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.

May 2008 Awards

Nepal: Capacity Building of Newly Elected Constituent Assembly Member of Nepal

• Project organizer: Rajan Dahal, ISOC Nepalese Chapter

Nepal is continuously suffering from political conflict. Recently, Nepal has completed a Constituent Assembly (CA) election to form a new constitution of Nepal. Many of the CA members do not understand the Internet and its strength. So, the main objective of this project is to train the CA members on how to use the Internet and ICT in general.

Hong Kong: Introduction of Digital Solidarity Fund Model of Hong Kong to an ISOC Chapter in Asia Pacific Region

• Project organizer: John Fung, Internet Society Hong Kong Chapter

DSF in Hong Kong was found to be a successful model in tackling the digital divide. For instance, DSF provides a platform for the Government, the business sector and the civil society to be engaged in digital inclusion. This is the largest-ever tripartite collaborative efforts in tackling the digital divide in Hong Kong. The awarded project is an induction programme to introduce this tripartite model of DSF to different countries / regions in tackling the digital divide and to start a pilot scheme of replicating the model in countries / regions outside Hong Kong. The project also helps to increase the profile of the pilot ISOC chapter by enabling them to organize a DSF to further strengthen chapter’s local effort of promoting digital inclusion with a replicable and sustainable way. The project itself also serves as a good demonstration of cross-chapter knowledge sharing and collaboration.

Peru: Boosting the Use and Promoting the Benefits of the Internet in Three Main Cities of Peru: Iquitos, Cajamarca, and Chiclayo

• Project organizer: Carlos A. Horna Vallejos, ISOC Global Member

Peru is divided into three main geographical regions: the Amazons, the Andean and the Coast. This project has chosen to work in three different cities located in each region respectively. It provides support and guidelines in the incorporation of the Internet as a means of communication and knowledge for the benefit of the local environment, increasing its use in the whole country. This project aims to change some user basic practices of the use of the Net into a more sophisticated use of on-line available tools in favor of the local communities, SMEs, local governments and civil society. It intends to generate local social networks, on-line communities and knowledge to stimulate the creation of local contents. Finally, it wishes to spur the Internet as the essential tool for improved communications in the different social sectors.

New York, USA: Improving Public Access to Broadband Internet and Community Outreach Speaker Series

• Project organizer: Evan Korth, New York Metropolitan Area Chapter of the Internet Society

ISOC-NY aims to become the hub of internet-related events in New York City and to establish productive relationships with other chapters throughout the region. ISOC-NY will do so in two primary avenues: a speaker series and a campaign for broadband access. The speaker series will bring together and foster discussion among the local community, ensuring ISOC-NY’s continued relevance and vitality. The events will be recorded and available both online and in free DVDs distributed by ISOC-NY. The Chapter anticipates that regular events will significantly increase its current membership. ISOC-NY will also conduct a drive to increase public access to high-speed Internet, with special attention given to the unique issues confronting the urban internet consumer. ISOC-NY will host a discussion board and wiki for discussion and will work with local ISPs and businesses to attempt to secure free wifi throughout the city.

Latin America: Website with Legal and Policy Content for the Fight Against Cybercrime for Latin America

• Project organizer: Cristos Velasco, Sociedad Internet de Mexico

Mr. Velasco will create and launch a website containing specialized legal and policy sources in the fight against cybercrime in order to provide the necessary understanding of this particular growing phenomenon in Latin America. The website will be edited in Spanish. The website aims generally to:

• Promote education and awareness on the topic of cybercrime among Latin-American countries and the ISOC community.
• Educate and train attorneys and law enforcement authorities about the existing legal international instruments and the differences found in Latin American legislation in the fight against cybercrimes; and
• serve as a platform for professional and academic collaboration on legal issues and topics related to cybercrime in Latin America.

Final Report (PDF: 140KB)

Country Experts Survey (PDF: 68KB)

Bulgaria: Data Retention and Digital Rights Protection in Bulgaria

• Project organizer: Julia Velkova, Internet Society Bulgaria

The current project aims to provoke a public debate in Bulgaria on the controversial issues of Regulation number 40 that was issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the State agency for information technology and communications (SAITC) in Bulgaria, obliging mobile operators and Internet providers to retain data of digital messages. Through the project debate, which would include representatives of all involved parties – the government, the business, the lawyer community, as well as individuals – there will be clarified the issues regarding the privacy of digital information. There will be made suggestions to the parliament of the Republic of Bulgaria for changing the public act in order to comply with the EU legislation and the general principles of digital freedom and privacy of the data exchanged over different communication channels. It is important to mention, that the Regulation number 40 was adopted in Bulgaria as a result of implementing an EU Directive, therefore the results of the project will have a Pan-European perspective.

Final report, English (PDF: 90KB)
Comparison & Review of Regulation 40, Bulgarian (PDF: 219KB)
Proposed Changes to Regulation 40, Bulgarian (PDF: 38KB)

Ecuador: Second Time on Internet Because it is Useful

• Project organizer: Carlos Vera, Ecuadorian Chapter of the Internet Society

Targeted beneficiaries of this project know about the Internet because of the Digital Inclusion project already developed by ISOC Ecuador and funded by ISOC. Through this current project those people will learn why USING IT is a MUST and how to use it effectively and with a purpose. Strategic alliances with cybercafes, libraries, schools and public institutions will make this project sustainable and replicable.

Final Report, English (PDF: 81KB)
Encuesta, español (PDF: 180KB)
Presentaçion, español (PDF: 2,6MB)

Pakistan: KidsEnabled

• Project organizer: Asim Zaheer, ISOC Global Member

KidsEnabled is a knowledge-dissemination project that is targeted towards internet access, awareness and IT enabled education of the children of lower-income/class families in Lahore, Pakistan – its 2nd largest city.
Its objectives are:

1. Enable broad-band internet access to a selected school (by Govt/NGO) for lower-income families in quickest possible manner.
2. Develop a targeted Content Management System software with custom-made multimedia contents for IT learning for children
3. Develop a mentorship program through which mentors will periodically participate, and visit those children in schools to train, educate and disseminate knowledge via content management system.

Final Report (PDF: 320KB)