Fellows are listed in alphabetical order (by surname).
Harriet Adong
Gender and Advocacy Officer, WOUGNET
Harriet Adong works with Women of Uganda Network as the Gender and Advocacy Officer to promote women’s rights through the use of ICTs for Social Development and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences ( Gender and Development Studies) and a Diploma in Human Resource Management from Makerere University in Uganda. ICTs have the potential to impact economic growth and good governance, and the Government of Uganda like all other countries aspires to be a globally competitive and prosperous nation in fighting corruption. Attending the Internet Governance School will broaden Harriet’s understanding of Internet Governance Advocacy to influence policymaking processes, and regulatory frameworks in Uganda and Africa.
Benjamin Akintunde Akinmoyeje
IT Support Advisor, Management Sciences for Health
Benjamin Akintunde Akinmoyeje works as IT Support Advisor for Management Sciences for Health, in Nigeria (www.msh.org) where his role entails development of sustainable and strategic ICT processes,policies and applications that enhance the effectiveness of MSH Nigeria vision and mission of helping the world poorest population access quality healthcare as a fundamental human right. Initiatior of the MSH Nigeria IDEA Lab, a place to harness young talents and innovations to help produce disruptive ICT application that is relevant to the local challenges. These ICT solutions will address not only the challenges that are encountered as MSH intervenes in the areas of HIV/AIDS ; Women-Orphan and Vulnerable Children; Health System Strengthening. Participating in the IG school will equip to make more impactful contribution in his work and constituent. For example, Ben participated at the recently concluded e-health policy development workshop in Federal Capital territory in Abuja. With the knowledge he gained at the school, he will contribute meaningfully to the local ICT ecosystem, especially as it relates to e-health, cyber security, and empowerment. The meeting also gave him the opportunity to know and understand how to engage with multistakeholder model.
Mistura Aruna
Manager, Nigerian Communications Commission
Mistura is a Manager at the Nigerian Communications Commission, the regulatory body of Telecommunications in Nigeria. She has 11 years experience in the Telecommunications Industry. Mistura studied Political Science at the University of Maiduguri, holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from Olabisi Onabanjo University as well as a Masters Degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos. She is a fellow of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and a member of Institute of Management Consultant of Nigeria (IMCON). Given the state of Nigeria’s current ICT policy, education in IG is imperative in order to be actively involved in the policy-making process. Attending the IG school will enable Mistura to broaden her understanding of IG, particularly to gain trust, inclusion, development and the understanding of what would make the Internet Industry achieve its full potential from the African Perspective.
Enrico Calandro
Research Fellow, Research ICT Africa
Enrico currently works as a research fellow for Research ICT Africa. He is a PhD student in Telecommunications policy at the Graduate School for Business, University of Cape Town and holds an MA in Communications’ sciences from the University of Perugia, Italy. IG is one of his research interests. His research on IG focuses on the Internet ecosystem of developing countries and on how African countries can benefit from an effective participation to IG fora and processes.
Alex Comninos
MSocSci, International Relations, University of Cape Town
Alex Comninos is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Geography, Justus Liebig University Giessen. His doctoral research focuses on the use of crisis mapping in the Middle East and North Africa. He has published research on various topics including freedom of association and peaceful assembly online, cybersecurity, intermediary liability, mobile banking and African political economy. I am interested in advocacy around the exercise of human rights online, and I would like in the future to conduct human rights advocacy in internet governance fora. I hope to use this opportunity to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of internet governance. I hope the training will make me better in formulating my research and advocacy as internet governance issues.
Jerome Terpase Dooga
Coordinator and Principal Instructor and English Teacher, University of Jos
Jerome Terpase Dooga teaches English at the University of Jos using blended learning. He is also the coordinator and principal instructor in the institution’s eLearning Fellowship programme, where academic staff acquire skills to teach with technology. He holds masters degrees in English (Jos) and Educational Technology (UCT). Nigeria is only now integrating ICT into various sectors especially in administration and education, so it’s still largely ill-regulated. Higher education is adopting the use of technology, and there is a need for national policies and institutional polices to be aligned. Jerome’s participation at this school will prepare him to contribute in shaping institutional and national policies on the use of the internet.
