On 13 July 2023, the African Internet technical community lost one of its stars, Pierre Ouédraogo, fondly known by his peers as “Pierre O.” Pierre was such an important part of the community that it is difficult to imagine it without him. Not only was he a true Internet champion, he was a great friend […]

The post An Internet Champion for Africa: Remembering Pierre Ouédraogo appeared first on Internet Society.

Last week, we announced an expanded partnership with AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry for the African region. On Friday, 24 July, Eddy Kayihura, Chief Executive Officer at AFRINIC, and I, on behalf of the Internet Society, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two organizations to work on several projects including Internet measurements, routing security, […]

The post A Partnership to Improve Africa’s Internet Infrastructure Resilience and Reliability appeared first on Internet Society.

When it comes to Ethiopia’s future online, there are many reasons to feel optimistic. The country has one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, is strategically placed, and has a population of over 105 million, 60% of whom are under the age of 30. All of these are assets to make it a regional […]

The post The First Ethiopia Internet Development Conference: Meeting Challenge and Opportunity Head On appeared first on Internet Society.

In collaboration with the Africa Union Commission (AUC), the Africa Telecommunication Union (ATU), and Omidyar Network, from 8-11 April 2019 the Africa Regional Bureau successfully gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 103 participants comprising Internet Society Chapter leaders, African Regional economic bodies, privacy experts, regulators, and data protection agencies to a two-day workshop on IoT Security, […]

The post The Internet Society’s African Chapters Join the African Union and Other Partners to Discuss IoT Security, Privacy, and Digital ID in Africa appeared first on Internet Society.

At the recent African IGF in Khartoum, on November 5, participants of the workshop on “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of Critical African Internet Institutions” hailed the achievements of African Internet institutions in bringing connectivity and broadening access in the last decades. They also recognized their shortcomings and stressed the need to address them so that […]

The post Africa Needs Its Internet Institutions More Than Ever, Especially AFRINIC appeared first on Internet Society.

Imagine how much the Internet has changed our lives in the last few decades. Today, thanks to the Internet, we can communicate with anyone around the world, instantaneously, reliably and cheaply. This enables us not only to be close to our friends and family that may be far away but also to bridge the knowledge […]

The post Internet Society submits comments for the revision of the Ethiopian Cybercrime law appeared first on Internet Society.

Last week was an exceptionally exciting week for the African Regional Bureau as we successfully held, in partnership with the Association for Progressive Community (APC), the 3rd Summit on Community Networks in Africa from 2-7 September 2018, at Wild Lubanzi Trail Lodge, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The objective of the Summit was to promote the creation and growth […]

The post Third Summit on Community Networks in Africa a Success appeared first on Internet Society.

Canada and Senegal partners are meeting for a comparative learning exchange on developing robust Internet of Things (IoT) Security frameworks in Ottawa, Canada 18-19 July. The Senegalese delegation visiting Ottawa is composed of representatives from the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunication, Posts and Digital Economy, the Authority for Telecommunications and Postal Regulations, and the ISOC Senegal […]

The post Collaborative Governance Leaders, Canada, and Senegal Exchange Notes on IoT Security Frameworks appeared first on Internet Society.

Earlier this month, the African Internet community gathered in Dakar, Senegal for the Africa Internet Summit (AIS). The event highlighted some of the great hopes, as well as some of the concerns, that the African Internet community has for the future. I had the personal honor of speaking at the Opening of the AFNOG meeting […]

The post Great Hopes and some concerns at the African Internet Summit (AIS) appeared first on Internet Society.

Imagine you wanted to have an Internet connection and someone decided that you had to wait an undefined amount of time (maybe a year, maybe 10 years) to get access. Would you find it fair? I wouldn’t! Unfortunately, this is the situation that millions of people in remote communities around the world have to accept. […]

The post Communities Can Own Their Internet Destiny appeared first on Internet Society.

Some time ago, a European who visited my country and saw all the potential it possesses asked me “why is your country poor?”. It was a compelling question that made me think for years. It is true that there are external reasons such as the acts of colonial and other powers who have done everything […]

The post Promoting the African Internet Economy, an opportunity that cannot be missed appeared first on Internet Society.

About 70 years ago, the world was introduced to the digital computers revolution which made the computation of millions of operations as fast and easy as 1+2. This simplified so many time-consuming activities and brought about new applications that amazed the world. Then, about 40 years ago the advent of networks and inter-networks (or the […]

The post IoT Brings Potential Opportunity to Africa appeared first on Internet Society.

Africa has made considerable gains with regards to the Internet in the last decades. It’s Internet penetration grew by more than 400%; its international bandwidth has been multiplied by 20 just in just 5 years between 2009 and 2014; during the same period Africa’s terrestrial backbone has doubled (Internet Society, Internet Development and Internet Governance […]

The post Internet Shutdowns Are Not a Solution to Africa’s Challenges appeared first on Internet Society.

The first ever Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines for Africa (“the Guidelines”) was launched at the African Internet Summit (AIS2017) in Nairobi, Kenya on 30 May 2017. The Guidelines are developed by the Internet Society jointly with the African Union Commission (AUC) and advances four essential principles of Internet infrastructure security — Awareness, Responsibility, Cooperation, and […]

The post Internet Society and African Union Commission Launch Internet Infrastructure Security Guidelines for Africa appeared first on Internet Society.

Dates 8-9 May, Kigali, Rwanda The first ever African Regional Internet Development Dialogue (RIDD) was launched in Rwanda, Kigali on the 8 of May 2017, placing SDG 4 on Education at the center of the conversation of the first day of the meeting. Delegates had an opportunity to explore how the Internet can provide quick […]

The post African Regional Internet & Development Dialogue Tackles the World of Education appeared first on Internet Society.

This week the mobile industry will meet at their annual gathering in Barcelona and I am excited to be there. Mobile has changed my life as it has changed that of the 63% of the world population. For the last two decades, I and billions of people around the world have been able to be […]

The post If you’re at Mobile World Congress, Internet security is your business appeared first on Internet Society.

Bom Dia Your Excellency Eng. David Gomes, Board Chairman, ANAC Your Excellency, Commissioner for Telecoms and Information Technologies at the Economic Community of West African States Dear Mr. Richard Barnes, member of board of trusties of the Internet Society Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to speak on behalf of my […]

The post Speech of Dawit Bekele at the Intercommunity 2016 in Praia, Cape Verde appeared first on Internet Society.

The Internet Society is teaming up with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to promote the benefits of the Internet to people throughout West Africa. ECOWAS is a group of fifteen West African countries and it promotes economic integration across the region. The Internet Society will work with ECOWAS to encourage greater use […]

The post Internet Society to Partner with Economic Community of West African States to Promote an Open, Trusted Internet appeared first on Internet Society.

For the last seven years, Africa’s technology players have gathered at the annual Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF). It’s a rare forum that brings together the people who are at the starting point of connecting Africa.  Together they exploring ways to reduce Internet connectivity costs, and grow local and regional exchange of Internet traffic. From businesses […]

The post AfPIF: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Miss It appeared first on Internet Society.

The Internet Engineering Task Force held its 96th meeting in Berlin from July 17- 22 2016. More than 1350 volunteers from around the world gathered to discuss the status of their works in 42 active working groups. There were also 8 BOF (Birds of a Feather) meetings to discuss the need to start new working groups. I had […]

The post Promoting Internet of Things (IoT) through IETF-Africa initiative appeared first on Internet Society.