First Summit on Community Networks in Africa

Introduction/Background

Connecting the next Billion is one of the central issues on the international Internet and Internet Governance agenda. At the Internet Society, we consider “Connecting the Next Billion” as a key issue, as it relates directly to our mission and vision. Despite the success of the mobile revolution in Africa, there are significant barriers to connectivity.

Community established networks also referred to as “community networks” (CN) are an emerging and sustainable solution to address the connectivity gaps that exist in urban and rural areas around the world. In Africa, where these gaps are more evident. A recent survey was able to identify 37 community networks initiatives in 12 African countries, of which 25 are considered active. [1]

To understand better how this phenomenon is evolving in the continent, the First Summit on Community Networks in Africa was held on 22nd November 2016 in Nairobi Kenya within the AfriCHI conference. The Summit brought together ten community network operators in Africa to engage in experience sharing on their challenges and opportunities. The objective of the summit was to promote increased collaboration between community network operators in the region and provide an opportunity for them to engage with other stakeholders.

Who Attended

Community Network operators, Wireless Network Researchers, Policy Makers, Regulators and Regulatory Associations, Civil Society organisations and members of the public interested on the topic.

Presentations, photos and the event report

Here are some of the presentations:

Some of the video presentations include:

More event photos can be found here.

Report on the 1st Summit on Community Networks in Africa can be found here.

Examples of Community Networks in Africa that attended the Summit
Examples of Other Community Networks in the world
Contact

Notes

[1] C. Rey-Moreno, M. Graaf, “Map of Community Networks in Africa”, 1st Report on the Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity: “Community Connectivity: Building the Internet from Scratch”. Ed. FGV Rio Editions. December 2016. In press

Date and Time

Tuesday 22 November 2016

Location

University of Nairobi

Nairobi, Kenya