Department of State Grant: Advancing Internet Freedom Programs in Selected Regions

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Joint Request for Statements of Interest: Internet Freedom Programs

SUMMARY
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) announce a Joint Request for Statements of Interest (SOI) from organizations interested in submitting proposals for projects that support Internet freedom under the ?Governing Justly and Democratically? Foreign Assistance program objective. This solicitation does not constitute a formal Request for Proposals: DRL and/or NEA will invite select organizations that submit SOIs to expand on their ideas via full proposal at a later date.

REQUESTED STATEMENT OF INTEREST PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
DRL and NEA invite organizations to submit statements of interest outlining program concepts and capacity to manage projects that will foster freedom of expression and the free flow of information on the Internet and other connection technologies in East Asia, including China; the Near East, including Iran and Syria; Southeast Asia, including Burma; the South Caucasus; Eurasia, including Russia; Central Asia; Latin America, including Cuba and Venezuela; and Africa. Programming may support activities in Farsi, Chinese, Russian, Burmese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, and other languages. Concepts may be global in nature, regional or country-specific.

In past years, U.S. government-funded Internet freedom programs have contributed to the development and deployment of anti-censorship and secure communications technologies in countries where Internet use is heavily filtered and monitored; grantees have conducted digital safety trainings, ranging from tailored sessions for activists, bloggers, and journalists engaged in high-risk activities, to broad awareness and education campaigns reaching many thousands of Internet users; and NGOs and universities have greatly advanced research and understanding of the nature of threats to Internet freedom around the world, and ways to respond to such threats.

However, the technologies of Internet repression, monitoring, and control continue to advance and spread as well. The need to continue to advance Internet freedom remains great. In addition to continued work on fundamental technologies of anti-censorship and secure communications, detailed and basic training offerings, and real-time monitoring and analysis of Internet threats, new needs have arisen that call for new technologies and new programmatic approaches. For example, the greater use of Internet monitoring has increased the need in many environments for secure, private, or anonymous communications, including communications that pass through proxy servers ? while at the same time, secure communications have themselves become targets of conscious blocking efforts, creating a need for additional technologies and tools to enable secure communications without compromising the data encryption. At the same time, growing reliance on electronic communications by larger numbers
of people has increased the importance of broad awareness of basic security principles for Internet and mobile use, and the importance of usability in anti-censorship and secure communications tools.

To advance Internet freedom goals, statements of interest should clearly address a) support for the free flow of information and for digital activists and members of civil society organizations in exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, in acutely hostile Internet environments, or b) support for advocacy, evaluation, or research efforts to enhance global Internet freedom policy and diplomacy.

Statements of interest should address one or more of the following potential program activities:

Supporting the free flow of information and digital activists:
? Technology Expanding Open and Uncensored Access to Information and Communications: Development and support of web and mobile anti-censorship technologies to expand open and uncensored access to information and communications, by enabling Internet users in acutely hostile Internet environment to communicate past technical filtering of legitimate content. These technologies include content and site management and support tools, alternative network infrastructures, and various forms of proxy and routing services, which may be referred to as circumvention technologies. DRL and NEA will consider projects that support the development or deployment of individual technologies for specific environments or for global use, as well as projects that identify a lead organization to provide sub-grant and contractual support to non-profit organizations and for-profit companies that develop and maintain such technologies. Projects may include maintenance and expansion of proven anti-censors
hip technologies, improvements to existing tools (including but not limited to improvements in security, availability, discoverability, unblockability, usability, and localization), or development of new technologies. Projects may also include methods to reintroduce content behind firewalls or similar services; research on technology use; and efforts to improve collaboration among developers. Where specific technologies are supported, preference will be given to peer-reviewed technologies. Preference will be given to anti-censorship technologies that also include functions, features, or capabilities to help protect the privacy and identity of the client side user from monitoring at network routers and gateways.
? Secure Communication Technology: Development of technologies, techniques, and training to enhance the privacy and security of communications and information dissemination, particularly using mobile technologies. Projects may include components to 1) support secure communications, privacy protecting, or anonymizing technologies; 2) provide secure web services, such as email and website hosting, with robust defenses against hacking; 3) develop mobile security tools and/or adapt mobile security tools to popular mobile platforms; 4) develop hardened devices and secure operating systems that are less susceptible to intrusion or infection; 5) improve usability and user interfaces to enable broader populations of users to adopt secure communications tools; and 6) disguise encrypted communications as ordinary traffic without compromising security.
? Digital Safety Training: Delivery of information and training that leads to greater digital safety for users in Internet repressive societies. Programs may include efforts such as 1) targeted support to high-risk activists through trainings, mentorship, and guided practice approaches, 2) additional work to develop and support a global network of digital security trainers, 3) support for broad, public health style campaigns to raise general awareness of digital threats and encourage basic principles and practices of ?digital hygiene,? including the availability of tools to secure communications more effectively.
? Emergency support: Efforts to develop and deploy emergency support to netizens under threat due to web-based activities. Support may include assistance with legal support, technical assistance to recover from hacking or cyber intrusion incidents (such as Distributed Denial of Service attacks), and rapid-response advocacy, research, or information dissemination activities in response to sudden challenges to Internet freedom. Emergency support efforts should be global or regional in scope with the ability to make interventions in response to particular cases wherever they arise.

