Sovereign Tech Fund – Investing in the Future Today

The Open Source Way

In this episode, our host Karsten Hohage talks to Powen Shiah and Mirko Swillus about the Sovereign Tech Fund. Established in 2022, it focuses on critical infrastructure in the public interest with the goal of supporting development, improvement, and maintenance of open-source components in digital infrastructure. The funding comes from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz), as investing in digital commons strengthens innovation, economic competition, and democracy.

Guests:

Powen Shiah

Powen handles communications at the Sovereign Tech Fund. He’s worked in product marketing, communications, and internationalization at technology startups in Germany and the US and really enjoys thinking about how technologies impact our lives. His latest passion is a growing collection of (savory) popcorn seasonings.

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/polexa
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/powenshiah/
• Mastodon: https://tech.lgbt/@polexa

Mirko Swillus

Mirko has 15 years of professional experience in software engineering, working in different setups and roles. He’s specifically interested in the question of how engineering communities organize to achieve sustainable productivity. While Powen lives in Berlin, Mirko is based in Dresden.

• Mastodon: https://chaos.social/@mechko
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirko-swillus-3a0714191/

Show Notes:

• Sovereign Tech Fund
  • How to apply – https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/programs/applications
  • Announcement – STF The Sovereign Tech Fund is becoming permanent and an independent organization – https://www.sovereigntechfund.de/news/stf-becomes-independent-permanent-organization
  • Mastodon – https://mastodon.social/@sovtechfund
  • LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/sovereign-tech-fund/
  • BlueSky – https://bsky.app/profile/sovereigntechfund.de
  • Twitter/X – https://twitter.com/sovtechfund
• Open Source Contributor Index (OCI) – https://opensourceindex.io/
• Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure – Ford Foundation

• Mentioned episodes
  • https://podcast.opensap.info/open-source-way/2021/07/28/rust-a-language-on-the-rise/
  • https://podcast.opensap.info/open-source-way/2023/08/30/open-component-model-ocm-describe-transport-deploy/
• SAP Open Source Program Office
  • SAP Open Source at SAP Community
  • SAP Open Source Twitter (@sapopensource)
  • e-mail – [e-mail]
• Try out an open-source podcast player – find a list here (list not maintained by SAP)

• Additional Downloads
  • Download the transcript as PDF-file

Hosted by Karsten Hohage – Product Expert in Technology and Innovation (T&I)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karsten-hohage-0180312/

Chapters

1. Summary (00:00:20)

2. Interview (00:01:32)

3. Key Takeaways (00:29:58)

4. Outro (00:31:24)