ISIF Asia accepting Applications for Inclusion Grant Program

The Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF Asia) is seeking applications for Inclusion Grant Program to focus on online Inclusion refers to efforts to ensure that everyone has meaningful and efficient access to the Internet, online applications and services, from a technical and operational perspective, and in support of the Internet industry in the Asia Pacific region.

Areas

There are many reasons why communities might not have equal opportunity to make the most out of what the Internet has to offer and many of those require structural and cultural changes outside of the APNIC Foundation scope. The funding will support efforts for a more inclusive Internet on one or more of the following areas:

• Support organizations committed to increase Internet availability in unserved and underserved communities in the Asia Pacific region by expanding coverage of existing infrastructure and/or deploying new Internet networks (if your project supports increased Internet availability for Indigenous and grassroots organizations working on environmental issues, you could apply for the Ian Peter Grants for Internet and the Environment).
• Improve Internet affordability through innovative network deployments and creative organizational/partnership arrangement(s) and incentives for established ISPs and mobile operators to support local access networks and expand connectivity to underserved areas, including support for registration and licensing of Internet access providers serving specific unserved or underserved communities (such as community networks).
• Improve accessibility to the Internet through adoption of standards for people with disabilities across Internet networks and online services and applications as well as exploring and scaling innovative solutions to improve interactivity and participation for people with disabilities online.
• Reduce online inequality and promote online safety through targeted capacity building efforts to address diversity on the Internet industry (network management and operations, security and IPv6) as well as increase online participation and representation (along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, language, literacy, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, etc) on network infrastructure deployment to expand Internet access and adoption.

Types of Grants

• Interested organizations will have three types of grants to apply depending on the scope, scale and reach of the proposed projects:
• Small Grants: USD 30,000 targeted for pilot projects, proof of concept ideas, or narrow/concrete interventions around the Inclusion program focus areas to be implemented over six, nine or twelve months in the Asia Pacific region. Two grants of USD 30,000 each will be available in 2021 through a defined competition period.
• Scale-up Grants: USD 85,000 targeted for projects that have already a completed proof of concept or business case structured and have a clear growth strategy around the Inclusion program focus areas to be implemented over twelve to eighteen months in the Asia Pacific region. Organizations receiving this grant will have to include on their budget requests a minimum of USD 15,000 to improve their staff skills and other organizational development around the areas that the organization has identified they need support to be able to cope with growth.
• Impact Grants: USD 150,000 targeted for projects that have already achieved scale and stabilize after their first expansion and that have concrete plans to maximize the impact of their work around the Inclusion program focus areas to be implemented over twelve to eighteen months in the Asia Pacific region. Organizations receiving this grant will have to include on their budget requests a minimum of USD 25,000 to improve their staff skills and other organizational development around the areas that the organization has identified they need support to be able to cope with growth.
• Note: Three small grants (USD 30,000) will be awarded to the strongest scoring applications from economies that have not been supported by ISIF Asia previously. These recipients will be selected out of the applications for small grants from any of the funding programs and respective focus areas.

Eligibility Criteria

• Project proposals from Asia Pacific-based organizations will be considered. Applications from public, private sector, academia (such as universities or research and development institutions), non-profit and social enterprises are welcome to all grant categories. The names, academic background and relevant experience of the people having relevant technical and administrative participation in the implementation of the project must be stated. Individuals are not eligible to apply.
• Applications must be aligned with ISIF Asia program objectives, eligibility criteria, and administrative guidelines. No self-nominations for the Awards are accepted. When submitting an application, the applicants acknowledge that any grant funding and, indeed, the application and evaluation process, is entirely at the discretion of the funding partners and they may choose to determine the process at any time up to the time of actual payment.

Source:https://isif.asia/inclusion/