Friday, May 07, 2004
ICANN needs to support AfriNICSteven Lang in Cairo
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) should offer more support to the African Network Information Centre AfriNIC - the organisation that was recently set up to distribute and administer domain names on the African continent. This is the view of Dr. Tarek Mohamed Kamal, a senior adviser to the Egyptian ministry of communications, who is also Egypt's representative on AfriNIC.
AfriNIC is an African body aimed at administering the process of assigning Internet names and numbers to African web sites. Until now, either American or European organizations, acting under the auspices of California based ICANN, have been responsible for assigning Internet addresses to all African web sites.
The process of setting up AfriNIC has taken several years, but the new organization will officially begin operations later this year. A high level meeting to finalise plans for the launch, is due to be held in Dakar, Senegal later this month (May 2004).
AfriNIC's operational activities will be spread through four African countries. It will be legally incorporated in, and administered in Mauritius, the training centre will be in Ghana, while the technical operations will be run from South Africa and mirror and disaster recovery operations will take place in Egypt.
Kamal recognizes the symbolic value of AfriNIC taking control of African cyberspace, but acknowledges the difficulties the organization will face in trying to coordinate the legacy systems in place in all the African countries. As Africans will no longer have to pay Europeans or Americans for the right to own a web site address, this will make a significant impact on the continental foreign exchange position.
The Egyptian civil servant is optimistic about the future of AfriNIC but believes that it needs technical and material support from ICANN in order to be able to launch its services efficiently. He is disappointed because he says that up to now, ICANN has not devoted much attention to the requirements of AfriNIC.
He explains that although, AfriNIC will not be accountable to ICANN, the two organizations will need to work together closely for the benefit of the international Internet community. ICANN will give batches of names and numbers to AfriNIC, and these addresses will then be assigned, through various country organizations, to prospective web site owners.
At the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, the future administration of the Internet was one of the most hotly debated topics on the agenda. As ICANN has effectively administered Internet names and numbers up till now, some countries believed that it should continue on as before.
The opposite end of the spectrum argued that since airwaves are international assets, they should not be administered by an organization with links to one specific country. ICANN opponents have deep reservations about the organization's genesis as a not-for-profit corporation set up by the United States Department of Commerce.
The South African government has been one of the harshest critics of ICANN following an acrimonious confrontation with the local Internet society. The South African dispute perfectly mirrored the international impasse. In South Africa, the dot za domain had been successfully administered by an individual – Mike Lawrie – with the support of the Internet Society, but government said that an independent, accountable organization should run the domain name.
Government eventually won the battle when a dedicated dot domain name authority (DNA) was set up to administer the Internet in South Africa.
South Africa and other opponents of the current role played by ICANN believe that a dedicated agency should be set up within the United Nations framework to take over the functions of ICANN.
Tarek Kamal believes that it is not necessary to set up a special UN agency to run the Internet, but he does believe that ICANN should be more visibly de-linked from the United States government. He also says the not-for-profit organization should be more transparent.
As ICANN will be holding its annual meeting in Cape Town in December, its management believes it is important to raise the profile of the organization in South Africa and to explain its role. Paul Verhoef, Vice President, Policy Development Support at ICANN believes that South Africans would be far less confrontational towards his administration if there was greater clarity about its functions.
He aims to visit South Africa ahead of the meeting in December in order to raise awareness of the conference and of the role ICANN really plays in running the Internet.
==========================
(0) comments
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) should offer more support to the African Network Information Centre AfriNIC - the organisation that was recently set up to distribute and administer domain names on the African continent. This is the view of Dr. Tarek Mohamed Kamal, a senior adviser to the Egyptian ministry of communications, who is also Egypt's representative on AfriNIC.
AfriNIC is an African body aimed at administering the process of assigning Internet names and numbers to African web sites. Until now, either American or European organizations, acting under the auspices of California based ICANN, have been responsible for assigning Internet addresses to all African web sites.
