The Google Charitable Foundation announces an open call for European companies and institutions Google.org Impact Challenge: Strengthening Democracy in Europe. The project’s goal is to promote the expansion of initiatives that contribute to the sustainability of democracy in the region, including the use of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence. The project budget is 15,000,000 euros.
For whom?
The following can take part in the competition:
- non-profit organizations;
- public organizations;
- scientific institutions;
- social companies.
About the competition
Participation in the project implies effective partnership between public, private and public organizations as carriers of democracy and advanced technologies. The initiative aims to support democratic processes and engagement by creating programs and products that will provide voters with high-quality information and companies and government platforms with innovative security and education tools over the long term.
The competition will select viable proposals, including those using AI technologies, as well as coalitions of organizations that come together to create or scale a solution.
The proposed ideas should meet the following areas:
- Protecting Election Integrity. This includes supporting the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure and developing the cyber capacity of non-profit non-governmental organizations working on election-related topics, as well as combating foreign disinformation through innovative methods such as prebunking.
- Voter education. Digital literacy and accessibility.
- Strengthening civil dialogue. Encouraging large-scale dialogue and community to build consensus and adopt technologies that help inform decisions.
The selection of proposals will be carried out according to the following criteria:
- Impact. The initiative must address a global problem based on research, peer-reviewed data, and user feedback.
Innovative implementation of technologies. Introduction of advanced technologies based on specific needs and requests. This may involve both companies’ own innovative developments and the improvement of existing tools using new approaches, in particular AI, that have strong evidence of effectiveness and a clear path to scaling.
Realism. Convincing impact results within the first 12-18 months, consistent with the developed plan and project goals. - Scalability. The proposal must have the potential to go beyond the core idea to be replicated in different geographic regions with different demographics and levels of government.
Selected organizations and proposals can receive between 250,000 and 1,000,000 euros in funding and additional support to accelerate the implementation of their project.
- How to participate?
To participate in the competition you need to fill out the form in English using the link. The deadline for submission is August 9, 2024.