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The second session of the Virtual Summit on Community Networks in Africa season 2021/2022 will take place on 27 October at 12:00 UTC to explore strategies and tools for implementing network monitoring for community networks. Register now.

Community networks are bottom-up connectivity models built with, by and for communities. They grow internet access and bring more people online, contribute to local capacity building, and foster local content and digital platforms to meet local needs.

As community networks grow and start providing services, there is a need to ensure quality and reliability. Network monitoring is a key component of network management, by enabling operators to review the network's health and performance. It allows operators to see what is happening on a network at all times, providing real-time and historical information on the usage, performance and status of every device and application and all data on the network.

This online event will explore strategies and tools for implementing network monitoring for community networks. It will showcase tested tools and approaches to effectively manage and monitor bandwidth usage, network health and performance.

The session
  • Title: Strategies and tools for community network monitoring

  • Date and time: 27 October, 12:00-13:30 UTC

  • Registration: Here

Objective

Help participants understand strategies and tools for effective monitoring of the health and performance of a community-owned community network. Key questions and aspects to be addressed during this session include:

  •   What is network monitoring?

  •   What should be monitored and why?

  •   Strategies for network monitoring

  •   Tools (both proprietary and open source) for network monitoring.

Who should join?
  • Community network operators

  • Technical community

  • Community network champions

Moderator and Panelists
  • James Gondwe, founder and executive director - Centre for Youth and Development (CYD)

  • Kevin G. Chege, director - Internet Development

  • Stephen Fosu, IT Head - Presbyterian Hospital Donkorkrom

  • Brian Longwe, cofounder and CEO - Converged Technology Networks

  • Benson Olobo, technical manager - BOSCO Uganda

More about the Summit

To foster learning, networking, knowledge and experience sharing on this issue, community network operators in Africa started gathering in 2016 at an annual summit. While the first editions of the Summit on Community Networks in Africa were held as face-to-face events, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made this impossible and led to a shift to a virtual summit comprising a series of webinars that took place over the course of several months in 2020 and 2021.

The webinar series planned for the Virtual Summit on Community Networks in Africa season 2021/2022 is being organised by the Internet Society and APC in partnership with other organisations working to build and strengthen community networks in Africa. Find out more about the previous session.