Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies | 24 524

Opportunity Information: Apply for 24 524

The Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT) program is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funding opportunity aimed at pushing the field beyond general discussions of "tech ethics" and into concrete, real-world practice. It invites proposals from multidisciplinary and multi-sector teams to study, build, test, and evaluate how responsible technology principles and methods actually work across the full technology lifecycle, from early ideation and design through development, deployment, and ongoing impacts. The program emphasizes technologies identified in Section 10387 of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and is designed to ensure that ethical, legal, and societal considerations, along with community values, are built into technology work in a way that promotes public wellbeing and reduces harm.

A major feature of ReDDDoT is its strong collaboration model. NSF is partnering with several philanthropic funders, including the Ford Foundation, The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, and Siegel Family Endowment. This reflects the program's intent to bring together perspectives and capabilities that rarely sit in the same room for technology projects, such as academic researchers, private-sector developers, community organizations, non-profits, and public-sector actors. The underlying idea is that responsible technology is not just a technical or academic problem; it is also organizational, social, legal, and community-centered, so the teams and outputs need to reflect that reality.

The program's goals are broad but practical. It seeks to fill gaps in research, innovation, and capacity building related to responsible technology design and deployment. It also aims to build inclusive communities of interest that connect key stakeholders and improve shared practices for how technologies are created and used. Another major objective is workforce development, specifically educating and training the STEM workforce in responsible approaches that can be applied in everyday research and product decisions, not just in policy statements. ReDDDoT also focuses on accelerating pathways to societal and economic benefits while developing strategies to avoid, reduce, or mitigate societal and economic harms. A particularly important priority is community empowerment, with an emphasis on enabling economically disadvantaged and marginalized populations to participate throughout the technology lifecycle, including at the earliest stages when goals, requirements, and values are set and when it is still feasible to prevent harm rather than respond after the fact.

For FY 2024, the program is structured in two phases. Phase 1 supports early-stage, community-building and coordination work through several proposal types. Planning Grants are meant to help teams organize and carry out collaborative, transdisciplinary, and multi-sector activities that set the stage for larger future proposals. Translational Research Coordination Networks are intended to help establish or grow a community of practice around responsible technology methods and lessons learned, particularly in the program's priority areas. Workshop proposals (referred to as conferences in NSF policy) focus on raising awareness, identifying needs, and mapping approaches in one or more technology areas; these workshops are a way to convene stakeholders, clarify what "responsible" should mean in specific contexts, and define actionable research and practice agendas. Phase 2 supports Project proposals in priority topics where work is already mature enough to demonstrate implementable methods, measurable impacts, or validated approaches rather than purely exploratory planning.

In FY 2024, the Planning Grants, Translational Research Coordination Network proposals, and Phase 2 Project proposals are expected to focus on at least one of three priority technology areas drawn from the CHIPS and Science Act list: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, or natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation. The disaster area explicitly includes, but is not limited to, climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability, signaling that proposals can address both acute disasters and longer-term, human-influenced risk landscapes. Proposals that span multiple priority areas, or that include additional technology areas alongside at least one priority area, are welcomed. Workshop proposals have broader flexibility than the other proposal types and may focus on any of the key technology areas and national, societal, or geostrategic challenges described in Section 10387 of the CHIPS and Science Act, not only the three FY 2024 priority areas.

Eligibility is relatively wide but still bounded by U.S. presence and mission fit. Proposals may be submitted by U.S.-based for-profit organizations (including small businesses) with strong scientific or engineering research or education capabilities and an innovation orientation. Eligible applicants also include U.S. Institutions of Higher Education, including two- and four-year colleges and community colleges, as long as they are accredited and have a campus located in the United States. If a proposal involves funding or performance at an international branch campus of a U.S. institution (including via subawards or consultants), the submission must explain why work at the international branch campus is beneficial and why the activities cannot be performed at the U.S. campus. Non-profit, non-academic organizations are eligible as well, including museums, observatories, research labs, professional societies, and community organizations that bring relevant expertise or perspectives and are connected to educational or research activities. State, local, and Tribal government entities may apply, but eligibility is limited to units specifically dedicated to innovation, and/or economic and workforce development. Federally recognized Tribal Nations are also eligible applicants, consistent with the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act framework.

The program also sets expectations for leadership and team composition. While it does not restrict who can serve as principal investigator to a narrow job category, it makes clear that the project leadership team should include people with experience and expertise in areas broadly connected to responsible design, development, and/or deployment of technologies. In practice, that signals that competitive proposals will not treat responsibility as an afterthought; they will integrate relevant expertise (for example, socio-technical methods, policy and governance, legal analysis, community-based work, ethics, human-centered design, or impact evaluation) into core project leadership rather than outsourcing it to a minor advisory role.

Key administrative details provided include that the opportunity is a discretionary grant under NSF, with an original closing date of April 22, 2024. The award ceiling listed is $1,500,000, and the expected number of awards is 36. The funding opportunity number is 24-524, and it is associated with multiple NSF CFDA numbers spanning several directorates and program areas, reflecting the cross-cutting nature of the work and the intention to support a wide range of responsible technology efforts across domains.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079, 47.083, 47.084.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-01-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-04-22. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 36 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 24 524

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