As you know, I’ve been taking Internet Governance very seriously for a few years now and have accelerated that implication over the last couple of years. One of the highlights of that journey recently was attending ARIN 52 in San Diego and remotely attending ARIN 53 in Barbados.
As an organisation responsible for the management and distribution of Internet number resources in the North American region, including much of the Caribbean, ARIN is an important cog in the system of good governance and community-developed policies. It’s crucial to acknowledge that the success of ARIN’s initiatives and policies is largely attributed to you, the users of these resources. Active community involvement in promoting good governance drives progress. ARIN not only helps enforce policies but also gives back to the community in various ways. It is present at a large number of Internet governance conferences, provides support for organisations working in that area, and hosts its open-to-anyone conference twice a year (I’ve attended a couple virtually and one in person. See above).
However, ARIN runs a little-known assistance program that is currently looking for participants. The ARIN Community Grant Program offers up to 20,000 USD for a project. Smaller grants are also issued for smaller projects.1
I would encourage you to apply, even if your project idea is not fully baked yet. ARIN will absolutely help get the project going if it aligns with its mission. Many of the people who work for ARIN directly or who are on the various councils would be only too happy to help out where possible.
I recently had a proposal with Stanford University rejected due to an extremely high level of interest, so I am looking at finding a way to redesign that project so that it can be considered by ARIN. I’ll let you know and update my Research page as and when.2
Please take a look at the ARIN Grant Program page for more information: https://www.arin.net/about/community_grants/program/
The 2024 application period runs from 22 April to 7 June, so you should start the application process as soon as possible. Learn more about how to apply in this post on the ARIN Blog.3
P.S. You may find you’ve benefitted from the program without knowing it. If you have attended the Virtual School of Internet Governance, they were a recipient in 2021.
Let me know if I can help in any way.
