Africa
In Nairobi, where the World Social Forum 2007 was taking place, human-rights advocate Rikke Frank Jorgensen files a story about Tunisia’s current human rights standing. “The situation has gotten worse and worse, since the Summit. I think we are being punished for WSIS. It’s hardly possible for us to work anymore. A large number of sites are being blocked, email is not working, phones are cut off, NGOs are harassed, and meetings are prevented from taking place. How can you work under...
Following an APC coordinated meeting in London about wireless internet technology in Africa last December, John Dada and Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam gave interviews to the BBC World Service. Those of you not based in Africa may have missed the broadcasts. Here they are in mp3 files. Both were broadcasted on the BBC’s Focus on Africa Programme in December 2006.
In March 2006, APC organised a consultation in Mombasa, Kenya to bring together key stakeholders who could have an influence on the model that the consortium might choose. A few weeks before the event, it became clear that the level of interest was much higher than expected.
This paper, by Kate Wild, was commissioned by the APC as part of the Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa (CATIA) initiative. It looks at the meaning and importance of convergence and considers some of the challenges to implementing it, along with strategies for overcoming them. It also provides a global perspective on regulating convergence and broadband from ITU and then looks at experiences i...
This paper was commissioned by the APC as part of the Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa initiative and to contribute to APC’s efforts to promote open access to ICT infrastructure in Africa. According to the author, Mike Jensen, a variety of factors is responsible for the lack of acess to bandwith in Africa, but the biggest cause is the high cost of international connections to the globa...
Alternatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is undertaking information and communication technology related activities in collaboration with the Multisectoral ICT Initiative (DMTIC). Since last June, Alternatives has been supporting a feasibility study and advocacy for an internet backbone for open access in the DRC.
APC condemns the unjust detention of free speech bloggers and journalists in Egypt. Alaa Seif Al-Islam, a seasoned blogger and APC colleague, is one of four Egyptian online diarists being held in detention for criticising the current regime since May 7. In addition, APC has heard disturbing reports about violent actions taken by state security against several of the bloggers who were released ...
The goals of the evaluation as defined by APC were to enable learning that can be channeled into addressing problems and increasing the impact of CIPP activity; assess the extent to which APC met the stated goals and deliverables of the project activity being evaluated; assess outcomes of APC’s CIPP activity in terms of its goals; and to assess outcomes of APC’s participation in the WSIS pr...
Africa currently has to pay for some of the most expensive bandwidth in the world. All this will change if the proposed East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) cable is built as it will connect countries on the eastern side of the continent and if this new capacity is offered in a way that maximises use and lowers price. To help make this possible, APC is launching a new website “Fibre-f...
Most internet access relies on the availability of a reliable fixed telephone line and that can be a struggle to find in many parts of rural Africa. Wireless technology can by-pass the fixed-line problem. APC’s Anna Feldman has just returned from a wireless training workshop on Zanzibar where thirty five trainees learned how to set up their own connections and eventually – using antenna...
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