The Internet Society, the global non-profit organisation that promotes an open and secure global Internet, has launched a new fellowship program to develop a new generation of Internet Champions.

The Internet Society’s Early Career Fellowship is designed to empower a new, diverse generation of Internet champions who will bridge the gap between technology and policy, and become advocates for an open, globally-connected, secure and trustworthy Internet.

The Early Careers Fellowship is open to people who are beginning their careers in an Internet-related field and who have ideas for projects that would grow or strengthen the Internet.

Over five months, Early Career Fellows will meet and learn from Internet luminaries, build professional networks, and take part in bespoke courses developed in partnership with leading universities, including the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). They will learn about Internet policy, technology, project management and advocacy.

Applications for the initial group of fellows open on 22 March and close on 11 April. The fifteen initial fellows will be chosen by the Internet Society Fellowship Selection Committee.

“The coronavirus pandemic has shown how vital the Internet is to billions of people around the world, allowing them to continue to work and study from home, communicate with friends and family, and access healthcare. But there are threats to the fundamental principles that underpinned its creation and development. This fellowship will create a new generation of advocates to respond to the challenges facing the future of the Internet,” explains Constance Bommelaer de Leusse, Area Vice President, Institutional Relations and Fellowships for the Internet Society.

The Early Careers Fellowship builds on the Internet Society’s previous leadership programs, including the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Youth Ambassadors Program.

Lily Edinam Botsyoe, an Internet Society fellowship alum from Ghana said that the Internet Society’s program has made a huge difference for her: “I learned about Internet governance, participated in discussions on cybersecurity, youth inclusion, and advocacy around diverse Internet issues which has set me on the career path I am currently pursuing in technology policy.”

She continued: “The Early Career Fellowship will be important because it bridges the gap between technical expertise and policy research. Though the fields are different neither of the two can work without the other in the ever-changing world of technology.”

Full details of the application process and the eligibility criteria can be found on the Internet Society website.

The Fellowship is open to people with an undergraduate/vocational degree and at least two years of work experience in an Internet-related field; OR at least four years of working experience in an Internet-related field.

Candidates must be early career professionals working in the Internet ecosystem in a technical, policy, economic or social capacity who have initiated or would like to initiate a specific project designed to grow and/or strengthen the Internet.

It is designed for those working, or aiming to work, in fields such as (but not limited to):

• Internet infrastructure/telecommunications companies;

• government agency/department on policy issues related to technology;

• Internet services companies;

• technology-related associations;

• non-profit/civil society organizations;

• academic institutions as a researcher or teacher/professor;

• journalism agencies writing about the Internet;

• Internet-related start-ups;

• international organizations on information society, the platform economy, data privacy;

• VC firms that invest in new technologies; and

• technical Internet-related engineering projects, such as a community network or IXP.