The process of setting up AfriNIC has taken several years, but the new organization will officially begin operations later this year. A high level meeting to finalise plans for the launch, is due to be held in Dakar, Senegal later this month (May 2004).
AfriNIC's operational activities will be spread through four African countries. It will be legally incorporated in, and administered in Mauritius, the training centre will be in Ghana, while the technical operations will be run from South Africa and mirror and disaster recovery operations will take place in Egypt.
Kamal recognizes the symbolic value of AfriNIC taking control of African cyberspace, but acknowledges the difficulties the organization will face in trying to coordinate the legacy systems in place in all the African countries. As Africans will no longer have to pay Europeans or Americans for the right to own a web site address, this will make a significant impact on the continental foreign exchange position.
The Egyptian civil servant is optimistic about the future of AfriNIC but believes that it needs technical and material support from ICANN in order to be able to launch its services efficiently. He is disappointed because he says that up to now, ICANN has not devoted much attention to the requirements of AfriNIC.
He explains that although, AfriNIC will not be accountable to ICANN, the two organizations will need to work together closely for the benefit of the international Internet community. ICANN will give batches of names and numbers to AfriNIC, and these addresses will then be assigned, through various country organizations, to prospective web site owners.
At the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, the future administration of the Internet was one of the most hotly debated topics on the agenda. As ICANN has effectively administered Internet names and numbers up till now, some countries believed that it should continue on as before.
The opposite end of the spectrum argued that since airwaves are international assets, they should not be administered by an organization with links to one specific country. ICANN opponents have deep reservations about the organization's genesis as a not-for-profit corporation set up by the United States Department of Commerce.
The South African government has been one of the harshest critics of ICANN following an acrimonious confrontation with the local Internet society. The South African dispute perfectly mirrored the international impasse. In South Africa, the dot za domain had been successfully administered by an individual – Mike Lawrie – with the support of the Internet Society, but government said that an independent, accountable organization should run the domain name.
Government eventually won the battle when a dedicated dot domain name authority (DNA) was set up to administer the Internet in South Africa.
South Africa and other opponents of the current role played by ICANN believe that a dedicated agency should be set up within the United Nations framework to take over the functions of ICANN.
Tarek Kamal believes that it is not necessary to set up a special UN agency to run the Internet, but he does believe that ICANN should be more visibly de-linked from the United States government. He also says the not-for-profit organization should be more transparent.
As ICANN will be holding its annual meeting in Cape Town in December, its management believes it is important to raise the profile of the organization in South Africa and to explain its role. Paul Verhoef, Vice President, Policy Development Support at ICANN believes that South Africans would be far less confrontational towards his administration if there was greater clarity about its functions.
He aims to visit South Africa ahead of the meeting in December in order to raise awareness of the conference and of the role ICANN really plays in running the Internet.
==========================
The youth's long and winding ICT road
By Haru Mutasa
Zimbabwean Ednah Dondo slouches back into the chair and puts her feet up. It has been a long day and an even longer week at the sixth International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom Africa conference in Cairo Egypt.
When she was not attending 'high-profile' debates, giving her two cents worth at plenary sessions, or just networking with government and ICT officials she was in closed door discussions, with her colleagues, laying down the foundations for their Africa Youth Action Plan – a document that will outline what steps the African youth plan is to take to promote ICT development among Africa's young people.
A teaching student in Chinoyi a small town in Zimbabwe, Edna is keen to get back to her students and apply what she has learnt at Africa Telkom 2004. "I am supposed to be in classes right now," she says a little worried, "but it is best I got to come here, not just for me but the students I am going to teach."
Her colleague, Mark Russell from Kimberly South Africa collapses next to her and waits for instructions from his chaperone. "We will be going in soon (the seminar room) to wrap up all this stuff," he said, "yesterday we were split up into groups and had to draft up an action plan based on what we have learnt this week. The works of art will be put together and merged to form one. I can't wait – it should be exciting."
