U.S. Anticorruption Innovation Lab | SFOP0008188

Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0008188

The U.S. Anticorruption Innovation Lab (USAIL) grant opportunity is a competitive funding announcement from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), focused on creating a dedicated hub to strengthen anticorruption efforts through technology and collaboration. The core idea is to establish USAIL as a central platform that brings together public and private sector partners to test, adapt, and scale innovative tools that can prevent, detect, and respond to corruption. Rather than supporting a single standalone project, the opportunity is structured to build an ongoing capability, a lab-style model that can convene stakeholders, pilot new approaches, and help move effective solutions into real-world use.

This is a discretionary award using a cooperative agreement, which typically means the Department of State expects to be actively involved in shaping the work during implementation, such as coordinating priorities, providing strategic direction, or facilitating partnerships. The funding falls under the Law, Justice and Legal Services activity category and is associated with CFDA number 19.705, signaling that it sits within INL's broader rule-of-law and governance programming. The government is looking for one award recipient (expected awards: 1), implying a single lead organization will be selected to stand up and operate the lab, likely coordinating a network of partners rather than distributing multiple separate grants under this competition.

The maximum award amount is $1,000,000 (award ceiling), placing it in the range of a substantial pilot or initial build-out for a multi-partner initiative. With that funding level and the lab concept, a strong applicant would generally be expected to demonstrate the capacity to manage partnerships across sectors, understand anticorruption needs, and translate technical innovation into practical solutions that government agencies, civil society, or oversight bodies can actually use. The emphasis on public-private partnerships suggests the program is meant to bridge gaps between technology developers and anticorruption practitioners, helping ensure that tools are grounded in operational realities, legal constraints, user needs, and data protection considerations.

Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full announcement, so it is not limited on its face to only one traditional applicant type. In practice, opportunities like this often attract nonprofits, universities, research institutions, or consortium leads that can combine policy expertise, program management experience, and technical capacity. Because the opportunity explicitly aims to support the innovative application of technology to combat corruption, competitive proposals would typically be expected to show a clear plan for identifying real corruption challenges, selecting or developing relevant tech-enabled approaches (for example, data analytics, digital reporting channels, transparency platforms, beneficial ownership tools, procurement monitoring, or integrity-related digital systems), and piloting them with credible partners in ways that generate measurable learning and impact.

Key administrative details from the announcement include the funding opportunity title "U.S. Anticorruption Innovation Lab," the opportunity number SFOP0008188, and the original timeline showing it was posted June 1, 2021, with an original closing date of August 2, 2021. The awarding agency is the Department of State, specifically INL, which is known for programs that strengthen justice systems, accountability, and governance. Taken together, the opportunity is best understood as an attempt to create a specialized innovation hub that can accelerate and coordinate the responsible use of technology in anticorruption work through structured partnerships, applied experimentation, and practical deployment support.

• The Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "U.S. Anticorruption Innovation Lab" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.705.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 01, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 02, 2021. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for SFOP0008188

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