On 19 August 2016, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) approved the Completion Report submitted by the Seed Alliance team on 6 June 2016.
The Completion Report offers an overview of the Seed Alliance’s work completed under the three-year program cycle 2012-2015, funded by Sida and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) which supported 116 projects across 57 economies for around US$ 2.2 million of funding in Grants and Awards throughout Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, helping to strengthen and promote the Information Society within these regions.
The report outlines the results and achievements of the Seed Alliance’s three regional small Grants and Awards programs:
• AFRINIC’s Fund for Internet Research and Education (FIRE Africa)
• APNIC’s Information Society Innovation Fund (ISIF Asia)
• LACNIC’s Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRIDA)
It also provides a comprehensive overview of the methodologies used, reporting practices, promotional and networking event management, communication activities, funding details, lessons learned, the challenges encountered and future work suggestions.
The report highlights that “The strength of the Seed Alliance lies precisely in its ability to adjust to meet the needs of each region, while incorporating best practices and experiences successfully implemented by others. This enables information to be leveraged and utilized by the members of the Alliance as well as other alliance and sub-granting programs, and also by other organizations, researchers and activists across the global south seeking inspiration or looking for ways to scale-up their work.”
The report is designed to be used as a supplement to, and in conjunction with, the comprehensive website available, which was launched in October 2015 during the Seed Alliance Awards ceremony at the Internet Governance Forum in João Pessoa, Brazil.
The website was structured to find out more about each of the projects supported from 2012 – 2015 through interactive maps and diagrams, offering a Score Card for each of the Grantees, which was produced to assess their proposals against their Final Project Reports according to a specific Evaluation Criteria.
About the Seed Alliance
The Seed Alliance is a collaborative partnership between the FIRE Africa, FRIDA and ISIF Asia Grants and Awards programs and the Alliance’s various partners and sponsors. Together with its funding partners and various regional sponsors, these programs support innovation on Internet development across the global south.
The Alliance identifies digital innovations and solutions (software tools, devices, research outcomes according to each regional set of criteria and categories) that make strategic use of Internet technologies in an innovative way. The Alliance offers opportunities to scale-up digital innovations to project teams that support economic growth and social development by offering:
• Funding (Grants & Awards)
• Capacity building activities (mentoring and coaching)
• Networking opportunities
AFRINIC, APNIC and LACNIC continue managing the operations of their regional programs, as well as contributing financially to the Grants and Awards pools to support Internet development according to their own capacity. However, as the regional programs grow and gain recognition, so does the demand on the three RIRs’ staff and resources and as such, the regional programs look for funding partners to contribute towards the operation and growth of the program.