CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: SOCIAL INNOVATION IN A DIGITAL CONTEXT 

-Academic Scholarship Program for Social and Digital Innovators from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (September 2013 – September 2014)

Social Innovation in a Digital Context (SIDC) is a one year academic scholarship program with practical and theoretical components focused on the relationship between digital technology and socio-political change, and how change makers can harness this relationship to build better societies.

Carried out by Lund University Internet Institute on behalf of the Swedish Institute, the SIDC program is designed to support social and digital innovators from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia to pursue project work in the fields of digital technology, new media, and social and political change. The aim of the program is for participants to develop creative and viable individual projects that help strengthen human rights and democracy building in their home countries, as well as boosting understanding of the use of digital tools for sociopolitical change.

The program is split into two parts, for the first six months, participants will be based at Lund University for the academic part of the program and to develop their individual projects. After completing the first phase in Sweden, participants will return to their home countries for the second half of the program during which they will focus on launching their projects and adapting them to a local context in their home environments. At the end of the year, there will be a follow-up conference in one of the participating countries where participants will present their implemented projects.

For the 2013 program the aim is to recruit a diverse group of people composed of fifteen dynamic individuals from a broad range of disciplines, professions, and backgrounds. Applicants might have a background in law, IT, entrepreneurship, sociology, or political science for example. The program is primarily aimed at individuals with existing outreach platforms in their home countries and it is important that applicants both have academic competence as well as practical skills. For the 2013 program, we are particularly looking for applicants with knowledge of and skills in computer technology and Internet security.

Deadline for applications: March 20th, 2013

Please refer to www.si.se/sidc for the application form as well as more details about this program.