Africa
In this new series, we reconnect with members who contributed to our guide on the circular economy of digital devices, this time about their vision for the future of these economies. In part one, we speak with CITAD about what is needed in the right to repair movement, emerging trends and lessons learned and missed.
Drawing on the lessons and experiences from the Mamaila Community Network, traditional leaders, local entrepreneurs, community members and academics discussed the role of community networks as complementary solutions to commercial internet service providers in bridging the digital divide in underserved areas such as Sekgosese (South Africa).
Capacity building is critical to the sustainability of a community network for several reasons. Discover some of them in this piece written by Josephine Miliza for APC member organisation KICTANet.
In this edition, we celebrate the people and initiatives building collective knowledge together, such as the Community Network Seedbeds taking place in Argentina, and a series of manuals created from the collaboration among community network practitioners in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
These five manuals are the result of communities of practice that brought together community network practitioners from diverse countries. They aim to support community networks on key issues such as solar energy, circular economies, bamboo infrastructure and more.
This policy brief by PROTEGE QV addresses the following questions: Is this legal, regulatory and institutional framework adequate and respected in order to ensure effective management of digital waste in Cameroon? What improvements could be proposed?
In the COVID-19 era, community networks became increasingly important in meeting the rising demand for affordable connectivity. In Kenya, where community networks are growing in size and number, there was a positive regulatory change in 2021. Read more in this piece from KICTANet.
Women have historically been underrepresented in the telecommunications policy and regulation spaces, but there has been a recent push to increase diversity in these fields, as Josephine Miliza of APC member organisation KICTANet reports.
Sex workers in South Africa moved to the internet to seek clients as the offline opportunities dwindled due to the pandemic-induced lockdown. But they face previously unknown challenges with the prevalent online gender-based violence in the country.
Around the world, communities are building alternatives to bridge the digital divide. And their contribution has been recognised recently: in this edition, we can discover tangible examples. Welcome to the 56th monthly round-up of developments impacting your community-based initiatives.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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