Grants / Department of State / Department of State

SFOP0010120: Supporting Critical Open-Source Technologies That Enable a Free and Open Internet

Closed Closed January 11, 2024 Opportunity SFOP0010120 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: FY26 DRL/IRF Global Request for Statements of Interest (DFOP0019929). Status: Closes December 7, 2026 (30 days left). It is in our archive of Department of State notices from 2023.

• Award ceiling$1.0 million
• Award floor$500,000
• Expected awards15
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement, Grant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

DRL welcomes applications from U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and public international organizations; private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses. DRL’s preference is to work with non-profit entities; however, there may be some occasions when a for-profit entity is best suited.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past International Programs to Support Democracy, Human Rights and Labor awards averaged $31.2 million; this notice allows up to $1.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (99% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects to strengthen the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms online through an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure global Internet, with a focus on technology development. Competitive proposals will develop and implement programs to develop, improve, implement, and sustain open-source technologies which serve as critical foundations for a free and open Internet. Protecting the open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet requires a precise technical understanding of the open-source communication protocols and systems that operate behind the scenes to enable secure and private communications online (such as certificate authorities and the TLS protocol suite). The successful development, testing, security auditing, standardization, and implementation of these protocols and systems in ways that actively support a free and open internet has a critical impact on protections for human rights online. However, because these protocols and systems do not directly face the end-user, they are often unknown, overlooked, and unfunded. In addition, authoritarian governments attempt to influence the fundamental character of the global Internet with the advancement of protocols and standards that enable more centralized Internet control, for the purposes of censorship and surveillance, as well as the abuse of other human rights. This initiative will allow DRL to invest in critical open source software and systems to protect the security and integrity of communications on the global Internet; to popularize, deploy, and sustain such technologies; and thus support the outcome that Internet infrastructure is designed to enable protections for fundamental freedoms and democratic principles, rather than enabling authoritarianism. This program will ensure that the Internet’s future evolution will remain consistent with its original democratic vision. Consistent with the standards and goals of DRL’s Internet Freedom technology programs, the successful program will enable and encourage the protection and exercise of fundamental freedoms and human rights in contexts in which those rights are not otherwise respected by means of technologies that can restore or protect those rights and freedoms by design.

Category: Other.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, DFOP0019929, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.