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We propose to redesign the access to Web-scale indexes. Instead of using custom search engine software and hiding access behind an API or a user interface, we store the inverted file in a standard, op...

Web search engines are essential for navigating the web. Suppose we look at the web as a service that is provided by public utility companies, a service similar to electricity, water or telephone. To make sure that everyone has access to the web, public utility companies have to be subject to public control and regulation. Without regulation, a single firm may abuse their natural monopoly, for instance by raising prices, by deteriorating the service, by delivering unequal quality to different groups, or by pushing advertisements and propaganda. Equity requires that all citizens can access the web at a fair price, and at a sufficient level of quality, via transparent, well-regulated, community-based or government-based control. OpenWebSearch.eu is a European Union funded project that researches what a transparent, well-regulated, community-based web search engine would look like. The project builds the index for a web search engine on open infrastructure that is distributed over four data centers in four different European countries. The data centers cooperatively crawl the web, cooperatively preprocess and enrich the web data, and cooperatively build an inverted index that is shared with the world. We envision a future where a search engine is “assembled” from parts provided by many different companies, based on public standards. I will discuss public standards for search engine indexes, such as the common index file format (CIFF) and approaches based on open data formats like Parquet and open cloud object storage like S3. Furthermore, I will show how researchers can query the Open Web Index remotely using a low-cost local machine, without the need to download the full index, even though it currently consists of more than 10 billion web pages. _To be presented at the European Conference on Information Retrieval (ECIR 2026)IR 4Good track on 30 March 2026 in Delft, the Netherlands_

Wir Europäer nutzen alle die gleichen Apps, von immer den gleichen Firmen: den Big Tech-Unternehmen wie Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft oder X. Alle sind US-Unternehmen. Was wäre, wenn das alles wegfiele? Denn es gibt wachsenden politischen Druck der Trump-Regierung und der Big-Tech Bosse, denen die EU-Digitalgesetze gegen Hass und Desinformation ein Dorn im Auge sind. Wir sprechen mit Politikern und Forschern über europäische Alternativen.

The OpenWebSearch.EU project aims to strengthen Europe's digital independence. With the launch of the Open Web Index (OWI), it has reached a milestone for open internet search.

138 Posts, 161 Following, 960 Followers · Promoting Europe’s Independence in Web Search. 14 renowned European research and computing centers have joined forces to develop an open European infrastructure for web search. The initiative will be contributing to Europe’s digital sovereignty as well as promoting an open human-centered search engine market.

Europe is preparing to launch its own search engine, Openwebsearch.eu, supported by the EU, to promote digital independence and provide free and sovereign access to information. Le Monde Informatique suggests seven methods to optimize data encryption, notably by anticipating quantum computing and performing calculations on encrypted data without decrypting it. VPNs now offer dedicated IP addresses, adding additional benefits to the classic features of VPNs. An email scam targeting Orange subscribers has been reported, manipulating users to defraud money. The Hauts-de-Seine department has been the victim of a large-scale cyber attack, prolonging the cyber crisis in the region.

138 Posts, 161 Following, 960 Followers · Promoting Europe’s Independence in Web Search. 14 renowned European research and computing centers have joined forces to develop an open European infrastructure for web search. The initiative will be contributing to Europe’s digital sovereignty as well as promoting an open human-centered search engine market.

Attached: 1 image 🇪🇺 Big news! Sixteen #NGI projects are leaving X and moving to #Mastodon and #PeerTube! Why? We're committed to building an Internet that reflects European values. Where to find us: @NGITransoceanic @NGICommons@eupolicy.social @fediversity@mastodon.fediversity.eu @NGIZero@mastodon.xyz @e_mydata@mastodon.social @NGI_Localforlocal @NGI_Taler@s10y.eu @NGIZero@mastodon.xyz @ngisargasso@fosstodon.org @ngitrustchain @NGIZero@mastodon.xyz @ngisearch @openwebsearcheu@suma-ev.social @NGI_Enrichers@mastodon.social @review@fosstodon.org @ngi Read more: https://ngi.eu/news/2024/11/29/ngi-projects-adopt-mastodon-and-peertube-as-main-communication-channels/