The Open Technology Fund (OTF) is inviting persons versed in the provision of digital security solutions towards protection and promotion of freedom of expression online to apply for the Digital Integrity Fellowship Programme (DIFP).
DIFP aims to fill missing digital security capacity needs of on-the-ground organizations promoting human rights, focusing on those fighting to increase free expression and internet freedom.
The internet freedom community needs a deeper and richer base of expertise to gather in-field real-time data about the twin challenges for small and medium sized organizations to maintain up-to-date digital security strategies and policies and for the internet freedom technology developer community to fully grasp the challenges individuals in the field face on a daily basis. DIFP aims to fill these gaps and others often unaddressed by common digital security training and capacity building initiatives, which can fail to increase long-term expertise within organizations and locally or fail to influence research and technical development.
DIFP provides fixed monthly stipends to fellows capable of addressing short-term and long-term threats to freedom of expression online. Fellows provide organizations and communities most affected by internet freedom violations (like journalists, human rights defenders, NGOs, activists, bloggers, and others) support for their digital security needs.
To qualify, a prospective DIFP fellow should have experience working within digital security teams with a holistic security mindset willing willing to work with diverse sets of at-risk individuals, and have contributed to digital security technology projects to make them more suitable for users or raised awareness about digital security needs for at-risk communities.
Successful applicant’s work may be to conduct initial digital security assessments, understand and document the organisation’s adversary as well as the organization’s culture, vision, and what the organisation need to succeed in the face of its digital threats.
A DIFP fellow embeds with a host organisation or organisations for the duration of his/her fellowship.
Applicants can specify any organization of their choice when applying, as long as applicants are able to sufficiently demonstrate the relevance of the organisation(s) needs for digital security assistance and support from relevant staff at the organisations has been met in the application.
Before applying, fellowship candidates are advised to initiate a strategic conversation with the organisation(s) and network(s) that they intend to assist and work with for their fellowship duration.
Furthermore, fellowship candidates should ensure:
• They and the organisation(s) agree they are a good match
• Their capabilities align with the organisation’s overall digital security needs and interest and have the means of achieving them,
• The organisation’s leadership believes in the organisational change expected to occur.
• These conversations should also identify areas of particular concern for the organisations, including but not limited to: the types of threats they face to their work by adversaries, previous digital security issues experienced, anticipated escalations in threats to their work, etc.
• The fellowship candidate will work with the organisations’ leadership and OTF to share concrete feedback to the internet freedom community about specific usage of digital security / internet freedom technologies.
Before completing a submission, applicants are strongly encouraged to review OTF’s Terms of Service.
Any questions regarding DIFP or the 2019 application process, should be added to this public spreadsheet where OTF will provide a prompt answer. Where a question is not appropriate for a public forum, such should be emailed to hello@opentech.fund.
Deadline for receipt of applications is July 15, 2019.
To apply, please go to https://apply.opentech.fund/difp/.