One would expect the youth forum to get drowned out by the 'bigger' groups at the conference but that was not the case. The younger generation actively promoted their ideas and official delegates frequently sang the praises of the thoughtful inputs made by the youth.
"It gives such pleasure seeing these young people here," said an elated Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Chairperson of the South African Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development, "If any of what we are doing is going to take off it will be up to the youth. That is why we are here – to facilitate that process."
Earlier on in the week she had spent an entire morning with the 100 students from tertiary institutions from all over the continent and gave them a very special gift – making them realise their importance in the matrix of things, seeing just how special and unique they all are and encouraging them to become future Information Communication Technology leaders on the continent.
"If you want to achieve anything in life you have to work for it," she told them, "The road is never easy but you have to keep at it. Never give up – you are already special people by winning the competition that sent you here. Remember that."
The students won an all expenses paid trip to Cairo to learn more about ICT issues and how they can be used to develop Africa. Through regional coordinators who contacted their educational institutions, they were asked to write an essay on ICTs. Competition was stiff and the ones who made the grade were all top students in their countries and leaders in their youth circles.
This Youth Forum is the second creation of its kind – the first came into being three years ago at the last Africa Telecom Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. This year's students will build on the action plan laid out then and adapt it to today.
The task is not easy and they are still panel beating out the 2004 Action Plan which will be presented at the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia next year.
Read the 2001 Youth Forum Action Plan of 2001 http://www.itu.int/AFRICA2001/forum/youth/declaration.html
The Action Plan is not the only bit of hard work they are faced with. "Out of the boys here there are only three of us who speak English. You can not believe how difficult that makes things here. Just to ask someone how one is doing is a mission!" Mark says rolling his eyes, "but I have learnt a little bit of French – watch."
He approaches a girl from Mali sitting not too far from him, "Bonjour," he says in his charming way, "Tu es jolie."
She bursts out laughing and says politely, "Merci!"
Proud of his 'mastering' of the French language he struts back to his seat and says to me, "See, I am learning."
If he puts as much energy into the Action Plan and most importantly the development of ICTs in Africa as he does in learning French – then the continent has lot to look forward to from this young man and his colleagues who are determined to make a valuable contribution to Africa's development.
(0) comments
By Haru Mutasa
Zimbabwean Ednah Dondo slouches back into the chair and puts her feet up. It has been a long day and an even longer week at the sixth International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom Africa conference in Cairo Egypt.
When she was not attending 'high-profile' debates, giving her two cents worth at plenary sessions, or just networking with government and ICT officials she was in closed door discussions, with her colleagues, laying down the foundations for their Africa Youth Action Plan – a document that will outline what steps the African youth plan is to take to promote ICT development among Africa's young people.
A teaching student in Chinoyi a small town in Zimbabwe, Edna is keen to get back to her students and apply what she has learnt at Africa Telkom 2004. "I am supposed to be in classes right now," she says a little worried, "but it is best I got to come here, not just for me but the students I am going to teach."
Her colleague, Mark Russell from Kimberly South Africa collapses next to her and waits for instructions from his chaperone. "We will be going in soon (the seminar room) to wrap up all this stuff," he said, "yesterday we were split up into groups and had to draft up an action plan based on what we have learnt this week. The works of art will be put together and merged to form one. I can't wait – it should be exciting."
One would expect the youth forum to get drowned out by the 'bigger' groups at the conference but that was not the case. The younger generation actively promoted their ideas and official delegates frequently sang the praises of the thoughtful inputs made by the youth.
"It gives such pleasure seeing these young people here," said an elated Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Chairperson of the South African Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development, "If any of what we are doing is going to take off it will be up to the youth. That is why we are here – to facilitate that process."
Earlier on in the week she had spent an entire morning with the 100 students from tertiary institutions from all over the continent and gave them a very special gift – making them realise their importance in the matrix of things, seeing just how special and unique they all are and encouraging them to become future Information Communication Technology leaders on the continent.
