News from dotAfrica

Dear Friends of dotAfrica,

It has been a very busy month and year for dotAfrica. These are some of the highlights from the past few weeks:

• We presented at the African Internet Governance in Cairo and the Internet Governance Forum in Baku, both very well received.
• We were represented at a number of events within the African continent by our African Liaison, Koffi Djossou.
• Our dotAfrica application received no Early Warnings from the ICANN GAC.
• We received our 41st letter of support from the government of Seychelles.
• Our dotAfrica application is going from strength to strength.

As 2012 draws to a close, 2013 promises to be even more exciting for the dotAfrica initiative. We look forward to seeing the ICANN Evaluation Process through, and going through all the evaluation steps. We are confident of a positive outcome from the process, and a successful delegation phase.

But, most of all, we are very excited to be launching a new and revamped “Africainonespace” website. Watch this space…

For the moment, however, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners and friends for the support we’ve received for this initiative for the African continent and all Africans.  The time for our unique identity on the Internet is imminent. We look forward to working with all of you in 2013 and beyond.

Best regards,
Octavia Kumalo

Main Story: Internet Governance Forum – Report from Baku by Alice Munyua

The 7th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting was held in Baku, Azerbaijan 6-9 November 2012. The theme of the forum was ‘Internet Governance for Sustainable Human, Economic and Social Development’.

The IGF continues to provide a unique platform for all Internet stakeholders to engage in open and constructive discussions around Internet policy issues. It has succeeded in building and strengthening relationships between the various actors and has also stimulated the interest of stakeholders around the world to establish national and regional forums.  

The IGF was a result of rather tense discussions held in Geneva and Tunis between 2002 and 2005 during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). ,There was controversy over the role of governments in oversight of policy development for the Internet, and particularly over ICANN.  The outcome was to see Internet governance issues placed officially on the diplomatic agenda and a number of actions proposed, among them the establishment of a new forum (the IGF) as a space for dialogue about the policy issues effecting the development and deployment of the Internet. 

The IGF is designed to ensure the full and active participation of governments, the private sector, civil society and other stakeholders from both developing and developed countries.  The UN Secretary General convenes the forum every year and meetings are held under the UN flag.  The 2013 meeting will be held in Bali, Indonesia.

Why it is important for Dot Africa?

Issues related to the Internet domain name system have always had their share of attention at the IGF. This year the discussions focused mainly on the effects and potential risks of new generic top-level domains:

• how governments and other actors are reacting to the first round of applications
• which character strings have given rise to controversy
• how to deal with applications to use geographic names as a TLD
• what to do if there are competing applications for a name
• public policies to address intellectual property claims and trademarks, and
• the role of governments in developing and applying policy advice  

The low number of applications from developing regions was raised. There was agreement that more should have been done to increase outreach and raise awareness.  However, it was noted that when the TLD program began it was perhaps not a priority for most developing countries, where the concern is focused on access and connectivity issues, among others. The forum noted, however, that developing countries are now becoming more engaged. For example, African stakeholders are developing an African strategy for ICANN and one of the recommendations includes supporting the growth of the domain name industry on the continent.

Another substantive idea raised regarding new gTLDs is the access to the Internet through mobile phone devices. Internet access will be predominantly through mobile phone devices in Africa, thus shorter domain names will need to be taken into account.

Emerging issues discussed

Online privacy and safety, as well as new threats such as identity theft, were given special attention as were innovative regulatory and legal policy solutions. Policy issues regarding both domestic and trans-border cyber-crime were also discussed in depth. The increasing complexities of cyber attacks and the technology enabling this behaviour will become more sophisticated and harder to combat. Issues related to DNSSEC for ccTLDs and gTLDs were also discussed.

Sessions on WCIT

If we care about the future of the Internet we must take an interest in what authority should be exercised by various organizations, including IETF, ICANN, ITU or other, yet-to-be-defined organizations or processes.  The ITU is convening the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) from 3 to 14 December 2012. While the main issue under discussion is how and whether to revise the 1988 International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), a look at the existing proposals provided a good sense of what would be put forward. From the proposals a number of issues have emerged that are likely to expand the application of the ITR’s regime to Internet traffic and governance and are, therefore, of potential direct interest to dotAfrica.

The dotAfrica team will be at the WCIT in December and will lead a session about its initiative.

Technical News: International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs)

In recent months a lot of attention has been given to ITU, ITRs, WCIT, to name but a few acronyms. What do they all mean? And what does this mean for the Internet industry as a whole. Let’s start off with defining the acronyms and also a description of these terms, what it all means for the Internet industry and why we should be concerned.

Definitions:

ITU – International Telecommunications Union

This is the specialized agency of the United Nations, which is responsible for information and communication technologies. ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world and establishes worldwide standards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Telecommunication_Union
 

ITRs – International Telecommunications Regulations

This refers to the 1988 Treaty to establish general principles for the provision and operation of international communications to:

• facilitate global interconnection and interoperability
• underpin harmonious development and efficient operation of technical facilities
• promote efficiency, usefulness and availability of international communication services

The treaty sets out general principles for assuring the free flow of information around the world, promoting affordable and equitable access for all, and laying the foundation for ongoing innovation and market growth. The ITRs were last negotiated in Melbourne, Australia in 1988, and there is broad consensus that the text needs to be updated to reflect the cdramatically different information and communication technology (ICT) landscape of the 21st century.

