The FIRE Africa Awards seek to acknowledge innovative initiatives in Africa that have made concrete contributions using information and communications technologies and have had a proven impact on the region’s social and economic development.
Winning initiatives must meet three main requirements. All project proposals must have a technological component through which they seek to solve development issues. Proposed solutions must be innovative, i.e., they must present new strategies, notions, ideas, methods and processes that respond to social needs and can broaden and strengthen communities. Finally, successful initiatives must have a proven impact, i.e., they must submit indicators and evidence that support the creation of value for the target communities.
The funding categories for 2017 Awards are:
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Internet development: Network operation, accelerating and expanding access, devices, infrastructure, the Internet of Things, IPv6 deployment, security, development of open standards, Internet Governance, and regulations for expanding and accelerating access. Innovative solutions offering low cost deployment, low power consumption and low maintenance that expanded fixed and mobile access to the internet through new forms of technical and organizational arrangements as well as improved the quality of access based on issues of accessibility, disability and linguistic diversity
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Internet for social inclusion: Initiatives related to freedom of expression, freedom of association, privacy, security, consumer’s rights, new forms of intellectual property in the digital environment, and a wider range of issues related to Internet and human right
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ICT for Development: ICT for community development and poverty reduction. New uses of ICT in the health, education, industry, environment, agriculture and other sectors.
Three winners will be selected through this 2017 call for projects. The FIRE Africa Awards will be presented to ongoing initiatives or completed projects that submit concrete evidence of their impact. Projects pending execution or which are about to begin will not be accepted.
Benefits:
The FIRE Awards consist of a USD 3,000 cash prize plus full travel and accommodation for one representative of each project to attend the awards ceremony, and participate in sessions which will be held in Switzerland during the 2017 Internet Governance Forum.
Timeline:
- Final deadline for submitting project proposals: 1 August 2017
- Selection process: 1 August – 30 August 2017
- Announcement of successful projects: 1 September 2017
No proposals will be accepted outside the online application system. All proposals have to be submitted before the deadline.
To apply and for more information, click here
