Following the success of the 2019 European Community Networks Summit, the Internet Society and the Union of Operators of Armenia are organizing the 2023 European Connectivity Summit Connecting the Unconnected: Europe & Beyond in Yerevan, Armenia, on 6-7 June 2023.
We are at our very best when we can connect, to schools, to jobs, to opportunity, and to each other. The Internet makes this possible. But not everyone is online—over 2.7 billion people, living in cities or remote places, are still offline. Connecting them requires new, innovative ways. We need solutions that empower the people who want to use the Internet to build it. Complementary connectivity solutions, such as community networks, cooperatives, and municipal networks are helping connect the unconnected.
But these solutions face several challenges like lack of funding, policy environments that don’t allow them to exist or don’t offer the conditions for them to thrive, and lack of the technical skills in communities who need to build sustainable Internet infrastructure.
To help address those issues, community network practitioners in Europe are coming together for the first time since 2019 to exchange experiences and share discussions in three main areas:
- The technical issues surrounding community networks, considering local and regional success cases, challenges and opportunities.
- Enabling policy environments and innovative funding mechanism for these complementary access and networking solutions. We will exchange experience, good practices and enabling policies from the region and around the world.
- Training and Learning opportunities to deploy complementary networks in the hardest to reach places. This is an opportunity to engage with community members, learn and share knowledge.
