Internet Society Chapters 

Community Grants Programme

Past Awards

The Internet Society here presents the recipients of awards from its Community Grants Programme. The goal is to enhance the Internet environment around the world. This program initiative is intended to help ISOC Chapters and Members establish creative local programs in support of ensuring the "Internet is for Everyone."

The project leaders will be making periodic reports on their progress that will all be made available on the ISOC website.

November 2005 Awards

ISOC Poland: RFC Translation Project

Project Leader Mr. Wladyslaw Majewski, awarded for a project to translate certain RFC's. In 2004, ISOC Poland was among the promoters of new regulations that obliged all public institutions in Poland to follow the wide set of IETF standards. This law has been enforced since July 2005. As several RFC’s became a part of the law, it is necessary to make them available in Polish.

ISOC Catalonia: Statistics of the Use of the Languages of the Internet

Project Leader Mr. Frederic Monras i Vidiella, awarded to use a sequence of steps to identify the core languages in the relatively new field of mapping and clusterizing the web, and then use a multi-dimensional scaling program to create a map showing how these languages are connected by ontology. Each step of the process will give the project team a unique perspective on some of the classic work that has gone into creating this field.

ISOC Puerto Rico: Internet Clubs in Puerto Rico

Project Leader Mr. Ramon Morales, awarded to provide young people with access to educational, career and leadership development opportunities through peer to peer learning and the use of advanced Internet collaboration technology. ISOC-PR will provide resources and support to the Internet Clubs through facilitators and mentors that will be established over the year long project.
Project report (PDF)

ISOC Bulgaria: Poverty & Unemployment Reduction in Bulgaria

Project Leader Dragoslava Pefeva, awarded to develop a web portal to serve the needs of the local labour bureaus. This portal aims to create collaboration with three key stakeholders: jobseekers, employers, and SME’s. The project also includes computer literacy training and consequent certification for unemployed and/or not yet qualified people from the most disadvantaged groups.
Project report (PDF)
Training schedule (PDF)

ISOC Argentina: Outreach on Internet Governance and Technical Issues

Project Leader Sebastian Ricciardi ­ awarded to start an outreach program within the local community to drive the attention of governmental officials, the private sector, the civil society, universities and other members of the Internet community. This outreach program will advocate for the creation of a new multi-stakeholder entity to manage the .ar ccTLD (so far under the government management) and encourage the community to participate in the existent organizations that address technical issues (ICANN, the Internet Society itself, etc).
Project report (PDF)

Mr. Alex Gakuru (Global Member): Focusing on the Individual Internet User

Awarded for a project focusing on enhancing the individual Internet user experience in Kenya by developing a free online advisory website to advise users on how to optimize their computers for the best Internet experience. They will be advised on tools available to diagnose problems, based on the assumption that they are able to connect to the Internet to read proposals.
Project preamble (PDF)
Project report_part1 (PDF)
Project report_part2 (PDF)
Project report_part3 (PDF)
Project questionnaire (PDF)

ISOC Indonesia (Chapter in Formation): Enabling the Visually Impaired to Draw and ‘See’ the Drawing on a Computer

Project Leader Linga Hanawati, awarded for a project that focuses on enabling the visually impaired to better experience the Internet. The project will develop a device that will make it possible for visually impaired people to create drawings on the computer by using their sense of "shape". Also, the same device will make it possible for them to "see" any 2D picture being displayed on the computer using their hands, rather than having to listen to descriptions that could very often be confusing. This is especially relevant for those who have been without sight since childbirth.
Project Report (PDF)