Responsible Computing Challenge

Grant Opportunities

The goal of the The Responsible Computing Challenge is to support a new wave of technologists who will: 1) understand social and historical context, 2) think more critically about the design and use of technology, 3) deploy cultural sensitivity to recognize when and how technology work may perpetuate or deepen inequality, and 4) create visions for more equitable systems across the technology sector and in related fields to ultimately build more responsible and ethical tools, applications, platforms, policies, and social norms.

Opportunities in South Africa

The Challenge will award up to R600 000 (ZAR) for a year to South African universities to design, pilot, or scale promising approaches that empower undergraduate students and their instructors to draw on an interdisciplinary toolkit to recognize and address systemic inequities and power asymmetries embedded in computational systems. Using these skills, graduating technologists will drive a culture shift in the tech industry and build a healthier internet locally and globally. For South Africa, we are especially interested in approaches that align with national priority areas in AI and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We very much welcome approaches that incorporate and champion elements of community building within and outside of academia to foster a healthier and sustainable tech ecosystem in the country.

Project Outcomes

Responsible Computing Challenge awardees will produce the following:

1. Curricula: The conceptualization, development, and piloting of course materials that integrate social, political, and/or technical perspectives in undergraduate (including Honours) courses focused on computing, broadly understood (i.e. these could be computing courses and/or computing topics in other courses). Potential approaches could include syllabi changes (e.g., ethical coding exercises, critical essays and deconstructive exercises, locally relevant case studies, new lecture slides and classroom handouts, modified projects) or teaching methodology adjustments (e.g., introducing an interdisciplinary co-teaching model across disciplines, hands-on workshops on responsible tech development). We recognize that new courses and course changes require considerable effort and lead time in South Africa, and so aim to support this process and/or other innovative approaches involving pedagogy and coursework offerings in higher education.
2. Shared learnings: Awardees will be expected to synthesize and share their learnings in formal environments such as Mozilla’s Teaching Responsible Computing Playbook, local/global academic conferences, and RCC convenings.
3. Participation in the Global Community of Practice: Participate with Mozilla’s Global Community of Practice to support faculty around the world and across disciplines to integrate ethics and responsibility in computing.

Responsible Computing Challenge will be supporting 6 awardees in South Africa by:

1. Funding: RCC will provide each awardee with R600 000 (ZAR) funding for a year - with the intention of providing the ability to renew contracts
2. Marketing: RCC will use Mozilla Foundation’s marketing team to highlight grantees work
3. Community Building: RCC will support the convening of knowledge-sharing events with regional organizations. Additionally, RCC will include awardees as a part of the larger global community of practice events (e.g. MozFest, RCC supported convenings, virtual catch-ups and hangouts) as well as dedicated alumni engagement.

Key Dates and Deadlines

• May 27th & 31st and June 4th, 2024: Informational Webinars (recommended but not required).
• June 28th, 2024: Letters of Intent due by midnight SAST on that Friday

The Letter of Intent (LOI) is a required step for all applicants. You will receive a response to your Letter of Intent submission no later than July 9th. By this date, you will either be invited to submit a full proposal or declined.

• August 9th, 2024: Full Application due by midnight SAST on that Friday
• October 28th, 2024: Provisional Award notification and scheduling for a virtual kick-off meeting
• January, 2025: Project implementations start, with a formal RCC SA summit to be arranged

Application Process

Projects will be reviewed by an external review committee of academics, tech industry leaders, department heads, and other experts in the field, who will use evaluation criteria developed jointly by Mozilla and other partners. The full application process is in two stages, first, the Letter of Intent is submitted via Fluxx, and after an invitation to proceed, the second application stage is the Full Application via Fluxx.

Awardees are selected based on quantitative scoring of their applications by the review committee and a qualitative discussion at a review committee meeting. Only those projects meeting the applicant eligibility and award requirements for this awards track will be reviewed.

All award applications are submitted via Fluxx.

Applications will be accepted for a period of six weeks and will then be reviewed by a committee of experts, which will make final funding decisions and allocate awards out of a total pool of R3.6million (ZAR). Applicants can expect to hear back within three months of submitting an application; please email [email protected]; copying in [email protected] with any questions.

Inclusion Criteria

Required:

1. Undergraduate (inc. Honours) computer science, information science/technology, and other computing-related fields and/or coursework
2. University faculty who are eligible to apply for, accept, and administer grants in CS, information science/technology, data science, sociology, communications, Science, Technology and Society (STS, and allied fields).
3. Projects do not support the creation of standalone ethics classes
4. Projects result in the creation of curricular materials or community-building initiatives that help facilitate the uptake of responsible computing work

Preferred:

1. Implemented in existing core computing-oriented coursework
2. Interdisciplinary collaboration across the university
3. Integration into hands-on projects that reflect student experiences outside of the classroom

Opportunities in India

Applications in India are now closed.

Opportunities in Kenya

Applications in Kenya are now closed.

Opportunities in the United States

Applications in United States are now closed.