Ethan Zuckerman

PIT Funding Opportunity: "RFP 2024: The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) Challenge"

Published Originally by New America

PIT CASES

The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) Challenge is a unique program that drives equitable innovation in technology across academia, government, industry and civil society. Since 2019, the Challenge has deployed over $15 million to build new courses, research centers, community and government partnerships, certificates and degrees, internships, fellowships and more.

In 2023, 14 grants totaling $1.5 million were awarded to further develop a research community and workforce as passionate about public interest as they are about developing breakthrough technologies.

In 2024, Year 6 of the Network Challenge, we anticipate supporting 10 – 15 projects led by PIT-UN Members that are:

Educational offerings that foster cross-disciplinary perspectives and credentialing, or
Career pipeline/placement efforts to develop a public interest technology workforce in government, industry, and social impact organizations.

Members of PIT-UN lead Network Challenge projects, often in partnership with other universities, community organizations, nonprofits, government offices or companies. In Year 6, the Challenge will support new ideas and frameworks for advancing public interest technology in the following areas:

We are particularly interested in projects that do not replicate existing and previously funded projects but offer a new approach or lens for public interest technology. Each of the past 145 Network Challenge projects has a distinctive strategy to advance technology that serves all communities, especially those historically excluded from or marginalized by technology’s design, deployment and governance.

Successful Network Challenge applications require a thorough and ongoing review of past projects and the full Request for Proposals.

To learn more about this year's network challenge, head to https://pitcases.org/2024-network-challenge/

To explore Past PIT Network Challenges grantees, go to https://pitcases.org/grantees/

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