Knight Prototype Fund invests in 20 new projects focused on increasing civic engagement and making data more accessible

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced funding for 20 new projects through the Knight Prototype Fund, which helps people explore early-stage media and information ideas with $35,000 in funding. The awards total $700,000.

How can we better protect consumer data and privacy? How can we make our politicians more accountable? How can we make it easier for people to shape their community and our world? How can we make complex data clear, interesting and relevant to people’s lives? These are some of the questions that Knight Prototype Fund teams will explore over the next six months, testing and tweaking a range of ideas: from an interactive tool that provides people with information on where their city is spending money, to a role-playing game that engages people in creative problem-solving around civic issues, from an app that helps people cut through the information fog with curated recommendations on what to read and watch, to an interactive world map that matches and compares information on search topics across the globe. The next deadline for prototype applications is Nov. 16, 2015.