search engine will know, what is in a picture.

“Surprisingly, we seem to accept a high degree of digital illiteracy in this respect. Yet, it is high time that search and the evaluation of search results become part of the curricula of schools or universities, training and further education”, the co-founder of the OSF claims.

In addition, schools and companies should give higher priority to hot topics, such as the impacts on online search by artificial intelligence, the new text generators or Large Language Models (LLMs).

Call for Ideas : Actions, lectures, hackathons wanted

For #FreeWebSearch Day 2024 on 29 September contributions from many different fields of expertise are welcome: Companies, schools, universities & educational institutions, museums or associations are invited to contribute with (online) lectures, discussions, participatory activities or projects. IT specialists or programmers can contribute with technical know-how and organise hackathons and the like.
Additionally everyone can help spread awareness by downloading and reposting the #FWSD social media graphics to help spread the word.

Information and events on #FreeWebSearch Day on and around 29 September will be continuously updated at: www.FreeWebsearch.org

 

 

Nine projects selected to work with OWS.EU

Nine new projects will support our quest for a better European Web Search from July 2024 onwards. The projects are the winners of the last OWS.EU third-party calls #2 and #3, which opened in February 2024 and closed in April 2024.

The nine winners were selected from 49 submissions by a jury of experts from the OWS.EU project. Researchers, innovators and computing centres submitted their ideas for:

Call #2: Applications of the Open Web Index

or

Call #3: Data Centre on-boarding

The projects will receive funding ranging from 50.000 Euro to 150.000 Euro for a funding period of up to 12 months. Stay tuned for more information on the winner projects and read more about selected projects from call #1.

New project “Privacy-enhancing digital infrastructures” (PriDI) launches

At the interface between law and business informatics, the PriDI project is researching how an open web index can be designed in conformity with fundamental rights and in such a way that it protects privacy. This includes how values such as privacy and data protection can be anchored in such a web index in the sense of “value-by-design”.

Together with the University of Kassel, one of our consortium partners – namely the Open Search Foundation – has won the PriDI project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

PriDI (which from German translates to “privacy-enhancing digital infrastructures”) will examine the necessary legal implications for the formation of an open European web index that complies with fundamental rights and protects privacy. The PriDI project team will accompany the OWS.EU-driven development of the European open search infrastructure over a period of 48 months and ensure that values such as privacy and data protection are anchored in the open web index in the sense of “value-by-design”.

Without search engines, navigation in the digital world is almost unthinkable.

The current web search business models are based on the intentional exploitation of user data for personalised advertising in extensive online advertising networks. User data is a huge income stream for online businesses, with personal data being the “digital currency” of the 21st century. But why are there no real alternatives to the search engine models of the big tech giants?

The answer is simple: search engines require a web index – a kind of table of contents of the World Wide Web. Currently, there are only four search index providers worldwide with comprehensive indexes. This is because market entry barriers such as the enormous costs of setting up and operating a web index make it difficult for new search engines to build their own index and assert themselves on the market. In other words, Search engine developers are currently dependent on the proprietary web indexes of the four major platforms, which dictate their access and usage conditions and act as gatekeepers in the search engine market. This makes web search anything but “open,” “privacy-protected,” or “free.”

The OWS.EU open web index, on the other hand, could provide a large number of search engines with a basis for their services. The open web index will also be used by science, research and companies for innovations in the field of artificial intelligence.

Once launched, the open web index will promote diversity and freedom of choice in the area of internet search as well as freedom of information and will be an important step towards digital sovereignty. In addition, opening up the search engine market will strengthen the informational self-determination of citizens.

PriDI will support OWS.EU with pioneering legal design patterns

The PriDI project team will therefore support the development of the open web index with legal and business IT expertise. The aim is to align the resulting search infrastructure with the best possible implementation of fundamental rights and applicable data protection law. With a focus on a particularly privacy-friendly design, the project team will examine legal requirements, translate them into specific catalogues of requirements and have them evaluated by stakeholder groups.

The project website on the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (in German):
https://www.forschung-it-sicherheit-kommunikationssysteme.de/projekte/pridi

Open Calls #2 and #3 are closed

The application deadline for Call #2 and Call #3 is closed.

