RFI for Advancing Digital Democracy - 7200AA23R00023.pdf

RFI No. 7200AA23RFI00023

Issue Date 01/13/2023

Closing Date & Time 02/27/2023 13:00pm EST

Activity Title Advancing Digital Democracy

Submission must be sent to drg-add@usaid.gov

SUBJECT

Request for Information (RFI) #7200AA23RFI00023 for USAID/DDI/DRG

To All Interested Parties:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation, Center for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) is seeking information, comments, suggestions, and recommendations in the attached draft requirement documents (Attachment 1 - Requirements Document and Attachment 2 - Questions) for a new USAID award. Subject to the availability of funds, information from respondents may inform one or multiple awards. It is also possible no awards will be made. These potential awards are anticipated to have a multi-year period of performance.

Interested parties are invited to provide comments/responses in Microsoft Word compatible format no later than 02/27/2023 via email to drg-add@usaid.gov with subject line “Request for Information.” Responses on any or all questions is appreciated. USAID does not expect respondents to provide information on all questions. While the limit on the length of submissions is ten pages, USAID is seeking concise, issue-specific comments that respond to the objective specific questions in Attachment 2. You may receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response. Responses will be kept confidential and will not be made publicly available or shared outside of USAID. However, USAID will apply information, recommendations and suggestions made in the submissions to refine potential statements of objectives associated with future procurements, if any, associated with this RFI. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Applications/Request for Proposals (RFA/RFP). Responses to this RFI shall not be construed as proposals and will not be accepted by the U.S. Government (USG) to form a binding agreement.

mailto:drg-add@usaid.gov mailto:drg-add@usaid.gov

Responding or providing comments on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement. USAID will not provide answers to any question submitted in response to this request and will not host a pre-solicitation conference. USAID reserves the right to modify the scope and scale of the RFI.

Thank you for your interest in USAID/DDI/DRG programs.

Sincerely, Mir Ershadullah Contracting Officer

ATTACHMENT 1: DRAFT REQUIREMENTS DESCRIPTION

INTRODUCTION

USAID seeks to gather information through this Request for Information (RFI) to inform a Program approach and potential award(s). This approach will enable the Center for Democracy Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) to engage a variety of stakeholders including government counterparts, civil society, media, private sector, academia, think tanks, and regional and multilateral organizations in building a comprehensive approach to supporting digital democracy that centers on deepening democratic values and human rights into the digital ecosystem.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Background

Over the past 30 years, digital technologies have fostered tremendous economic growth, increased commerce, accelerated the development of new industries, and connected activists and marginalized communities, while also amplifying their voices. These technologies have facilitated the flow of information, enabled citizen education and political participation, enhanced the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of government systems and service delivery, and assisted with organizing and advocacy, all of which has helped to strengthen democratic institutions, processes, and values. Yet all these benefits have failed to outweigh a persistent fact that the rapid pace of technological innovation has steadily outpaced our ability to assess and constrain potential harms.

Indeed, new forms of digital innovation, including the steady integration of social media platforms, big data, and algorithmic decision-making into our lives and governments, has radically changed the global political and economic landscape over the past 15 years. The expanded de facto role of technology companies combined with the primacy of national security considerations above human rights constraints in some countries has intensified and accelerated global democratic decline, and eroded respect for human rights1. Authoritarian governments have become increasingly successful at elevating an authoritarian model of technology governance, use and development around the world, and governments across the democratic spectrum have weaponized technology and data in what some experts refer to as "digital repression", or the intentional use of digital tools and technology to suppress or violate human rights2.