Melaku Girma
PhD Student in Software Engineering Track, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Melaku is a PhD student, studying Software Engineering. He holds an M.Sc. in Information Science. Melaku currently works for Addis Ababa University as Lecturer. He is also an ICT consultant for the Djibouti Embassy in Ethiopia and Axum Hotels PLC (Private Limited Company) and a senior software consultant to EEPCo’s (Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation) Human Resource Management System analysis, design and implementation, which is being undertaken by INSA (Information Network Security Agency). He has also been designing websites and developing applications software using PHP and Java, respectively, for the last five years. Education in IG is imperative in order to be actively involved in the IG policy-making processes of my country, Ethiopia. It will give him profound input to his PhD dissertation and equip him with state-of-the-art knowledge and skills to give professional advice to IG policy-makers in Ethiopia.
Alexandra Groome
Intern, Communications and Information Policy Programme and Communications and Network Development Programme, Association for Progressive Communications
Alexandra graduated from Queen’s University, in Canada, in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Environmental Studies and Geography. She began her internship with APC through the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Youth Leadership Programme in October 2012, and has been working with APC as an intern for the Communications and Information Policy Programme as well as the Communications and Network Development Programme. Alexandra is attending the IG School in hopes of learning about IG from African perspective and gaining a better understanding of the history of IG, multistakeholder approaches, and human rights online.
Mphatso Vanessa Gunda
Principal Systems Analyst Programmer, the Malawi Parliament, Malawi
Mphatso has been working as the Principal Systems Analyst Programmer at the Malawi Parliament since 2010. She has over 7 years experience in the ICT field, mainly in the systems administration, networking user support, and training. She graduated from the University of Malawi with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology in 2005. Mphatso hopes to share the knowledge, experiences, and perspectives she gains from the IG school with her colleagues and to influence policy in Malawi, networking with ICT specialists internationally, and establish a forum that will interact continually in IG.
Levi Kabwato
Programme Specialist for Media Monitoring and Research, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Levi is the Programme Specialist for Media Freedom Monitoring & Research at the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). His background is journalism, media management and human rights advocacy. He’s a graduate from Rhodes University and the University of Malawi. Levi has been tasked with designing MISA’s intervention strategy to advance Internet Freedom in southern Africa. Given that the issue of Internet Governance is critical to ensuring online freedom, participation at the school will give Levi valuable insights that will shape MISA’s understanding of – and intervention in – Cyberspace.
Aurelia Ngirwa Kamuzora
Director, the Institute of Development Studies of Mzumbe University
Professor Aurelia Ngirwa Kamuzora is currently Director of the Institute of Development Studies of Mzumbe University in Tanzania. She holds a PhD with specialization in Law and Economics obtained from Groningen University, The Netherlands. Also, she has a Masters’ degree in International Business Management from Agder University College-Norway, Advanced Diploma in International Business Management, and Advanced Diploma in Economic Planning from the Institute of Development Management –Mzumbe, Tanzania. Internet governance is part of governance instruments which are currently needed to govern resources in Tanzania and Africa. Being a professor specializing in studying, educating, researching, and conducting consultancies in the areas of Economic Governance (Law and Economics), obtaining education in IG will add on the knowledge Prof Aurelia Kamuzora will use and disseminate to inform the ICT policies formulation and evaluation in Tanzania to booster economic growth of the country and the African continent.
Ephraim Percy Kenyanito
Author and Translator at Global Voices Online
Ephraim is an author and translator through various online publications such as Global Voices Online and through a personal blog, “The Diary of a Global Citizen”. He has as well been a Reporter and Multimedia Team member at European Journalism Centre’s “ThinkBrigade Project.” Ephraim has also been carrying out various projects with the East African Community Secretariat and Transparency International among other diverse-range of social development organizations. He is currently studying for a Bachelor of Law (LLB) Degree (LLB) at Moi University and a French Diploma at Alliance Française. Ephraim is attending the IG School with the expectations of being in a team that will build common ground around a public-interest oriented approach to IG. He anticipates that he will later be actively involved in the policy making process regarding IG in Africa. His Internet Governance interests focus on human rights, ICT4D and legal issues.
Malebogo Khanda
Lecturer at Botho University of Botswana, Botswana
Malebogo is a lecturer at Botho University of Botswana. She also acts as the secretary general for Botswana Information Technology Society (BITS), and chairperson for the education committee for the same. With the two roles, her objective for 2012 – 2014 is doing capacity building on cyber-security issues for both the academic and professional sector, which runs as seminars, panel discussions and workshops. Seeing that Botswana is fast becoming a national entity and working hard to being at par with the international market, education on I.G becomes imperative, hence has become the BITS objective to partake in activities that educate, benchmark, inform, partner to assist in educating the young and old Botswana alike on Internet issues.
Mwendwa Kivuva
ICT Officer, University of Nairobi Enterprises and Services Limited
Mwendwa Kivuva is the ICT Officer, University of Nairobi Enterprises and Services Limited (www.uonbi.ac.ke) and is an ISOC and Kenya IGF Working Group member. He is currently pursuing his Masters of Science degree in Distributed Computing Technology at the University of Nairobi. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the Catholic University of East Africa. Attending the First African School on Internet Governance in Durban will enable Kivuva to gain meaningful knowledge in ICT policy formulation, regulation, and building therefore enhancing his skills as a leader in Internet Governance.
Analia Lavin
Specialist editor, Communications and Information Policy Programme and Communications and Network Development Programme, Association for Progressive Communications
Analia has worked in civil society organizations for more than ten years, mostly from her hometown, Montevideo (Uruguay). After completing a masters in media studies in New York University, Analia is currently living in New York City, where she’s part of the APC communications and policy programmes and volunteers for the Brooklyn-based organization (and also APC member) May First/People Link. She has also lived in Toulouse, France, where I’ve obtained a BA in Linguistics. Discussions on internet governance are crucial for understanding the internet we have and to think about the internet we want (and don’t want). The African IG school will frame these discussions within the African context, which will allow her to identify unique aspects of both regions in terms of internet governance, as well as common challenges and opportunities.
Blessing Mabuto
Founder and Executive Director of the Organisation for Youth Advancement (OYA)
Blessing is passionate about empowering and developing young people towards becoming fully functional and effective people through realization of their fullest potential. He holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree and a Graduate Diploma in NGO Management from Africa University, Zimbabwe. He also holds an Entrepreneurial Intelligence Certificate from the BOOST Fellowship, Diploma in Leadership from the YiDEZ Youth Leadership Academy and Leadership Certificate from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. Blessing is an active in a number of international networks such as VoiceOver 2015, Peace and Collaborative Development Network, MasterPeace and CIVICUS Youth United and African Youth on Post2015 Development Agenda among others.
Vanessa Malila
PhD Researcher for the School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa
Vanessa is a post-doc researcher for the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. She recently completed a PhD at the University of Leeds, which examined multistakeholder processes in communications policy in the African context. She has conducted training in working with the media in MSPs. Having carried out research focusing on the potential of multistakeholder partnerships in communications policy, she regards the internet governance school as an opportunity to share this knowledge and to learn from facilitators and other participants on how to best improve multistakeholder partnerships in communications policy and internet governance within the African context.
Chipo Msengezi
IT Officer, Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA)
Chipo Msengezi is an IT Officer at Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa (ITOCA). She holds an Honours degree in Business Management and Information Technology from Catholic University, Zimbabwe. Chipo believes that how we manage the Internet will define much of our society in Africa. Much of their work at ITOCA is about online access to research material in Africa. She hopes to gain more knowledge on Internet Governance and how we can effectively collaborate to leverage the internet for the economic, political and social development of Africa.
Lillian Nalwoga
Policy Officer, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa
Lillian Nalwoga works as a Policy Officer with the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa. She is also the President of the Internet Society – Uganda Chapter. Lillian serves on the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) of the global Internet Governance Forum and coordinates the Uganda Internet Governance Forum. Lillian holds Masters Degree in Management Studies- specialising in Knowledge Management from the Uganda Management Institute and Bachelors in Development Studies from Makerere University. She has completed an Introductory Course to Internet Governance with the Diplo Foundation. She has hands on experience in Information Technology and Projects Management. The Africa Internet Governance School provides an opportunity to enrich Lillian’s understanding of current Internet Governance and ICT policy issues in Africa and learn how to address them in her line of work.
Clet Iyamenye Nibeho
DOT Facilitator, Digital Opportunity Trust-Rwanda
Clet Iyamenye Nibeho is currently an intern at Digital Opportunity Trust-Rwanda as DOT Learning Facilitator. He has a background in Agriculture and Rural Development and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science And Technology from the Higher Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (ISAE-BUSOGO) in Rwanda. As Rwanda is promoting the ICT sector and the use of Internet to unlock limitless development opportunities in term of efficient business, service delivery, quality education and good governance, participating in IG school will allow Clet to discuss with attendees on which strategies, plans, technologies, policies, and other initiatives can be used to accelerate social economic development of Africa and Rwanda through using ICT.
Sarata Omane
Business Development Manager of Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT.
Sarata Omane is the Business Development Manager of Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT. She is part of a team committed to using opportunities that exist within the organization and innovations globally to bring about accelerated growth generally towards the achievement of organizational goals. Sarata holds a Bachelor of Management Studies degree from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana and an MBA from Sikkim Manipal University, India distance learning. Education in IG will give me more insight into that area and better understanding t get involve in the policy making process. I will learn more and be able share with the our target audience.
Cynthia Phiase
Manager, Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority
Cynthia holds an MSc in Operational Communications and a honours degree in Telecommunications Systems from Coventry University in 2004 and 2002 respectively. A member of the IET. As a manager of the .bw Cynthia would like to know more about the governing structure of the internet, the roles that the country should play in enhancing the development of the internet and any other issues relating to the management of the internet. .bw has just transferred the management of the internet from the telecom operator and they want to see it grow.
Dr Julianne Sansa-Otim
Ag. Chair, Department of Networks, School of Computing and Informatics Technology, College of Computing and Information Sciences, Makerere University
Julianne works as a senior lecturer and the head of Department of Networks in the College of Computing and Information Sciences at Makerere University since October 2010. Previously she worked in several academic roles since 2001. She has a passion for ICT4D research and is experienced in developing ICT policy and managing ICT projects. She has a Ph.D in Computer Science from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands as well as an MSc in Computer Science from Makerere University, Uganda. The Internet is meant to be an open network; however, some parts of the world particularly North America and Europe mostly control how it continues to evolve. Julianne is keen to learn from the IG School, how African governments and other key decision makers can be engaged so as to invest in their nationals, particularly in “Internet technologies, standards and protocols” so that the Africa stake in the Internet can be increased.
Wellington Radu
Head of Programmes, Media Monitoring Africa
Wellington is the Head of Programmes at Media Monitoring Africa. He holds a Masters Degree in Development Sociology of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). He also holds a postgraduate certificate in Human Rights Theory and Practice from the University of Cape Town (UCT). There is no doubt that the world is moving into a knowledge economy that is characterised by technological advancement, including the internet. Given that Wellington works in the human rights sector, attending the Internet Governance School will help him understand the nexus between internet governance and human rights.
Gbenga Sesan
Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, Nigeria
Gbenga Sesan, as Ashoka Fellow and CyberSteward Program Fellow, is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN). He has training in electronic and electrical engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University, and has also completed management training at Lagos Business School, Harvard University and Stanford University, among others. He has extensive consulting experience focusing on ICT4D, social media, and ICT in policy in over 30 countries. He believes that the need to discuss Internet Freedom – and other governance issues – in Nigeria, and Africa, is more important now, than ever. He has followed Internet Governance programs across the world and thinks an Africa-focused school would help with the required context for discussions, debate and action. The African Internet Governance School holds huge learning opportunities for him, and possible impact on Paradigm Initiative Nigeria’s work on ICT Policy in Nigeria.
Mayowa Sofowora
Masters student, Durban University of Technology
Mayowa is currently studying for a masters degree in Information Technology at Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria. He has previously worked as a data support technician in a telecommunications company in Nigeria. Mayowa also has Microsoft certifications in network infrastructure, active directory configuration and server administration.In this present digital age, Africa currently lags behind all other continents of the world due due many factors;infrastructure and policy included among others, therefore, education in Internet Governance is imperative in order to be actively involved in the policy-making process. By attending the Internet Governance school, Mayowa will be able to broaden my understanding of Internet Governance in the African context.
Emilar Vushe
Africa Projects Coordinator, Communications and Information Policy Programme, Association for Progressive Communications
Emilar Vushe works with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), and has been since 2009, where she is responsible for coordinating policy projects in Africa. Prior to joining APC, she worked as a researcher both in Zimbabwe and South Africa mainly focusing on public information rights and human rights. She is a graduate of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe.
Nicolo Zingales
Google Policy Fellow, Research ICT Africa
Nicolo Zingales works as a research fellow at Research ICT Africa, where he is focusing on Internet freedom and Internet governance more generally. He graduated in law at the University of Bologna (with a thesis on Digital Rights Management) and then went on to obtain his PhD in international law and economics from Bocconi University. He gained experience on ICT law and policy working for the European Commission (Directorate General for Competition, Unit C5- Mergers in the IT & Telecom) and the California’s Attorney General (Antitrust Section). He is interested in a number of Internet regulatory issues, and values the Internet Governance Summer School as an opportunity both to increase familiarity with some of the technicalities of IG, and to engage in the discussion of a number of cross-disciplinary IG issues with different stakeholders.