The 8.5 Mio Euro EU project on Open Web Search had launched new third-party calls, inviting researchers, innovators and computing centres to join the quest for a new Internet Search in Europe. More information on the calls: Call #2 and Call #3.

“Funding of up to 150,000 euros“ | Informationsdienst Wissenschaft

The German research outlet idw (Informationsdienst Wissenschaft) is the go-to news platform for staying up to date on cutting-edge science updates, publications, projects and topics. The members-centric platform caters to more than 43,000 subscribers. 

With ows.eu consortium partner “University of Passau” being an active member, idw shared about the recent OWS.EU Third-Party Open Calls 2 and 3.

The ows.eu project, part of Horizon Europe, is currently calling on third parties to contribute innovations and infrastructure to help further develop the Open Web Index.

https://idw-online.de/en/news828851

Proceedings #ossym23 – 5th international Symposium on Open Search

The proceedings of the 5th International Open Search Symposium #ossym23 have been published Vol. 5 (2023): Proceedings 5th International Open Search Symposium #ossym2023, 4–6 October 2023, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland Volume five of the Proceedings of the International Open Search Symposium 2023 summarises peer-reviewed articles and research results selected and presented at the Open Search Symposium 2023. […]

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8.5 Mio Euro EU project on Open Web Search launches new third-party calls – An invitation to researchers, innovators and computing centres to join the quest for a new Internet Search in Europe | Media Release

9 February 2024 | OpenWebSearch.EU – a consortium of 14 research partners – is once again calling for third-party project proposals to help building an open and independent Web Index (OWI) based on European values. Researchers, innovators and data centres are invited to submit their ideas until 4th April . Successful candidates can request funding between 50,000 and 150,000 EUR.

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New Calls for Third-party Proposals and new Funding Round to be Launched in February 2024

OpenWebSearch.eu to launch open calls #2 and #3 soon, offering funding and onboarding to third-parties

After Call #1 in March 2023 and the resulting successful onboarding of six third-party partners in November 2023, the OpenWebSearch.EU will call for proposals again in February: Calls #2 and #3 will invite researchers, innovators and data centres to submit their applications to participate in the Open Web Search mission and receive funding for their project ideas. The calls will launch in February, applications will be accepted until April 2024.

ows.eu Call #2:
Applications of an Open Web Index

Call #2 will particularly ask for proposals for applications of the Open Web Index. The Open WebSearch.eu project will provide access to pre-processed and indexed data in the terabyte range. Also it will deliver continuous, daily updates until the end of the project. Successful applicants should use and exploit the data provided in innovative applications scenarios or research topics.

Under this call, applicants will be able to apply for funding of between EUR 50,000.00 and EUR 100,000.00 for a funding period of up to 12 months.

ows.eu Call #3:
Onboarding of Data Centres

Call #3 will address computing and data centers to join the OpenWebSearch.eu network of infrastructure organisations and hosting parts of the OWSAI infrastructure. The ows.eu consortium aims to on-board data centers as a proof-of-concept for the developed technology and engage in discussions on creating a sustainable future infrastructure. Called will be universities, public infrastructure providers, data centres, companies (e.g., cloud providers) or research teams with a well established infrastructure. Applicants should be capable of providing a significant extension to the current OpenWebSearch.eu data and compute infrastructure, and engaging in relevant infrastructure-oriented R&D activities.

Under call#3, applicants can request funding between 100.000,00 and 150.000,00 EUR for a funding period of up to 12 months. Major cost categories can include infrastructure costs, other costs and human resources.

 

More information on the calls and the call application packages will be launched in February 2024 on the third-party call landingpage.

The open calls are part of the OpenWebSearch.eu community programme, aiming to integrating new third-party project teams into the OpenWebSearch.eu landscape and future activities for sustainable Research and Development. Therefore, the candidate third-party projects should probe the closely related topics addressed in the project and should aim at widening and enriching the existing R&D activities as well as suggesting new ones which are complementary to the project goals and aims. Ideally, the project results should be integrated with the OpenWebSearch.eu infrastructure.

NGI Forum 2023 Brussels – Recap and Recordings

In November, the #NGIForum23 took place in Brussels. With a focus on Digital Commons, the gathering brought together thought-leaders, policy makers, researchers and innovators in an inspiring event to discuss an open, more secure and citizen-centred internet of the future.

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