AfriSIG 2021

It was a beautiful night with the moonlight pouring onto the earth in Arua City away from the usually busy and noisy city of Kampala in late September 2021. That night, I was navigating the internet as usual after a long day of work and I received a rejection email for an opportunity I had applied for. I read the rejection email and said to myself, “Oh well, it is not yet your time, Sandie, perhaps another day or time.” I looked into the mirror in my hotel room and smiled unusually and said to myself, “Girl, it is just a bad day and not a bad life.”

I immediately forgot about the… Read more

The internet and networks mean a lot to me. I would like to share with you my journey with internet governance, which started in 2019 when I was granted a fellowship to attend the AFRINIC-31 meeting (AFRINIC is the Regional Internet Registry for Africa) where we got to know more about internet governance and PDP (packet data protocol, used in wireless networks).

In June 2021, I attended MEAC-SIG 2021v (the Middle East and Adjoining Countries School on Internet Governance), where I learned a lot in the context of internet governance and different stakeholders. Later, in September 2021… Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have brought into stark relief the implications of digital inequality in Africa, said key partners who helped organise the 2021 African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG).

AfriSIG is co-convened by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Research ICT Africa (RIA) and the African Union (AU). This ninth edition of AfriSIG, held over two weeks from 4 to 15 October 2021, was the second virtual convening of the school.

“Only a relatively small elite are able to digitally substitute… Read more

Unless you are an astronomer, architect or engineer, most of us toy with this question: “When will I use the Pythagorean theorem in real life?” In reality, this question is true for most things that are perceived as complex.

Typically, non-technical internet governance practitioners and champions of the internet often find themselves asking a similar question when approaching technical aspects of internet governance like domain name systems and infrastructure. On the other hand, technically inclined practitioners and champions of change typically harbour similar feelings for the… Read more

It was June 2010, the schools were about to go on a long break. The eyes of the world were on South Africa. The first African country to host the FIFA world cup. Huddled in the corner of the small and dusty school library, a little girl came across a book that spoke of computers and the internet. A place that held the promise of access to endless information at your fingertips. She dreamt of the day when she herself would, at the touch of a key, access this information. This little girl was me.

Eleven years later, this is still the reality of millions of young girls and marginalised… Read more

In theatre, they say “the world is a stage” and in life, we say that we attract what we think of and what we draw attention to.

It was in 2019 when I first heard of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG). In my mind, I thought it was a university where one goes to attain a degree, a Master’s or even a PhD. So I gave it a shot and applied for the seventh AfriSIG while still at the foundation stage in the internet governance space and just an ordinary officer at the Internet Society (ISOC) Namibia chapter.

I surely feel like I… Read more

I heard of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) when I started participating in internet governance, as the ultimate school on internet governance, so naturally, I wanted to enrol. I kept tabs on the call for applications, only to find out that the 2020 one was open only for AfriSIG alumni. I was hopeful this year, so I jumped on this year’s call, amidst self-limiting beliefs on whether I would make the cut. The application process was smooth until the section that asked for referrals. My anxiety heightened. Not because I didn’t have any, but because of the self-… Read more

What happens when an ardent internet governance activist has to suddenly place themselves in the shoes of the private sector? Or a social tech enthusiast has to play the role of the government during a simulation? Does the shift of perspective strengthen everyone’s grasp of internet governance?

The verdict from the 2021 African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) has been a resounding yes. AfriSIG continues to distinguish itself with its intensive course spearheaded by regional and global internet governance experts. The… Read more

The ninth edition of the African School of Internet Governance (AfriSIG) finally happened – virtually, because, well, COVID-19 couldn’t allow various fellows and facility members to attend an in-person school. I had mentally prepared myself to travel, eat some airplane food, change my environment, physically meet new people, but that hasn’t happened. Nonetheless, we move.

Who would ever think that I, Ruth Atim, a traditional girl from Northern Uganda, would ever join a school of internet governance, a platform full of the crème de la crème in the world of the internet? Well, I did,… Read more

The African School of Internet Governance (AfriSIG) just concluded much-needed learning that successfully exposed us to the multiple layers of the issues surrounding internet governance and the role Africa plays on the global scale.

AfriSIG was launched in 2013 as an annual five-day residential course, run by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Its goal is to develop a pipeline of leading Africans from diverse sectors, backgrounds and ages with the skills to participate in local and international… Read more