Ongoing evaluation and research to enhance global Internet freedom policy and diplomacy:
? Policy and Advocacy: Efforts to mitigate negative trends toward Internet repression through policy and advocacy projects in a broad range of countries, to promote Internet freedom as a part of the human rights agenda in the 21st century. Projects should focus on countries where governments have taken actions that hold the potential of creating acutely hostile Internet environments. Projects should include outreach to both civil society and the business community.
? Research and Evaluation: Research focused on dynamic technological and political contexts for Internet freedom in countries around the world; the effectiveness of anti-censorship and secure communications technologies in the face of such threats; efforts to propagate technologies that promote freedom of expression and those that implement Internet restrictions; the impact of digital safety trainings and policy and advocacy efforts; and the effectiveness of U.S. Government-funded Internet freedom programs at responding to, and evolving with, these contexts, including measuring and evaluating growing threats to Internet freedom.
? Research Focused on Expanding the Free Flow of Information: Targeted research on the potential range of technology options for expanding communications, including Internet connectivity, in a restrictive society where only a small portion of the population has access to the Internet and where connection speeds are highly limited. The technology options to be explored should address immediate, medium, and long-term solutions to improve communication and increase the flow of information, as well as country-wide wireless connections to the Internet and other media, without requiring a presence or connection at a stationary location.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
DRL and NEA support programs that uphold democratic principles, support and strengthen democratic institutions, promote human rights, and build civil society in countries and regions of the world that are geo-strategically important to the United States. Funds are available to support projects that have the potential to have an immediate impact leading to long-term sustainable reforms. Projects should have potential for continued funding beyond DRL and NEA resources. Projects must not duplicate or simply add to efforts by other entities.

DRL and NEA will not consider projects that reflect any type of support for any member, affiliate, or representative of a designated terrorist organization, whether or not elected members of government. Organizations that are invited to submit proposals and subsequently approved for an award may be required to submit additional information on the organization and key individuals for vetting. In such cases, issuance of an award is contingent on the timely receipt of the information requested and the successful completion of the vetting process.

The bulk of project activities must take place within one (1) to three (3) years. Study tours, scholarships or exchange projects will not be deemed competitive. Projects that focus on commercial law or economic development will not be rated as competitive.

Approximately $23 million total in Internet freedom funds are available from the FY 2012 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. Additional country and regional resources may be available to support Internet freedom efforts. To support direct and indirect costs required for implementation, DRL and NEA anticipate making awards in amounts of $500,000 – $5,000,000 for Internet freedom programs. SOIs that request more than the award ceiling or less than the award floor will be deemed technically ineligible.

DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Applicants must submit proposals using either www.grantsolutions.gov or www.grants.gov by 11:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on May 31, 2012. DRL and NEA will not accept proposals submitted via email, Fax, the U.S. postal system, FedEx, UPS and similar delivery companies, or courier. No exceptions will be made for organizations that have not completed the necessary steps to post applications on or www.grantsolutions.gov or www.grants.gov.

FOR FULL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO ATTACHED GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT.