Mozilla and USAID have opened applications in India for the Responsible Computing Challenge (RCC). Rewards of up to $25,000 USD (INR 2,000,000) will be granted to at least ten accredited institutions for reimagining computing education. Applications will be closed on August 18 2023, and the awardees will be announced later this year. You can register for the Responsible Computing Challenge through this link.

It was in August last year Mozilla declared RCC’s expansion to India. Now in its fifth year, the challenge encourages the next generation of technologists to prioritize ethics alongside innovation. The initiative blends Computer Science curricula with other disciplines, such as the Humanities, Law, Policy, and Social Sciences.

RCC has been implemented at more than two dozen universities in the U.S. and Kenya, with over 15,000 students being impacted and 100 distinct classes being developed. Now, in India, RCC will fuel undergraduate Computer Science curricula that can address social context, critical thinking in technology design, inequality in technology, and equitable systems.

Steve Azeka, RCC Program Lead at Mozilla, opines, “India is a global leader in digital technology, and graduates about 250,000 university students annually focused on Computer Science. RCC can help ensure these graduates are equipped with a comprehensive understanding of technology’s social, cultural, and ethical dimensions.”

RCC is more than a collection of discrete courses — it’s a global network of educators and students. The program provides various resources, including lecture materials, software, podcasts, YouTube videos, case studies, and the “Teaching Responsible Computing Playbook,” which enables better practices for integrating ethical considerations into technology design.

You can register for an introductory webinar that will be held on the 27th of July, 2023, through this link. The webinar sheds light on an overall idea of Mozilla RCC in India, its goals, objectives and values as well.