Apply Now: Information Society Innovation Fund (Asia Pacific) – Inclusion Category

The Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF Asia) is a competitive grant-giving mechanism in the Asia Pacific, administered by the APNIC Foundation.

ISIF Asia supports organisations and initiatives that innovate, design, and implement solutions that further Internet and digital development, and in turn facilitate human and economic development in APAC.

Areas

• There are many reasons why communities might not have equal opportunity to make the most out of what the Internet has to offer and many of those require structural and cultural changes outside of the APNIC Foundation scope. Their funding will support efforts for a more inclusive Internet on one or more of the following areas:
  • Support organizations committed to increase Internet availability in unserved and underserved communities in the Asia Pacific region by expanding coverage of existing infrastructure and/or deploying new Internet networks
  • Improve Internet affordability through innovative network deployments and creative organizational/partnership arrangement(s) and incentives for established ISPs and mobile operators to support local access networks and expand connectivity to underserved areas, including support for registration and licensing of Internet access providers serving specific unserved or underserved communities (such as community networks)
  • Improve accessibility to the Internet through adoption of standards for people with disabilities across Internet networks and online services and applications as well as exploring and scaling innovative solutions to improve interactivity and participation for people with disabilities online.
  • Reduce online inequality and promote online safety through targeted capacity building efforts to address diversity on the Internet industry (network management and operations, security and IPv6) as well as increase online participation and representation (along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, language, literacy, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, etc) on network infrastructure deployment to expand Internet access and adoption.

Funding Category

• Inclusion:
  • Their focus on online Inclusion refers to efforts to ensure that everyone has meaningful and efficient access to the Internet, online applications and services, from a technical and operational perspective, and in support of the Internet industry in the Asia Pacific region.
  • Applications under this program can be submitted across three grant types supporting projects in different stages of development: Small grants (USD 30,000), scale-up grants (USD 85,000) and impact grants (USD 150,000).

Eligibility Criteria

• Project applications from Asia Pacific-based organisations will be considered. Applications from public, private sector, academia (such as universities, or research and development institutions), non-profit, and social enterprises are welcome to apply to all grant categories.
• Organisations must be legally registered in the Asia Pacific and able to receive funding from an Australian charity. If your organisation is registered in an economy subject to USA or Australian sanctions, you will be required to provide details of a fiscal sponsor.

For more information, visit APNIC Foundation.