Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies

The Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT) program invites proposals from multidisciplinary, multi-sector teams that examine and demonstrate the principles, methodologies, implementations, and impacts associated with responsible design, development, and deployment of technologies in practice, focusing especially on the key technologies specified in Section 10387 of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The program is a collaboration between NSF and philanthropic funders Ford Foundation, The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation, and Siegel Family Endowment. A key goal of the program is to support and strengthen collaborations across disciplines and sectors, for example, academia, industry, and non-profits. The program also aims to ensure that ethical, legal, and societal considerations and community values are embedded across technology lifecycles to generate products that promote the public's wellbeing and mitigate harm.

The broad goals of the ReDDDoT program include:

• Stimulating activity and filling gaps in research, innovation, and capacity building in the responsible design, development, and deployment of technologies;
• Creating broad and inclusive communities of interest that bring together key stakeholders to better inform practices for the design, development, and deployment of technologies;
• Educating and training the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce on approaches to responsible design, development, and deployment of technologies;
• Accelerating pathways to societal and economic benefits while developing strategies to avoid or mitigate societal and economic harms; and
• Empowering communities, including economically disadvantaged and marginalized populations, to participate in all stages of technology development, including the earliest stages of ideation and design.

In FY 2024, the program includes a Phase 1 for proposals for Planning Grants to facilitate collaborative transdisciplinary and multi-sector activities in anticipation of submission of larger proposals; Translational Research Coordination Networks to help initiate a community of practice relevant to one or more of the FY 2024 priority areas described below; and Workshop proposals¹ to raise awareness and identify relevant approaches and needs in one or more technology area(s). The program also includes a Phase 2 for Project proposals in topics in the priority areas where there is already demonstrable maturity.

In FY 2024, the Planning Grant, Translational Research Coordination Network, and Phase 2 Project proposals should all focus on one or more of the following three technology areas, selected as priority areas from the list of technology areas enumerated in the CHIPS & Science Act: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, or natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation including, but not limited to, climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability. Projects that cover multiple of these priority areas, and/or include other areas in addition to one or more of the priority areas are also welcome.

Workshop proposals, on the other hand, may choose foci from the full range of key technology areas and national, societal, and geostrategic challenges described in Section 10387 of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, as listed in section II.C.1 below. ¹Also referred to as conferences in PAPPG Chapter II.F.9.