Approaches for what it means to be a “digital democracy” or a democracy that develops, deploys, governs, and uses digital technologies in line with democratic values are quickly evolving. Following the Danish Summit on Technology and Democracy in November 2021, the Summit for Democracy in December 2021, and the launch of a number of other technology and democracy-related initiatives, like-minded democratic nations have launched several additional

1 C.f.. Autocratization Turns Viral 2 https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development/digital-ecosystem-framework; See also: USAID Digitized Autocracy Literature Review, 2021. Cite Steve Feldstein book.

https://www.v-dem.net/files/25/DR%202021.pdf efforts to articulate human rights-based approaches to digital technologies, including the Copenhagen Pledge for Democracy and Technology, the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, and the U.S.-internal Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. In 2023, the U.S. will chair the Freedom Online Coalition, a partnership of 34 governments advised by a multistakeholder Advisory Network, that seeks to shape global norms online and in digital contexts so they are in line with human rights. This U.S. chairship presents opportunities for increased coordination, collaboration, and multi stakeholder engagement. Still more principles and multilateral treaties continue to be developed globally. While these frameworks continue to evolve, companies, governments, civil society and academics are working to apply universal human rights principles to the digital space and determine how to best respect, protect and fulfill them across the digital ecosystem. In addition to these important multilateral and international developments, industry, independent technologists, and data scientists have continued to develop, test, and deploy new technologies that may help safeguard democracies. Novel technological innovations or approaches to the use of technology present opportunities for collaboration between government, industry, civil society, and academia in the service of a more secure and democratic digital future.

Expectations remain high that these rules will continue to be debated, negotiated and ultimately drafted, through inclusive, transparent, multi stakeholder processes that include voices from government, private sector, civil society, academia, technologists and investors. The role of development actors during this “golden age” of global digital policymaking is a critical one in both supporting partner governments from across the global south to take an active seat at the table as these frameworks are developed, and in promoting the alignment of legal frameworks at the country-level with emerging or existing international standards. Forums like the FOC will continue to provide a critical platform for these multi stakeholder conversations among like-minded democracies to take place.

In the absence of mandatory risk-mitigation requirements, democratic actors in the private sector and government are developing innovative approaches to promote, protect and fulfill human rights obligations. For example, many companies are developing their own human rights policies and practices, with many adopting “by design” technology development processes that help to build right-respecting elements into new products and business models from the outset.

These measures include privacy, ethics, and human rights “by design.” In California, lawmakers are experimenting with the concept of universal privacy control–providing a built technology solution for users to opt out of all data collection by default. Additional investment is needed to spur innovation in both legal frameworks as well as built technologies and business models to ensure that human rights risks are identified, avoided, mitigated and redressed as appropriate.

While the developments on the global stage are positive on the whole, they have occurred alongside increasing internet fragmentation, the growing use of digital repression by governments across the democratic spectrum, and continued private sector exploitation of technology users in order to monetize their data. USAID’s Advancing Digital Democracy initiative aims to empower stakeholders across the digital ecosystem to ensure that data and technology are used to advance human rights and democracy, rather than undermine them.

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Purpose

The goal of the Program is to foster open, secure, and inclusive digital democracies in which data-driven technologies advance, rather than undermine, democratic values and respect for human rights. This approach is consistent with, and outlined in, the USAID Digital Strategy.

This involves tackling current challenges while supporting partner efforts to future-proof their societies so that digital data collected today does not drive democratic decline and human rights abuses tomorrow. Given that digitalization cuts across all sectors, the Program will achieve this goal by offering to support and strengthen country-level and global multi-stakeholder coalitions that can identify opportunities for productive engagement, leverage incentive structures, and create shared language for tackling the most pressing issues in the digital age.

The Program will provide comprehensive development support for partner-country stakeholders to spur rights-respecting digital innovation while addressing the potential adverse impacts of technology and data across the digital ecosystem. As such, the Program will operate in different country contexts, such as open and closed political spaces, and robust and emerging economies, necessitating differentiated approaches and fit-for-purpose interventions at the country level. The Program is intended to engage civic and private sector actors across a range of contexts, including closed and closing spaces, tailoring support to leverage the existing opportunities and address specific needs in particular countries. As part of this approach, the Program is focused on strengthening multi-stakeholder platforms that will effectively elevate civil society’s voice and influence, and that will serve as platforms for building relationships, cross-learning, negotiation, and consensus-building among governments, the private sector, civil society, professional associations and academia.