"If you want to achieve anything in life you have to work for it," she told them, "The road is never easy but you have to keep at it. Never give up – you are already special people by winning the competition that sent you here. Remember that."
The students won an all expenses paid trip to Cairo to learn more about ICT issues and how they can be used to develop Africa. Through regional coordinators who contacted their educational institutions, they were asked to write an essay on ICTs. Competition was stiff and the ones who made the grade were all top students in their countries and leaders in their youth circles.
This Youth Forum is the second creation of its kind – the first came into being three years ago at the last Africa Telecom Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. This year's students will build on the action plan laid out then and adapt it to today.
The task is not easy and they are still panel beating out the 2004 Action Plan which will be presented at the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia next year.
Read the 2001 Youth Forum Action Plan of 2001 http://www.itu.int/AFRICA2001/forum/youth/declaration.html
The Action Plan is not the only bit of hard work they are faced with. "Out of the boys here there are only three of us who speak English. You can not believe how difficult that makes things here. Just to ask someone how one is doing is a mission!" Mark says rolling his eyes, "but I have learnt a little bit of French – watch."
He approaches a girl from Mali sitting not too far from him, "Bonjour," he says in his charming way, "Tu es jolie."
She bursts out laughing and says politely, "Merci!"
Proud of his 'mastering' of the French language he struts back to his seat and says to me, "See, I am learning."
If he puts as much energy into the Action Plan and most importantly the development of ICTs in Africa as he does in learning French – then the continent has lot to look forward to from this young man and his colleagues who are determined to make a valuable contribution to Africa's development.
Universal Access or Plunder?
By Thrishni Subramoney
While mobile growth in Africa seems to be riding a wave of enthusiasm at
this year's Africa Telecom 2004 conference, in Cairo Egypt, not everyone is
convinced that it will bring universal access to the continent.
Admittedly most of the keynote speakers (mainly from giant mobile companies
such as Alcatel, Siemens and MTN) at a forum on the subject at the Cairo
conference used their presentations as an advertising platform, however one
of the key views that emerged was that opening up African telecommunications
markets would be a key factor in providing universal access.
MTN CEO in Uganda, Francois Du Plessis said that providing universal access
should not be seen as an exercise in charity. "Universal access should not
be seen as a big black hole that just eats money – it can be a profitably
run business in the community," he told the audience.
He listed a number of projects MTN had started in the east African country
that provided access and brought in revenue. These included initiatives to provide micro-financing for rural women who offer telephone services in the local area. A second initiative provided phone services through community members who constantly moved through communities on tricycles.
Similarly, Alcatel's Souheil Marine pointed out that companies could not take full advantage of the African market if they failed to focus on what the majority of Africans needed.
But will mobile growth provide universal access?
"Not necessarily," says Murali Shanmugavelan from the UK based NGO, Panos.
Shanmugavelan says the much-hyped idea of a mobile revolution needs to be interrogated.
"They talk about a revolution, but whose revolution is it? Who’s going to benefit from this 'revolution'? This mobile revolution in Africa is intended to attract investment from outside the continent, therefore reforms cannot be effective " says Shanmugavelan – the main author of a Panos report: "Completing the Revolution: The Real Challenge of Rural Telephony". The study - being distributed in book form at the conference – questions whether expensive mobile networks will really bring access to the majority of Africans.
He suggests that the idea that mobile growth is about development is a naïve one. "Mobile networks target the urban communities when the majority of people in Africa live in rural areas. I'm not anti-mobile, I think this growth is phenomenal. I just think these questions need to be examined," he adds.
"Nobody's looking at the rural versus urban divide, because this is about making money" he asserts, "The market driven approach can not fulfill development."
He argues that proper regulation and control is impossible in the current climate because African countries can't slap the wrist of investors they rely on.
The EU recently put forward a proposal to the World Trade Organization, calling unanimously for the opening up of mobile markets on the continent. He says if the WTO turns up the heat on the developing world, they will have
no choice but to relent – a move that could be potentially damaging to home grown businesses and a development agenda.
