FRIDA, the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean, is pleased to announce the winners of its 2015 call for projects

The winners of the Awards+ program, which recognizes innovative initiatives throughout the region, were as follows:

• Winner of the Devices, infrastructure, and technologies. Accelerating and Expanding Access category:

QuintanaLibre: Digital Community Network. Asociación Civil AlterMundi. Argentina. Civil Society. See project: http://programafrida.net/projects/projects/view/869

QuintanaLibre's project was also the most voted by the community and will receive additional funds for up to USD 6,000 to up-scale the project.

• Winner of the Internet for Promoting, Guaranteeing and Exercising Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms category:

Telepsychiatry for prison inmates. Universidad de Caldas – CREIMED. Colombia. Academic Sector. See project: http://programafrida.net/projects/projects/view/872

Both winners will receive a cash prize of USD 3,000, as well as travel and accommodation to participate at the Internet Governance Forum which will be held on 10-13 November in Joao Pessoa, Brazil.

No awards were conferred in the remaining two categories.

Winners of the 2015 FRIDA Grants program, which provides small grants of up to USD 20,000 for implementing ICT research and/or development projects, were as follows:

• Winner of the Devices, Infrastructure, and Technologies. Accelerating and Expanding Access category:

Replacing HSMs with threshold cryptography based software, by Universidad de Chile. ICT development project.

• Winner of the Mobile Internet for Social Inclusion, Growth, Political Participation, and Active Citizenship category:

Open/Participatory Budgeting for Improved Transparency and Civic Engagement in Jamaica, by the Centre of Excellence for IT Enabled Solutions, Jamaica. Research project.

No awards were conferred under the 2015 Scale-Up program.