This new program will seek to leverage opportunities where society can maximally benefit from science as a powerful source of breakthroughs, shared knowledge, and common values while being protected from any potential harms. Conceived in 2022, the program is currently surveying the landscape of grant opportunities and developing strategic priorities, though some exploratory grantmaking is expected as these priorities evolve. Potential grantmaking themes under consideration include privacy and security issues in the digital age; science as a transnational community linked by shared values; strengthening public access to information and protecting it from misinformation; and moral, legal, and privacy issues raised by recent developments in neurotechnology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology.

Select grantees in the Foundation’s recently completed Universal Access to Knowledge program, including Wikipedia and the Digital Public Library of America, and relevant grantees under the Public Understanding program, such as Consumer Reports, may continue to receive support though the Special Initiatives program.