"Look at the situation for many African countries, WTO regulations only allow countries a once-off chance to close their markets to a certain extent, for a fixed period of time. They really have no choice."
He says universal access will only become a reality if the rural communities are looked at and African countries will bridge the divide only if they become players rather than mere consumers in the global telecommunications
sector.
"There are number of complex issues that they need to grasp – like why exactly are mobile tariffs so high? They need to move away from just concentrating on bringing in FDI (foreign direct investment). They need to have some control, or development will not happen."
(0) comments
By Thrishni Subramoney
While mobile growth in Africa seems to be riding a wave of enthusiasm at
this year's Africa Telecom 2004 conference, in Cairo Egypt, not everyone is
convinced that it will bring universal access to the continent.
Admittedly most of the keynote speakers (mainly from giant mobile companies
such as Alcatel, Siemens and MTN) at a forum on the subject at the Cairo
conference used their presentations as an advertising platform, however one
of the key views that emerged was that opening up African telecommunications
markets would be a key factor in providing universal access.
MTN CEO in Uganda, Francois Du Plessis said that providing universal access
should not be seen as an exercise in charity. "Universal access should not
be seen as a big black hole that just eats money – it can be a profitably
run business in the community," he told the audience.
He listed a number of projects MTN had started in the east African country
that provided access and brought in revenue. These included initiatives to provide micro-financing for rural women who offer telephone services in the local area. A second initiative provided phone services through community members who constantly moved through communities on tricycles.
Similarly, Alcatel's Souheil Marine pointed out that companies could not take full advantage of the African market if they failed to focus on what the majority of Africans needed.
But will mobile growth provide universal access?
"Not necessarily," says Murali Shanmugavelan from the UK based NGO, Panos.
Shanmugavelan says the much-hyped idea of a mobile revolution needs to be interrogated.
"They talk about a revolution, but whose revolution is it? Who’s going to benefit from this 'revolution'? This mobile revolution in Africa is intended to attract investment from outside the continent, therefore reforms cannot be effective " says Shanmugavelan – the main author of a Panos report: "Completing the Revolution: The Real Challenge of Rural Telephony". The study - being distributed in book form at the conference – questions whether expensive mobile networks will really bring access to the majority of Africans.
He suggests that the idea that mobile growth is about development is a naïve one. "Mobile networks target the urban communities when the majority of people in Africa live in rural areas. I'm not anti-mobile, I think this growth is phenomenal. I just think these questions need to be examined," he adds.
"Nobody's looking at the rural versus urban divide, because this is about making money" he asserts, "The market driven approach can not fulfill development."
He argues that proper regulation and control is impossible in the current climate because African countries can't slap the wrist of investors they rely on.
The EU recently put forward a proposal to the World Trade Organization, calling unanimously for the opening up of mobile markets on the continent. He says if the WTO turns up the heat on the developing world, they will have
no choice but to relent – a move that could be potentially damaging to home grown businesses and a development agenda.
"Look at the situation for many African countries, WTO regulations only allow countries a once-off chance to close their markets to a certain extent, for a fixed period of time. They really have no choice."
He says universal access will only become a reality if the rural communities are looked at and African countries will bridge the divide only if they become players rather than mere consumers in the global telecommunications
sector.
"There are number of complex issues that they need to grasp – like why exactly are mobile tariffs so high? They need to move away from just concentrating on bringing in FDI (foreign direct investment). They need to have some control, or development will not happen."
A Hat for Digital Solidarity
By Thrishni Subramoney
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) may well serve as the backbone for a
digital solidarity fund for developing countries. Speakers at the final forum at the Africa Telecom 2004 conference in Cairo, Egypt have called on African states to use NEPAD as a foundation for the fund – intended to provide financial support for ICT growth in developing countries.
