by Dr. Radut

News

The politics of access

The expansion of access to the internet in Africa is a game of political power and control.

I reached this conclusion as we mapped and analysed the main internet governance issues this past week during the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG). It is apparent that Africa’s contribution to the world’s target of connecting yet another billion largely lies on the shoulders of two main stakeholders – the government and the private sector. Unfortunately, the interests of the two in ensuring access to an open and affordable internet, in the majority of cases, are not always… Read more

African governments should harness the internet to engage with citizens

There is a drive to connect one billion persons worldwide by 2020. As more Africans get online, governments have the responsibility to protect the rights and freedoms of their citizens. Yet what we see currently are increased cases of crackdown on dissenting voices. In Kenya, bloggers have been arrested; in Ethiopia, bloggers have been jailed and continue to face serious threats; in Nigeria, the government is using section 24 of the Cybercrime Act 2015 as a tool for clampdown on bloggers.

Many African countries including Ethiopia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Chad, the Republic of… Read more

AfriSIG 2016 : Une expérience impressionnante et très intéressante

Carine Momeni, volontaire et militante des TIC pour le développement à PROTEGE QV (Organisation camerounaise membre du réseau APC) ainsi que professeure de langue espagnole, a eu sa première expérience immergée dans une sphère de la gouvernance de l’internet et raconte son expérience…

Mon expérience de l’école Africaine sur la Gouvernance de l’Internet – en abrégé AfriSIG2016 à Durban en Afrique du Sud, était vraiment impressionnante et très intéressante. Il faut noter que c’était ma première fois d’assister à cette école sur la gouvernance de l’internet en… Read more

Inside the Information Society: Internet governance needs African experience of African issues

I spent last week at the annual African School on Internet Governance – AfriSIG for short – which is organised by APC and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). This post’s in two parts – the first about AfriSIG itself, the second some reflections on the issues raised.

What is AfriSIG?
 
First, let’s describe the School. Forty people from across the continent, from different backgrounds – government and business, civil society and media, technical and far from technical. All engaged with the Internet in… Read more

"AfriSIG has been improving every year": Interview with Dr Mawaki Chango

Dr Mawaki Chango is the Founder & Managing Director of DigiLexis Consulting. Being a recurrrent member of faculty of the AfriSIG, we thought it wise to collect his impressions about the AfriSIG 2016, in comparison with the previous edition.

APCNews: What is your general impression about the school?

Mawaki Chango: My general impression is that it has been improving and this year the diverse backgrounds of the attendees have come out complementarily in a very well-integrated manner.

APCNews: How did you find the… Read more

Meha Jouini at AfriSIG 2015: The internet has allowed me to publicly express my identity as an Amazing woman activist

Maha Jouini is an Addis Ababa-based Tunisian blogger, and women’s rights and indigenous rights activist, with a special focus on the Amazigh community. She collaborates with the Campaign to End Child Marriage and is on the executive board of the Regional Coalition of Women Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). She is also a translator for Global Voices. 

APC’s… Read more

PROTEGE QV: “The African Declaration should be a citizen handbook on internet use”

Cameroonian association PROTEGE QV stands for “Promotion of Technologies that Guarantee Environment and a better Quality of Life”. Since 1995, it has worked in promoting rural development, protecting the environment and improving the well-being of communities in Cameroon. In 2007, it joined APC as the first central African member with the following motto: â€śWe believe in the power of ICT to give equal access to information as a strategy to fight against poverty.”

APC’s… Read more

AfriSIG 2015: Policy and regulation that impacts internet-related human rights

Sandra Kambo, from AS&K Digital Communications, is a software and test engineer. She has practiced this role for the past five years in the decade she has been involved in ICT. One of the day to day challenges is managing the developers she works with for purposeful issue resolution.  Exciting bits of her career include self- tutoring on test automation as well as being selected as an emerging leader from Kenya to attend the US State department Techwomen program in 2014 to benefit from a professional mentorship in Silicon Valley. Sandra is interested in the… Read more

Multi-stakeholderism is about losing: Reflections on working through the AfriSIG practicum

I first heard this statement on the first day of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG) in Dr David Souter’s lecture and overview of the Internet governance ecosystem and its key players.

Initially, I silently disagreed and to an extent, did not quite grasp the full meaning of the statement at the time. In my mind, in any discourse that seeks to incorporate the input of several stakeholders, the objective would be to win, leaving such a process after having successfully pushed through one’s stakeholder interests and positions. Otherwise what would be the point of even… Read more

The Experience of Complexities and Dynamics in Public Policy Making

Loyce Kabahima works with Isis-WICCE, a feminist organization whose mandate is to strengthen women’s leadership and potential in post conflict settings. She hold a Master’s degree in Development Studies.  She has over six years of managing and communicating women’s rights information and managing ICT4D projects.  She is in charge of managing and communicating organizations information and knowledge using various communication channels and platforms such as website, social media and print. She has also managed ICT4D… Read more

Subscribe to News