The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) launched its Community Investment Program (CIP) last year with a goal to make the internet better for all Canadians. A portion of all domain registrations would help various projects come to “measurably improve the Canadian Internet” and CIRA committed to invest up to $1 million, but delivered a total of 1.2 million into 29 projects over the 12-month period.
CIRA the CIRA board of directors approved $1 million in funding for 25 projects and the goal is to focus on personal data, reduce food waste, enable immigrant women to become online entrepreneurs, create new tools for media literacy education and extend Internet connectivity into marginalized communities.
Byron Holland, president and CEO of the CIRA, said, “Canada’s not-for-profit sector is taking leadership in areas such as broadband connectivity, media literacy and digital research. The sector has an important role to play in our collective national response to the most persistent and pressing digital divides. Our .CA Community Investment Program is designed to ensure that these innovators have the resources they need to experiment with solutions and deliver necessary new services.”