2013 FRIDA Call for Proposals

Funding for Projects in the Field of ICT

Five Latin American and Caribbean initiatives will be recognized for their contribution to the development of the Internet in our region.

Montevideo, 19 February.- FRIDA, the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced the opening of its first 2013 call for proposals to provide funding for projects on the Information Society in our region. The announcement was made today at the "Casa de Internet" for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Known as "Awards+", this first call for proposals seeks to recognize five outstanding projects in the field of information and communication technology (ICT), with an emphasis on social inclusion and the region's economic, social and cultural development. This first call for proposals also includes non-reimbursable funds to further or replicate the projects or initiatives submitted by applying organizations.

Applications will be received until 31 May. The FRIDA Awards will recognize those proposals that have made significant contributions to the field of ICT in terms of economic, social and cultural development (see: programafrida.net/awards).

Initiatives submitted for this 2013 edition of the Awards must have achieved concrete and tangible results at the time of applying, said Lara Robledo, Institutional Cooperation Coordinator at Lacnic.

Robledo added that, for the first time, this 2013 edition will include additional project extension funds to be used for activities relating to projects already under execution, generating new activities, or replicating a project in different subregional contexts.

Projects may be submitted for the Awards+ under the following topics: Access, Freedoms, Development, and Innovation, all of these with an emphasis on Internet Governance. An award will also be presented to the most voted and most creative project.

About FRIDA

FRIDA is a Lacnic initiative that aims at contributing to the development of the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean by funding research projects and recognizing and extending innovative projects in the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

FRIDA is part of the Seed Alliance, a joint initiative with our sister programs Fire (AfriNIC) and Isif (APNIC), and receives financial support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC of Canada), the Internet Society (ISOC), the Swiss International Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the contribution of the three Regional Internet Registries to which the programs belong.

Research projects by more than 50 organizations from 15 different countries have already received financial support from the FRIDA program for a total of more than 1.5 million dollars.