As the Internet Society (ISOC) celebrates its 30th anniversary as a global nonprofit advocating for an open, globally-connected Internet, the organization is calling for accelerated action to further Internet development throughout the African region.
During
the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) 2022 taking place
from in Kigali, Rwanda under the theme “Connecting the unconnected to achieve
sustainable development”, Dawit Bekele, Regional Vice President of the Internet
Society in Africa, lauded the progress made by stakeholders in expanding access
throughout the continent, while encouraging more collaborative efforts to
bridge the digital divide.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest
growth in global Internet penetration, increasing from less than 1% in 2000 to
30% today. Between 2019 and 2021 Internet use in Africa jumped by 23%. Despite
this impressive growth, there is still a coverage gap of over 840 million
people who don’t have access to reliable and affordable Internet access.
“The
COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the value of Internet connectivity which has
been an essential lifeline for the continuity of business, healthcare,
education, government, and other critical activities. We applaud the
significant investments in the last decades to develop Internet infrastructure,
which have made the Internet available to more people across the continent.
However, the pandemic also highlights the digital divide that remains,
particularly in rural, remote and even urban areas around the world,” said
Dawit Bekele.
In
Ghana specifically, ISOC has a local chapter that continues to develop an
Internet Exchange Point and conduct technical training events to encourage and
promote Internet policies, standards, and protocols that keep the Internet
open, globally-connected, and secure.
Community networks are a way to help
address the digital divide. They are communications infrastructures built,
managed, and used by local communities and are a sustainable solution to
address connectivity gaps in underserved regions. The Internet Society has a
long history of working with communities worldwide to fund, build and train
people with the skills needed to run and maintain community networks.
In
Africa, the Internet Society has helped build community networks in South
Africa, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria,
Namibia, Morocco, Senegal, and Ethiopia.
At
WTDC, the organization will be making a pledge to support 100 complementary
solutions to connect the unconnected, and to train 10,000 people to build and
maintain Internet infrastructure, all by 2025 as part of the Partner2Connect
Digital Coalition, an initiative led by the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) that aims to foster meaningful connectivity and digital
transformation in the hardest-to-connect communities around the world.
Also
vital to expanding the Internet throughout Africa is the interconnection
between local networks, content providers, and users. Currently, millions of
dollars are spent every year to route local Internet traffic through expensive
international links. This not only makes the Internet slower and more costly
for Internet users, but it also limits the kinds of applications that can run
on the local Internet. For this reason, the Internet Society has been at the
forefront of supporting the establishment and growth of Internet Exchange
Points (IXPs) that enable and encourage local traffic.
ISOC
research shows that IXPs improve the end-user experience, lower the cost of
access, and stimulate the development of local Internet ecosystems and
cross-border interconnections. By improving local Internet services and
reducing their costs, well-managed IXPs open new worlds of possibility with
modest investment.
Source: Graphic.com.gh