The preliminary development hypothesis under the Program is as follows:

If governments implement legal and regulatory frameworks related to technology, data, and information that align with and fulfill their international human rights and democratic commitments; and if respect for human rights and democratic values are embedded in the development and design of digital technology and data management; and if civil society and citizens more effectively engage in democracy and human rights issues involving technology;

then digital ecosystems will advance, rather than undermine, democratic values and human rights, while also growing more open, secure, and inclusive.

OBJECTIVES AND ILLUSTRATIVE ACTIVITIES

This support will be achieved through the following objectives and illustrative activities.

Objective I - Governments implement legal and regulatory frameworks related to technology, data and information that align with and fulfill their international human rights and democratic commitments.

Illustrative Interventions:

Interventions could support the alignment of countries' domestic legal and regulatory frameworks that govern or impact the development, use, and deployment of digital technologies, data and information with their international human rights commitments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). These interventions could support executive branch institutions such as line ministries, judicial actors or legislative bodies, including legislative committees. Technical assistance to the executive branch or legislature could be provided for local actors engaged in reform of their existing laws and regulations or drafting new ones in line with international standards and principles. Subsequent support could be provided to ensure their implementation across national and subnational governments.

Support to judicial actors could include capacity building for application of universal human rights principles to cases involving technology, data or the information environment, and cross-learning from jurisdictions also grappling with these matters. Cross-cutting support could be provided to strengthen institutional oversight mechanisms within government, including support for independent national human rights institutions (NHRIs) or ethics committees. Emphasis could be placed on encouraging multi-stakeholder approaches to legal and regulatory processes and oversight or accountability functions in each branch of government–including strengthening processes for engagement with civil society. Key elements of the digital ecosystem – as outlined in USAID’s Digital Ecosystem Framework – on which this Objective could focus include strengthening or developing frameworks that govern data privacy and protection, artificial intelligence, algorithmic accountability, cybersecurity, telecommunications, gig work, platform economies, digitalization, information, hate speech, and technology procurement. Legal and regulatory priorities could also include frameworks that improve the business enabling environment such as frameworks governing responsible business conduct and fair competition across digital sectors, digital services, digital markets, fintech, and digital innovation or entrepreneurship. Additional illustrative activities could include support for interested government actors to develop or strengthen safeguards that prevent the misuse of technology, including impact assessments for government procurement of certain types of surveillance technology or digital infrastructure. At the global level, the rules of the road for digital technologies are quickly evolving and voices from the Global South remain underrepresented in many of the discussions that are helping to shape the global normative framework.

Objective 2- Respect for human rights and democratic values are embedded in the development and design of digital technology and data management.

Illustrative Interventions:

Interventions could support increased investments, research, development in and demand for rights-respecting digital technology and business models by supporting software engineers, technology companies, and researchers to embed respect for human rights, including the rights of women and marginalized populations, and democratic values into technology development and design. This support could include support for actors that adopt innovative new designs for rights-respecting technology and business models that embed human rights and democratic values into the product development life cycle and subsequent product management. In addition, this support could support the transformation of existing technologies into ones that are rights respecting. Examples include products developed with human rights-by-design and privacy-by-design principles for software, hardware or mobile applications. Support could also include evaluations and assessments of existing digital practices across public and private sectors and the impact on different populations in a given ecosystem. Activities under this Objective could support local universities to develop or strengthen curricula for ethical and rights respecting technology and business models, support for local innovation hubs and incubators, engagement with investment institutions and venture capitalists to foster increased rights-respecting tech investment, support for local universities or educational organizations to develop training programs for women and individuals with marginalized identities in technology design and development, support for technologist professional associations to advocate for greater investment or incentives for innovation in rights respecting technology, including digital feminist alternatives and engagement with local and regional technology companies to promote uptake of rights respecting approaches.

Objective 3 - Civil Society and citizens more effectively engage in democracy and human rights issues involving technology.