The concept of a digital solidarity fund was proposed by Senegal at the first phase of World Summit on
the Information Society held in Geneva in December 2003. It was the subject of heated debate as the developed and developing worlds at the summit in Switzerland strongly disagreed on the need for such a fund.
The topic has been resurrected to end the ITU business gathering in Cairo. The Director of the Information Services Division of the Economic Commission for Africa, Karima Bounemra ben Soltane, urged African countries to take advantage of the Nepad program – the brainchild of South African President Thabo Mbeki.
"Existing and emerging markets will gain from this ICT-based platform," she said. Ben Soltane said setting up the fund was becoming increasingly urgent as more African countries implement e-strategies.
"Thirty of 53 African countries have already formulated e-strategies," she pointed out, "Their implementation will depend on what financial mechanisms are available for them."
She also called for the strengthening of public-private partnerships, saying they were the "weakest links" in the process in developing communication technologies on the continent. The lack of foreign direct investment in Africa has been a popular topic at the Cairo summit.
The other female keynote speaker at the final session, Egyptian International Relations expert, Dr. Nadia Hegazy also gave NEPAD two thumbs-up.
"NEPAD is the hat for solidarity – it's what we agreed on for the African countries, and it's what we should be using," she asserted to an applauding audience.
Hegazy said NEPAD's already-formed E-Africa commission was a starting point that the fund could be built on. The commission's offices were opened in Pretoria last month. It intends to serve as an ICT development advisory body
for African countries.
Hegazy also called for regional integration that would help curb the costs of implementing technologies on the continent. "We must pool our money, our resources and our expertise," she said.
The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society – to be held in Tunisia next year - also came under the spotlight at the closing session. Director General of the Tunisian, National Agency of Frequencies, Khadija
Ghariani, called on the international community to support the second phase, because global participation had been "fundamental to the success of the first phase".
==========================
(0) comments
By Thrishni Subramoney
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) may well serve as the backbone for a
digital solidarity fund for developing countries. Speakers at the final forum at the Africa Telecom 2004 conference in Cairo, Egypt have called on African states to use NEPAD as a foundation for the fund – intended to provide financial support for ICT growth in developing countries.
The concept of a digital solidarity fund was proposed by Senegal at the first phase of World Summit on
the Information Society held in Geneva in December 2003. It was the subject of heated debate as the developed and developing worlds at the summit in Switzerland strongly disagreed on the need for such a fund.
The topic has been resurrected to end the ITU business gathering in Cairo. The Director of the Information Services Division of the Economic Commission for Africa, Karima Bounemra ben Soltane, urged African countries to take advantage of the Nepad program – the brainchild of South African President Thabo Mbeki.
"Existing and emerging markets will gain from this ICT-based platform," she said. Ben Soltane said setting up the fund was becoming increasingly urgent as more African countries implement e-strategies.
"Thirty of 53 African countries have already formulated e-strategies," she pointed out, "Their implementation will depend on what financial mechanisms are available for them."
She also called for the strengthening of public-private partnerships, saying they were the "weakest links" in the process in developing communication technologies on the continent. The lack of foreign direct investment in Africa has been a popular topic at the Cairo summit.
The other female keynote speaker at the final session, Egyptian International Relations expert, Dr. Nadia Hegazy also gave NEPAD two thumbs-up.
"NEPAD is the hat for solidarity – it's what we agreed on for the African countries, and it's what we should be using," she asserted to an applauding audience.
Hegazy said NEPAD's already-formed E-Africa commission was a starting point that the fund could be built on. The commission's offices were opened in Pretoria last month. It intends to serve as an ICT development advisory body
for African countries.
Hegazy also called for regional integration that would help curb the costs of implementing technologies on the continent. "We must pool our money, our resources and our expertise," she said.
The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society – to be held in Tunisia next year - also came under the spotlight at the closing session. Director General of the Tunisian, National Agency of Frequencies, Khadija
Ghariani, called on the international community to support the second phase, because global participation had been "fundamental to the success of the first phase".
==========================
