Hey all again,

I think we can assume that you are all generally in favour of this,
but it’d be nice to get actual affirmation from some of you :)

It can be as easy as replying here with a “+1” message.

Thanks!
Jan
—

> On 10. Sep 2025, at 13:44, Jan Lehnardt <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I am, for the record, formally abstaining from this vote. My company
> Neighbourhoodie is the STA’s “Implementation Partner”, meaning: we
> get paid to do this work. On the one hand, that makes us extremely
> qualified to help PouchDB, on the other it means I cannot formally
> apply for this program and I am hereby excusing myself from this
> project decision.
> 
> Steven-John, thanks for getting this going!
> 
> Best
> Jan
> —
> 
>> On 9. Sep 2025, at 21:40, Steven-John Lange <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi devs,
>> 
>> We need your input for a financial decision:
>> to improve the stability, security and reliability of PouchDB, Jan
>> proposed that we request funds from (Sovereign Tech Agency)[^1] to
>> invest in some payed work hours.
>> (He also provided the necessary paperwork[^2])
>> 
>> Please share a short feedback, if you agree or not.
>> 
>> [^1]: https://www.sovereign.tech/programs/fund
>> 
>> [^2]: The application
>> (as Jan shared this with us in our slack channel)
>> 
>> Tab: Start Here
>> Category: Join the Sovereign Tech Resilience Program
>> Application Name: Apache PouchDB
>> 
>> Tab: Project description
>> Project title: Apache PouchDB
>> Link to project website: https://pouchdb.com
>> Link to project repository: https://github.com/pouchdb/pouchdb
>> 
>> Where is your open source technology project being used (describe all
>> user bases)? (300 words):
>> PouchDB is an in-browser implementation of the CouchDB API and
>> replication protocol in JavaScript. It is the original offline-first
>> database software (est. 2012) and has been continuously used in mission
>> critical offline-first/local-first scenarios. Use-cases include, but
>> not exhaustively:
>> 
>>   Offline data collection and management in agricultural scenarios.
>>   Point-of-sales terminals in retail, hospitality and restaurants.
>>   Mobile applications for transport logistics for vaccines in regions
>> with no or little internet connectivity, especially in sub-saharan
>> Africa.
>>   Recording of long-term health care studies in remote and indigenous
>> regions.
>>   Data science and research in remote regions like Antarctica.
>>   Emergency first-responders like coast guards.
>>   News dissemination from diaspora communities into countries with
>> oppressive governments.
>>   Service software for field technicians in many fields from
>> avalanche protection services in the Alps to washing machine
>> technicians.
>> 
>> Why do you consider your open source technology project to be relevant
>> and critical? (300 words):
>> PouchDB is the only open source and open governance project with a
>> reliable track record that support the aforementioned use-cases. It is
>> essential for both humanitarian and commercial use-cases and provides
>> tremendous value in data collection, management and communication
>> safety. Its continued maintenance and develeopment is crucial to those
>> fields.
>> 
>> Should PouchDB cease to exist, the projects above would have no viable
>> future path or resources to develop compelling alternative techincal
>> solutions.
>> 
>> How does your open source technology benefit the public interest? (300
>> words):
>> With its focus on browser-side development with a simple API, PouchDB
>> allows even people with little technical skill to build robust and
>> reliable data solutions in organisations with little or no technology
>> funding. Many of the cited use-cases come down to it being only
>> possible to set up because PouchDB exists.
>> 
>> While already serving in some crucial direct communication scenarios,
>> current advances in mobile peer-to-peer networking are poised to
>> proprel PouchDB to become the prime solution to build peer-to-peer
>> communication and data exchange software, as its replication model has
>> been built with this in mind from the start.
>> 
>> Please describe the history and state of development of your open
>> source technology (500 words):
>> PouchDB since 2012 has had three individual lead maintainers and a
>> small number of dedicated supporters. The lead maintainers have since
>> retired from the project and the supporters have brought the project
>> into the Apache Software Foundation in 2025 to ensure successful long-
>> term open governance.
>> 
>> The current team consists of seven developers who contribute to the
>> project on a (very) part-time basis. Releases happen about once a year
>> for feature releases, bugfix releases can happen more often.
>> 
>> Tab: Sovereign Tech Resilience Services
>> Which Sovereign Tech Resilience services are you interested in?:
>> [x] Direct Contributions
>> 
>> Describe why your project needs those services? (optional) (300 words):
>> Being an older software codebase, there are multiple areas of work
>> where modernisation would considerably help with easing ongoing
>> maintenance, development and onboarding additional contributors.
>> 
>> One extra note: The PouchDB Project Management Committee Chair Jan
>> Lehnardt is also a CEO at Neighbourhoodie Software, the implementation
>> partner for the Bug Resilience Program. To avoid a conflict of
>> interest, Jan Lehnardt is excusing himself from any official CouchDB
>> project decisions with regards to this application. Should additional
>> statements or affidavit be required, we are happy to provide them.
> 

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