Access
Women20 (W20) emerged after the G20 summit that took place in Australia in 2014. It is one of the key G20 engagement groups and it supports the promotion of gender-inclusive economic growth, with the aim of promoting efforts advanced by the international community in the areas of women's economic and social participation and their financial inclusion and education. W20 works each year producing recommendations and establishing measurable and actionable goals to influence G20 governments so as...
What are the most relevant changes in the telecommunications landscape and their implications for achieving universal, affordable access to communication in Africa? This was the main focus of a workshop organised by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) on 9 September 2018. Held as a pre-event to the 2018 ITU Telecom World in Durban, South Africa, the workshop featured high-level analysis of the teleco...
2017 was a year of transition for APC. This is something that speaks very positively of the health and vibrancy of a nearly 30-year-old network. As Bishakha Datta, chair of APC's board of directors, puts it in her introduction: “Access. Rights. A Feminist Internet. Governance. Use and Development. Community. (Or FAIR and GUD-C, as I affectionately acronymised them for myself.) These are the p...
This member story was featured in the 2017 APC Annual Report, as part of our work on access. As the entry examination for tertiary education institutions becomes fully computer-based in Nigeria, most girls' secondary schools in Kano state still do not have computer laboratories or internet access. Research conducted by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) on a sample of...
This member story was featured in the 2017 APC Annual Report, as part of our work on access. Arid Lands Information Network's (ALIN’s) innovative approach to information and communications technologies (ICTs) and knowledge management received a boost in 2017 when it deployed a Community Education, Business and Information Centre (CEBIC) in Samburu County, Kenya. The Low Emission and Climate R...
Based on a review of the basic concepts regarding electromagnetic spectrum and its management, this article explores a few differences between the notions of “free spectrum” and “open spectrum” in order to understand some challenges related to freedom of expression in the 21st century. [1] The spectrum, invisible Today, it is difficult to imagine something more ubiquitous than the elect...
In the last five years, reports on connectivity around the world show remarkable progress: those of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recorded a year-on-year increase of 9% and 20%, respectively, in fixed and mobile broadband subscriptions, while this growth is even stronger in the global South. However, as levels of access to the internet increase, there is growing concern about ...
Welcome to the ninth monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks. 1. Call for grants OpenCellular Grants (OCG) is a programme to fund, promote and accelerate the non-commercial development and non-traditional deployment of OpenCellular (OC) in rural areas where access to cellular is limited due to availability of service, price of service or limited consumer demand. ...
Brazil still has a wide digital divide: more than 30% of households are not connected to the internet. According to a recent research study, the lack of experience in using technology and the high prices imposed by companies are amongst the main reasons why households are disconnected. Most of those with no access live in the countryside – less than half of households in rural areas are conne...
Re: Internet shutdown in Eastern Ethiopia Your Excellency, We are writing to urgently request that you ensure the stability and openness of the internet. We have received reports that your government has shut down the internet in Jijiga, Dire Dawa, and Harar cities in Ethiopia. On behalf of the more than 150 organizations from over 50 countries that make up the #KeepitOn Coalition, we implore ...
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2018
Unless otherwise stated, content on the APC website is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)