New FRIDA Selection Committee

The Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRIDA) announces changes in the composition of the Selection Committee that will evaluate the projects submitted in response to its 2016 calls for proposals (FRIDA Awards, FRIDA Scale-Ups and FRIDA Grants) and takes this opportunity to thank Valeria Betancourt and Edmundo Vitale Dori for their service as jurors and their contributions over the course of many years.

FRIDA would like to highlight the work of Vitale, who has helped select winning initiatives since 2004, and Betancourt, FRIDA juror since 2007.

Vitale is a noted engineer and active member of Venezuelan academia and coordinates online training and e-learning projects. Among other things, he is also one of the founders of the Latin American School of Networks and general coordinator of the Workshop on Internet Network Technologies for Latin America and the Caribbean. 

A sociologist by profession, Betancourt is a well-known advocate of using information and communication to develop specialized ICT policies in the countries of the region. She is currently a member of the Internet Governance Forum's Multistakeholder Advisory Group and a civil society observer in the eLAC regional process.

NEW COMPOSITION.- With these changes, the 2016 FRIDA Selection Committee will be made up by six experts with complementary profiles: Ida Holz, Amparo Arango, Jesus Martinez, Daniela Kreimer, Antonio Moreiras and Juan Manuel Casanueva (http://programafrida.net/comite-de-seleccion).

This group of professionals will identify the most relevant initiatives in the fields of technical innovation for development and Internet access, social entrepreneurship, and the use of information technology for social purposes.

Holz played a major role in the installation of the first Internet node in Uruguay as well as in the creation of the Latin American Academic Network. She received LACNIC's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 and was induced to the Internet Hall of Fame in 2013.

A Social Worker and Systems engineer, Arango serves on the Board of Directors of the Dominican Republic's ICT Chamber and coordinates the Gender Group within the e-LAC2015 Regional Plan for the Information Society.

Martínez Alfonso, M.Sc. headed the project for connecting Cuba to the Internet. He is currently director of TransNet Global Network and works to ensure network management for open networks and the Internet.

Moreiras joined the FRIDA Selection Committee in 2016. He is Project and Development Manager at NIC.br and coordinates IPv6.br, a Brazilian IPv6 deployment initiative.

Casanueva researches and supports ICT projects for development and social action and promotes the strategic use of digital technology and information, working from the NGO SocialTIC A.C.

Kreimer completes the Selection Committee, where she will help in the selection of FRIDA Scale-Up recipients. Kreimer specializes in social business and local development. The organization she runs ?Ashoka? will be responsible for supporting the Scale-Ups.