CIT – World Conference on International Telecommunications

The WCIT-12 is seen as a landmark conference where a review of the current International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) will occur.

Key Drivers for revising the ITRs:

• Economic: recovering lost telecom revenues
• Political: asserting government control; pre-eminence of ITU in Internet affairs
• Technical: new ITU role in Internet standards, IP addresses and more

What will be addressed?

• Relevance of the current ITRs: the obligations of member states, interconnection & ITU recommendations
• Provisions to cover new emerging issues: misuse, content, cybersecurity, spam, fraud, IP addressing
• The role of ITU

This WCIT event is of great importance, and is the first event of many dialogues to follow: on where the Internet is going, how it is governed, and the impact it will have on society. We will be following the event with keen interest.

http://www.eaigf.or.ke/files/Michuki_Mwangi_WCIT_ITR_KIGF_2012.pdf
http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/oth/3F/01/T3F010000010001PDFE.pdfs

Features: report from our African Liaison, Koffi Djossou

Our African Liaison, Koffi Djossou, has been involved in attending a number of events throughout the African continent. These are some of the highlights from his trips:

Comores - E-COMMERCE/E-TRADING - Regional Connectivity and Integration: Advancing Paperless Trade Eastern Africa – AWARENESS ON USE OF ICT

The symposium aimed to provide an open regional platform to exchange information, experiences and practices for the use of ICT in trade facilitation in Eastern Africa; facilitate training in new ICT tools and services to increase the efficiency of cross-border transactions and ultimately improve the competitiveness of companies in the sub-region.

Specifically, the symposium discussed the following issues:

• Strengthening the capacity of member countries to use ICT for trade
• Speeding up dissemination of trade information among the trading and business communities in the sub-region
• Promotion of the exchange of best practices and the use of global ICT standards in trade facilitation, such as the joint border management and the electronic Single Windows system
• Optimizing the use of IT infrastructure to boost trade
• Promotion of the use of electronic means for all correspondence within private and public institutions
• Expressing commitment to the digital revolution

Gabon

The relevant Gabon authorities have announced 2013 as Internet year in Gabon. Main issue: How to use the Internet to lead day-to-day community business and as a catalyst for innovation and development. In that regard, the Gabon government has launched a consultative process for the upcoming forum on digital economy with a focus on local content development. From the perspective of the Gabon government, ICT and the Internet are vital for a progressive society. It is clear that the Gabon government is committed to the AU initiative to build digital integration in Africa through the dotAfrica project.

Guinea

Through a contract with the African Union, the Internet Society is responsible for  the delivery of best practice and technical workshops in order to support the establishment of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in thirty AU Member States as part of Phase I of the African Internet Exchange System (AXIS) project. As Guinea does not have an IXP, a meeting was held as a platform to promote the development of a local IXP. The main objective of the workshop was to create awareness of the value and benefits of establishing a local IXP for the local Internet ecosystem.

Recommended outcomes:

• Setting up the governance model for the national Exchange Point
• Guinea stakeholders to raise awareness  of dotAfrica
• Guinea stakeholders to set up the local IGF

The Guinea stakeholders agreed that, without local content, the IXP is useless. In order to facilitate local content development, Guinea stakeholders recognize the importance of dotAfrica in the promotion of Africa and African countries online. Without applications, services and local content, IXP as an infrastructure cannot help to reduce the digital divide. African ccTLDs and dotAfrica are critical resources for the provision of low access costs and the promotion of the digital economy.

Profile: Andrew Mack, newest member of the dotAfrica project team

Andrew Mack is Principal and Founder of AMGlobal Consulting, a specialized Washington, DC-based consulting firm that helps companies do more and better business in emerging markets.  A former World Bank task team leader and finance professional with experience in more than 80 countries, Mack is internationally recognized for his work on Public-Private Partnerships, Corporate Social Responsibility, technology policy and economic development issues.

Mr Mack founded AMGlobal in 2005 with the goal of helping to bring together leaders – from major companies, governments, donors, foundations and NGOs – to address today's toughest development challenges in a sustainable, creative, business-oriented way.  The firm specializes in helping clients design partnerships and CSR programs, enter new markets and address emerging technology issues. Clients include Fortune 100 corporations like Chevron, Oracle and Motorola; donors such as the World Bank, PEPFAR and USAID; NGOs, local firms and early-stage companies focusing on emerging and green technologies.

A frequent public speaker and writer, Mack has a monthly blog on CSR in emerging markets for the US Chamber of Commerce’s Business Civic Leadership Center and regularly speaks at major international meetings like the Corporate Council on Africa Biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit and the AGOA forum.  His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications including PODER Magazine in Peru, AllAfrica.com, Voice of America and East Africa Business Week among others.

Mr. Mack holds a Bachelor of Arts Magna Cum Laude from Amherst College and a Masters in International Relations/International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.  The recipient of Fellowships from Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities, Mack was twice nominated as a "Global Leader for Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He speaks and works in Spanish, French and Portuguese.

6. News from dotAfrica

Read the latest news from dotAfrica @ http://africainonespace.org/news/

dotAfrica will be present at the WCIT, AfriNIC & AfTLD meetings.

You are most welcome to share your views with us @africandomain.