Conferences and Events
INET Conferences
INET Africa Regional Conference, Dakar, Sénégal
The Internet Society held the INET Africa conference on 16 October 2008, in partnership with the Senegalese ICT regulation authority, the ARTP (l'Agence de Régulation des Télécommunications et des Postes).
This meeting brought together high-level policy-makers from the region and beyond (including ministers of ICT, telecommunication regulators, and others). It focused on Broad and equitable access to the Internet, addressing the regulatory challenges that African countries face in this new era of Internet and telecommunication infrastructure development. In particular, the meeting featured discussions about regulation of undersea cables as well as the new wireless technologies that so many African countries are successfully deploying to connect their rural zones.
The meeting also examined how to optimise the use of universal service funds, which can be instrumental in providing access to areas that are not attractive for commercial operators.
This conference followed three days of regional meetings co-organised by the ARTP, AfriNIC, and ICANN on Internet Governance and Development (13-15 October 2008).
Meeting report: Broad and Equitable Access to the Internet (PDF: 140KB)
Agenda
| 8:30 - 9:00 | Registration |
| 9:00 - 9:30 | Opening Session
|
Session I: Broad and equitable access in Africa: Setting the scene of the Internet infrastructure |
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| 9:30 – 9:50 | Recent developments in regional and national programs (PDF: 754KB) - Eshetu Alemu (PDF: 19KB), Director General of Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency |
| 9:50 – 10:10 | How African policy and regulatory frameworks could adapt (PDF: 241KB) - Maimouna Diop, Ministère des Infrastructures, des Transports, des Télécommunications et des TIC, Sénégal |
| 10:10 – 10:30 | Q&A |
| 10:30 - 11:00 | Break |
Session II: Policy and Regulatory challenges to develop sub-marine cables for broad international access |
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| 11:00 – 11:20 | Lessons from the SAT III Cable project - Coura Fall (PDF: 12KB), APC |
| 11:20 – 11:40 | Challenges and promises of the EASSY Project (PDF: 743KB) - Dawit Bekele (PDF: 51KB), ISOC |
| 11:40 – 12:00 | Prospective analysis of other emerging private and public submarine projects (PDF: 3.3MB) - Muriuki Mureithi, Summit strategies |
| 12:00 – 12:45 | Q&A |
| 12:45 – 14:30 | Networking lunch |
Session III: Spurring access in all underserved areas with wireless technologies |
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| 14:30 – 14:50 | New wireless technologies and tools for expanding access (PDF: 283KB) - Mouhammet Diop, kheweul.com |
| 14:50 – 15:20 | Innovative policy and regulatory frameworks for new technologies and tools (PDF: 754KB) - Lishan Adam |
| 15:20 – 15:45 | Q&A |
| 15:45 – 16:15 | Break |
Session IV: Access for all: Developing new strategies for a truly universal access |
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| 16:15 – 16:45 | Q&A (Moda Seye, ARTP) |
| 16:45 – 17:05 | Financial and institutional innovations for universal access (PDF: 283KB) |
| 17:05 – 17:30 | Wrap-Up and closing |
General queries
Dawit Bekele
Regional Manager for Africa
bekele@isoc.org
Constance Bommelaer
Senior Manager of Public Policy
bommelaer@isoc.org
