An American not-for-profit has issued an online call for creative ideas that leverage technology to bring more freedom of information and media to the people of North Korea.

Lumen, which was founded by former Google-staffer and North Korea researcher Jieun Baek, launched the call to collect “innovative ideas for how to distribute information into North Korea.”

“We invite you to submit an innovative idea based on a new or existing technology that can be used to distribute information into North Korea,” the call says.

Describing the initiative as “the first of what will become an annual open call for ideas,” Lumen said its overarching goal is to “provide all North Korean people with access to uncensored sources of information and media as well as safe channels of communication.”

North Korea has long censored the vast majority of outside information and has taken steps in recent years to increase controls surrounding domestic communications within its cellphone and computing networks.

However, citizens in the North obtain and share a relatively surprising amount of outside-sourced information – a subject which Baek researched closely in her book, “North Korea’s Hidden Revolution: How the Information Underground is Transforming a Closed Society.”

Baek, who is running Lumen in collaboration with Martyn Williams – founder of the ‘North Korea Tech‘ blog – shared further information about the project’s call in a short interview with NK News on Thursday:

NK News: What’s the background / genesis of this project?

Jieun Baek: Our Lumen team has been focused on diversifying distribution methods for information and media dissemination into North Korea.

And our very talented and passionate team spends a lot of time talking to people with very similar ideas and the same assumptions.

We want to see what some fresh thinking from non-North Korea experts might produce.  And in this information age, why not?

NK News: What kind of projects are you looking for? Small, large?

Baek: Both! We are looking for moonshot ideas as well as ‘smaller,’ lower-hanging fruit ideas. But ultimately, it’s not the size of the project that matters, but whether or not it’s an effective and feasible idea.

The idea submitter does not need to have the capability to implement the idea — we are just looking for good ideas, so please do submit!

NK News: Do you really think any such projects could work? Are there any countries with closed information environments where effective alternative networks exist (or have been created) by the international community?

Baek: That depends on what we mean by “work.” The concept of soliciting ideas and putting them into action works all the time. As for the ideas themselves, we won’t know until we receive and evaluate them.

All we are focused on is trying to make available high quality and quantities of information to North Korean people who want it.

Foreign information and media has been trickling into North Korea for over two decades, and the demand for foreign information isn’t going away, so we can assume that there is still a lot of room for foreign information projects.

And despite Kim’s very repressive deterrents to prevent citizens from consuming unauthorized content, he’s not fully successful.

What we are trying to do is simple: we just want to make as much information available to North Korean citizens who want to consume content.

To do so, we are currently focusing on diversifying and strengthening distribution channels. Countries with similar information-poor environments — present or past — include Iran, Cuba, Myanmar, and Eritrea. We are in communication with activists and academics who work in other country contexts to learn from and share lessons with them.

There are many countries where private information networks exist but none are in as restricted an environment as North Korea. That’s what makes this challenging but also in need of fresh thinking.

NK News: What’s your big picture goal?

Baek: The big picture goal is to make the world’s information available to all North Korean citizens who desire to consume such content, which ties into our organization’s vision, which is to achieve a world where every North Korean can think, act, and move freely.

Our mission is to provide all North Koreans with access to uncensored sources of information and media as well as safe channels of communication.

NK News: Where does funding for Lumen come from?

Baek: Private donations. If you are interested in making a gift of information freedom to North Korean people, please contact us at team@lumen.global.

Edited by James Fretwell