[Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: Internet Society Funds Projects to Expand and Ensure Internet Accessibility

[Greg Wood]

Hello,
For your reference, the news release below will be publicly  
distributed around 1000 UTC on 30 June.
Sincerely,
-Greg

Internet Society Funds Projects to Expand and Ensure Internet  
Accessibility

Grants help build open source software tools and resources to support  
vocational training and accessibility for people with disabilities

Washington, D.C., USA and Geneva, Switzerland--30 June 2009--The  
Internet Society (ISOC) today announced it is funding community-based  
Internet projects around the world to promote Internet access and  
education for underserved communities. Funded projects will tackle  
issues ranging from deploying wireless networks to connect schools in  
Bolivia, to establishing a regional Internet training center in  
Armenia, to educating senior citizens in France, to promoting Internet  
access for underserved communities. As part of the ISOC Community  
Grants Programme, each project will receive up to US$10,000 for  
efforts that promote the open development, evolution and use of the  
Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.

"These grants provide tangible support for efforts by members of the  
global Internet Society community to realize our shared vision that  
the Internet can be used to improve the life of people in all parts of  
the world," said Jon McNerney, chief operation officer of the Internet  
Society. "While the Internet is used today by more than 1 billion  
people, these projects highlight the important work being done by  
Internet Society members to ensure it reaches the next billion and  
beyond."

The Internet Society Community Grants are awarded twice each year.  
Projects funded in the latest round include:

*	A project by ISOC Global Member Monique Epstein to train elderly  
French citizens for the purpose of bridging and shrinking the digital  
gap between generations

*	A project by Juan Pablo Leon Claros, an ISOC Global Member, to  
deploy a wireless network from the Universidad Amazonica de Pando to  
connect other smaller schools in the Cobija, Bolivia area

*	A project by the Armenian Chapter of the Internet Society to create  
a regional community Internet center resulting in trained local  
professionals, courses in IT technologies and programming, and a  
location for workshops and exhibitions in response to the high  
unemployment level in the Vanadzor region

*	Work by FirstMile.US, in collaboration with the ISOC San Francisco  
Bay Area and Los Angeles Chapters, to undertake a statewide public  
awareness campaign that will catalyze broadband adoption in the  
underserved communities in California, United States

*	A digital toolkit, organised by ISOC Global member, Christine Madsen  
of the Oxford Internet Institute, that will serve as a resource  
library and community building point for cultural institutions around  
the world that are beginning to undertake digitization of rare materials

*	Development by ISOC's Argentina Chapter of a web repository that  
contains updated secondary information about Internet issues within  
the Latin American region

*	ISOC Australia's work to provide capacity building tools to other  
ISOC Chapters to promote government, regulator, and industry outcomes  
that ensure Internet accessibility for people with disabilities

*	Work by ISOC Bulgaria to identify trainers' and teachers' needs and  
requirements regarding the access and use of Open Source software in  
the field of vocational training

*	In order to maximize Internet access, usage and awareness among  
private schools in the Lahore, Pakistan region, ISOC Global Member  
Asim Zaheer is providing regular visits by van with workshop lab  
equipment and technologies including laptops, and CDMA-based EvDO and  
WiMAX based Internet access

The next application round for funding will open 1 September 2009. For  
more information about these projects and details of the Community  
Grants Programme, please visit:

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/projects/

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/projects/awards.php?id=9

About the Internet Society

The Internet Society is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to  
provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and  
policy. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, it  
is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of  
the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. More  
information is available at: http://www.isoc.org

Media Contact:

Greg Wood
Internet Society
wood at isoc.org
+1-703-439-2145