Illustrative Interventions

Interventions could support local and/or regional civil society, independent technologists, professional associations, independent oversight bodies, activists, and the general public to engage directly and regularly with governments and private sector actors to promote rights-respecting practices and ensure accountability for protecting human rights obligations across the digital ecosystem. These interventions could include strengthening the capacity of civic actors to monitor, advocate, and influence the government and the private sector. Efforts could focus on increased collaboration and learning through support for global or regional networks of civil society actors. Multi-stakeholder initiatives and platforms established at the country level could elevate civil society engagement with government and the private sector. Illustrative interventions could also include public information campaigns to help increase citizen awareness of and engagement with technology and human rights issues. To ensure civil society actors can better protect themselves from digital repression, activities could also provide training and technologies to strengthen the digital security capacity of civic actors; strengthen existing networks of civil society actors working on digital security to increase learning and information sharing; support monitoring, advocacy, and reporting of technology facilitated human rights violations; conduct digital security audits; and strengthen community emergency response teams, hotlines, and/or other forms of rapid support to civic actors experiencing cyberattacks. Activities may also enhance the use of anti-censorship technology by civic actors, such as capacity strengthening to increase the use of these technologies by civil society, and advocacy with the private sector to improve the availability and accessibility of censorship circumvention tools, technical standards, and technologies.

Cross Cutting Objective 1 - Engagement between diverse stakeholders and sectors is fostered and self-sustained.

Illustrative Interventions:

A robust digital democracy requires all stakeholders to commit to advancing human rights and democratic values across the digital ecosystem. Where stakeholders signal a demand at the country level, the ADD initiative could support local actors in establishing multi-sectoral initiatives that provide a platform for regular, meaningful engagement among government, private sector, civil society, and academic actors. These working groups could build and strengthen links between key stakeholders by fostering dialogue and engagement on difficult issues such as regulatory reform or the misuse of technology, including unlawful surveillance or internet shutdowns. Importantly, they could also provide a critical space for government, private sector, academia, and civil society to agree upon priority sectors for technology-driven inclusive economic growth. Actors could choose to develop national action plans to frame both reform and investment priorities in collaboration with donor and multilateral development bank partners.

Cross-Cutting Objective 2 - Collaborative Learning and Adapting (CLA) Feedback loops created and used to adapt the program.

Illustrative Interventions:

These interventions focus on the programmatic level type of learning done through monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) and are intended to improve the efficacy of programmatic decisions. As part of this objective, the CLA approach may incorporate adaptive management for making decisions and adjustments in response to new information and changes in context.

Building adaptive management into the design and implementation of activities ensures continued fit to context, the application of lessons learned, anticipation of emerging challenges, and maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Such adaptive management approaches should complement and build on MEL data utilization efforts to actively identify emerging knowledge, opportunities, and unintended consequences, as well as provide the systems, processes, and resources necessary to adjust design and implementation accordingly at country, global and regional level as appropriate. Additional interventions may focus on improving the availability, quality and quantity of evidence related to open, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystems that can help with amplifying and sustainability effects beyond the ADD program itself.

END of DRAFT REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTION

ATTACHMENT 2: QUESTIONS

The program will focus on harnessing a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder approach for protecting and respecting human rights and fostering democratic values across the digital ecosystem. USAID/DRG may significantly revise this proposed Program and planned solicitation resulting from the comments received, and from other stakeholder consultations. By issuing the activity requirement draft for comment, USAID/DRG aims to consult with a broad community of public and private sector stakeholders. Stakeholder comments are requested to help maximize development impact and coordination with existing and planned development partner programs. Respondents are not expected to respond to all of the below questions.

Respondents should only provide responses and information related to those areas they have technical expertise and experience in working on. USAID welcomes responses that address any of the following questions:

1. Is the development hypothesis credible? How would you refine the development hypothesis and what critical assumptions would you include?

2. Does the background/problem statement adequately identify the drivers of digital repression and misuse of technology? What additional factors should be considered?

3. Are the proposed objectives clear and realistic? If some are not clear and/or realistic, please provide detailed suggestions.

4. To what degree do the illustrative interventions address the drivers of digital repression?

What focus areas and interventions are missing?

5. How do you suggest we support bridging the persistent gap in understanding between the people building and financing the technologies and the people raising the alarms about the adverse impacts of technology?

6. What context and outcome indicators to measure results should be considered?

7. How would you elevate and strengthen existing capacities of local stakeholders to substantively contribute to advancing digital democracy within the confines of this request for information?