FYI Dear Colleagues, AFRINIC invites organisations in Africa to apply for the Fund for Internet Research and Education – FIRE Award for US$ 3,000. *_Applications are open from 18 September until 19 October 2012._* The FIRE Award will be given to initiatives *"already completed or in their final implementation phase”* and aligned to the funding categories and eligibility criteria 2012. Categories 2012: *Innovation on access provision:*ICT access is a prevalent issue in the African region, especially for services that require broadband connectivity. Innovative solutions offering low cost deployment, low power consumption and low maintenance that expanded fixed and mobile access to the Internet through new forms of technical and organisational arrangements as well as improved the quality of access based on issues of accessibility, disability and linguistic diversity. *E-Development: *The development, deployment and enhancement of content, applications and solutions to support timely and relevantinformation dissemination on a large scale using a range of network infrastructures through a variety of devices. *Freedom of expression: *Initiatives related to freedom of expression, freedom of association, privacy, security, consumer’s rights, new forms of intellectual property in the digital environment, and a wider range of issues related to Internet and human rights. *In addition to the above categories there shall be a Community Choice Award category for the best social media campaign. The winner will be a project receiving the most number of votes from the community.* *For more information on the Award and application process, please visit our website: http://www.fireafrica.org/  Regards, The FIRE Program -- Ms. Babusha Radhakissoon                  Tel:  +230 403 51 00 PR and Marketing Assistant, AFRINIC        Fax:  +230 466 67 58 babusha@afrinic.net  -www.afrinic.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join us at AFRINIC-17 for our Public Policy Meeting in Khartoum, Sudan, on 24 – 29 November 2012   Regards and many thanks, Davis M Onsakia 'The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.' - Maureen Dowd