A Dedicated Home for Project Galileo Resources

Project Galileo’s anniversary is a time for the Cloudflare team to consider the future of the initiative. This year, the focus is on improving how participants access their free security and performance services and making the initial setup process less intimidating. The organizations served under Galileo are diverse — over 1,900 web domains across 111 countries — and many are small, volunteer-run groups without dedicated IT staff. Giving them clear, accessible tools is essential.

To meet that need, Cloudflare has launched the Cloudflare Social Impact Projects Portal. This single destination consolidates configuration tips, product explainers, and other resources for participants.

The portal’s development was heavily influenced by the crisis in Ukraine. When applications for the project surged by 177% in March 2022, the team faced the challenge of onboarding groups quickly amid a wave of attacks. That experience highlighted the need for better communication about the products available, faster onboarding, and easier access for participants who speak English as a second language. The portal is intended to serve all Cloudflare Impact programs, not just Project Galileo:

  • Project Galileo: protects at-risk groups from online silencing
  • Athenian Project: secures government election sites
  • Cloudflare for Campaigns: covers federal candidates and national parties
  • Project Pangea: connects underserved communities to the Internet

Guided Setup and Learning

Cloudflare volunteers have helped build the portal’s initial set of offerings, which are designed to demystify security and performance tools:

  • Engineer-led video walkthroughs for configuring security and performance features
  • Plain-language summaries of terms like DNS lookups, web application firewalls, caching, and Zero Trust
  • Direct links to support and troubleshooting resources

The portal also links out to the Cloudflare Learning Center, developer documentation, and Help Center, so participants can find user-friendly explanations and step-by-step guidance without getting lost in technical jargon.

Expanding Capabilities Ahead

Since Project Galileo began in 2014, its scope has grown alongside Cloudflare’s product line, adapting to participants’ evolving security, performance, and reliability requirements. The next step is integrating additional Zero Trust capabilities into the program, which builds on the patterns established with the new portal.