Application Details

• May 10, 2022 - Request for Proposals (RFP) is released

• August 21, 2022 - Deadline for NGOs and Academics to submit their individual applications

• August 2022 - NGOs and Academics receive notice on the result of their applications and if they will advance to the Workshop and potential matches of NGOs and Academics

• September 2022 - NGO and Academic matches meet at the AI for Social Good Workshop, discuss opportunity to collaborate, and brainstorm project ideas for their collaborative research proposals

• October 2022 - Deadline for NGO and Academic pairs to submit collaborative research proposals

• December/January 2022 - NGOs and Academics receive notice on whether their collaborative research proposal is selected for funding

• January 2023 - NGO and Academic pairs launch their projects

Please note that the program team reserves the right to alter dates should unforeseen circumstances arise.

• How long can a proposed project last?

Proposals are best suited to be scoped for a year. At the end of the year, projects that conduct innovative research and validate the initial hypothesis through pilot tests may be considered for additional funding and support.

• Are projects that use non-Google technologies and platforms eligible?

Yes - teams are free to use any technology they determine is best for their project. Please also note that NGO teams may not use funding to purchase Google products. However, the AI for Social Good program team may offer in-kind support and credits if and when resources allow.

• Who does the IP belong to for the models created during the process?

We believe that projects supported by our funding should be able to benefit everyone. If you are a nonprofit selected to receive funding, the standard funding agreement will require any intellectual property created with funding from Google.org be made available to the public for free under a permissive open source license. Pre-existing IP is not subject to this requirement. If your nonprofit organization has a compelling reason why intellectual property created with Google.org funding should not be open sourced, you will have an opportunity to request an exception and provide support for your request.

• What if I still have questions after reading the FAQs?

Reach out to aiforsocialgood-workshop@google.com for any questions.

• Will details of the project idea we submit be kept confidential?

No. Google will not treat your application as confidential or proprietary, and the details of your project may be shared with internal or external experts to evaluate your proposal. Please do not submit any proprietary or confidential information in your application.

• What do you mean by AI? What does it mean to apply AI for social good?

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its sub-category machine learning (ML) differ from traditional programming by allowing you to teach your program with examples rather than a list of logical instructions. By running examples through an algorithm to train a model, the program will learn which outputs to attach to which inputs. For example, an ML model may learn to predict a sports team's performance based on their past record. This model can then generate predictions about previously unseen data.

AI models can range from multiple linear regressions run in a spreadsheet to sophisticated deep learning algorithms run on AI platforms, and we are open to applications across this spectrum, as long as they aim to help address a societal problem. AI can be applied in many contexts. Some examples of projects Google.org has previously supported can be found at www.google.org.

For organizations interested in learning more about how they can get started with AI for Social Good, check out this toolkit.

• Will the usage of funds be audited? Are there any restrictions on the use of the funding? Is it a grant or gift?

The type of funding depends on multiple factors and is at the discretion of Google. For NGOs, funds will be restricted to the purpose detailed in the funding agreement.. For academics, the financial support is awarded as an unrestricted gift to the university. We encourage the university to not have overheads on the gift.

• Are all projects expected to undergo IRB reviews?

We request both academics and NGOs to explore the need for IRB reviews and NDAs during the initial discussions. Projects with human subjects should consider following an IRB review at their respective universities or organizations.

NGOs

• If my NGO successfully establishes a partnership with an academic research group, will we have to share access to our data or IP?

A successful collaboration between an academic institution and NGO may entail data sharing between the two organizations, so please keep this in mind as you consider what problems and datasets might be best suited for this work. Google.org believes that projects supported by our funding should benefit everyone. If you are selected to receive possible funding, the standard agreement will require that any intellectual property created with funding from Google.org be made available for free to the public under a permissive open source license.

Academics

• I am an academic with expertise in AI with deep interest in applying it for societal benefit, but I don’t have experience in doing so, can I apply?

Yes - we welcome interest from researchers motivated to apply their expertise in partnership with an NGO. We are not requiring academic researchers to apply with their own AI for social good projects, dataset, or NGO partners, but you can indicate in the application if you are already working with an NGO and we will consider that in the matchmaking stage when finalizing invitations to the workshop.