The European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) - a research and development grant programme - is helping to fund the development of Lightmeter, an email delivery monitoring tool made available as open source. The software is getting EUR 50,000 from NLnet, one of the partners in the EUR 250 million NGI initiative.
Through its grant for Lightmeter NLnet is supporting “transparent and independent communications”, the Dutch NGO says in a statement. Better mail server software helps organisations keep their communications private and in-house, according to Joost Agterhoek, a policy and technology advisor for the foundation.
Lightmeter aims to help keep mail server running smoothly. It analyses data sources such as log messages and presents a web-based overview. This helps monitor the correct delivery of emails and lets server administrators focus on any issues with email delivery.
The project is currently limited to servers running the open source mail transfer agent Postfix on Linux servers. Adding support for Exim and other open source mail transfer agents is on the project’s todo list. Future versions of the software will detect if mail is being blocked by others, assist in configuring the mail server, and help fix problems.
Lightmeter’s founder Sam Tuke told the Commission’s Open Source Observatory that the grant is already being used to add smarter analysis of message delivery problems by recognising the companies responsible across different email domains like outlook.com and msn.com. “It is a step towards realising convenience and peace of mind for individuals and businesses who want control over their digital communication,” he said.
Swift solutions
The NGI is a grant programme by the European Commission aiming to improve the trust and security of internet services. The initiative provides quick, short-term research grants to researchers or startups that can turn research into market solutions swiftly. The aim is to build “key technology blocks of a human-centric Internet, which gives end-users full control of their personal data. Through advanced technologies, new decentralised business and social models will ensure secure and trustworthy access for all.”
NLnet is looking for more projects that help improve privacy and trust on the internet. The deadline for submissions to this call for projects is 1 August.
More information:
Lightmeter announcement
Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative