Internet Society joins the Seed Alliance, supporting innovative Internet development projects

The Seed Alliance announced on November 10th that the Internet Society has joined its initiative to distribute grants and awards to project teams developing innovative Internet solutions that address social and economic challenges.  The Seed Alliance is a collaborative partnership established between three Regional Internet Registries (APNIC, AFRINIC, and LACNIC) and their respective programs that support Internet projects in Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Internet Society will support the Seed Alliance for a period of two years beginning in December 2015. Funding from the Internet Society will allow the programs to give up to two grants per region for projects on Internet security, including collaborative security and development of open standards; and Internet development through communities. The support from the Internet Society will be channeled through its program, ‘Beyond the Net'.

The announcement took place at the Seed Alliance Awards Ceremony held at the Internet Governance Forum last week in Brazil. Among the attendees were the Internet Society´s CEO Kathryn Brown, Vice President of Global Engagement Raúl Echeberría and Regional Director for Latin America Sebastián Bellagamba; APNIC's Director General, Paul Wilson; AFRINIC's CEO Alan Barret; and LACNIC's CEO, Oscar Robles.

"The Internet Society is a long-time supporter of community-based Internet projects that promote an open, secure Internet and enhance the Internet's potential to empower people," noted Raúl Echeberría of the Internet Society.  "The Seed Alliance is well-aligned with our ‘Beyond the Net' program, and we are delighted to be part of this important initiative that encourages innovative ideas to respond to the needs and challenges of communities and bring about positive change."

Seed Alliance is a collaborative partnership between the FIRE Africa, FRIDA and ISIF Asia Grants and Awards programs and the alliance's various partners and sponsors. All alliance members make financial contributions and support the logistics of the program and soft services provided to grantees and award winners: networking and capacity building.

Together, these programs support innovation on Internet development across the global south.

To date, the Seed Alliance has supported 116 projects from 57 economies with around US$ 2.2 million of funding allocated in Grants and Awards throughout Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, helping to strengthen and promote the Information Society within these regions.