FRIDA Supports 17 Projects for Internet Access, Stability and Security in the Region

28/08/2020

FRIDA, LACNIC’s Regional Fund for Strengthening the Internet in Latin America and the Caribbean, has announced the seventeen winners of its annual call for projects to support the consolidation of a global, open, stable and secure Internet in the region.

This year, the winners will receive a total of 388,000 US dollars, which will be distributed among one award and four grants in each of the three categories included in the call for proposals: Internet Stability and Security, Open and Free Internet, and Internet Access.

This year’s call placed special emphasis on supporting technical projects relating to the regional community and Internet operators and which were in line with the mission of LACNIC.

Internet Stability and Security

The Award was presented to the project titled “LACTLD Anycast Cloud” submitted by LACTLD Uruguay under the Resilience category. The five grants were presented to the following projects: “Continuous Monitoring Tool, National Directorate for the Internet Domain Name Registry” by NIC Argentina; “OpenNetAudit –Open Network Security Auditing Tool” by RNP, the Brazilian Academic Network; “IoT Honeypot Deployment in Latin America and the Caribbean” by CEDIA, the Ecuadorian Corporation for Research and Academia; “Analyzing the Unintended Security Implications of AS-Path Prepending Towards a More Secure Internet Routing Ecosystem” by Universidad Federal de Río Grande (Brazil); and “Expansion of Congestion Latency Optimization Algorithms” by Universidad de Palermo (Argentina).

Internet Access

ComuREDE of Brazil took the award in this category for its proposal on connectivity technologies.

In addition, grants were presented to “Enabling Internet and Connectivity for Remote Locations Using LoRa in a Mesh Topology” by Instituto Atlântico of Brazil; “Internet Connectivity and Lighting for Yunguillo’s Indigenous Council Using ELIoT (Energy Lighting Internet of Things) Technology” by Colombian foundation Un Litro de Luz;  “Deployment of Community Networks in the Traslasierra Valley” by NonoLibre and El Valle Reinicia of Argentina; and “Programmable transmission device for operating as a router based on low-cost hardware with algorithms for long-range coverage” by Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa of Mexico.

Open and Free Internet

In this category, the winning initiative selected by the Committee was “La Clika, Free Online” a project on digital rights and diversity presented by Mexican civil organization Luchadoras and La Sandía Digital.

Likewise, grants were presented to “Online Safety Tools for Vulnerable Groups in the Caribbean” by H.O.P.E. Nevis Inc of Saint Kitts and Nevis; “In@Web: Accessible Website Generator” by Universidade Estadual Paulista of Brazil; “Okamasüei (White Man’s Technology in Cabécar)” by Sulá Batsú, a Costa Rican cooperative; “The Right to Share in a Free Internet: Strategies for the Legal Protection of Public Discourse in the Face of Copyright Imbalances in the Region” by Fundación Vía Libre (FVL), the Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Sustainable Development (Argentina); and “Free and Safe Online: Strengthening Digital Activism and Empowering the LGBTIQ+ Community in Paraguay” by TEDIC, the Paraguayan NGO.

For more information, visit the FRIDA Program’s website.