The proposed workshop has the format of a roundtable during which participants from different stakeholder groups will discuss the results of RIA research conducted, some of which has been undertaken with NEPAD Agency, on mapping multistakeholders participation in Internet governance from an African perspective.
Specifically, participants will be invited to consider how factors such as low level of Internet access and use, low quality of service and high prices of broadband intersect with the notion of multistakeholder participation as a form of deliberative democracy for Internet governance – which is often informed by assumptions from more mature markets and the human rights frameworks of Western democracies.
Participants will explore the evolution of multistakeholders participation through consideration of the main international, regional and national processes/mechanisms of the Internet governance ecosystem from an Africa perspective.
Some specific issues that will be highlighted include:
– What these initiatives have achieved in terms of enabling or constraining the development of an open Internet;
– what has been the level and effectiveness of participation of African stakeholders in these processes;
– why have they not been able to fully develop an African agenda on Internet governance
Moderator: Alice Munyua
Remote Moderator: Dr Towela Nyirenda Jere, Programmes Manager, NEPAD Agency
Panelists:
Mrs Titi Akinsanmi, Policy and Government Relations Manager at Google
Mrs Anriette Esterhuysen, Executive Director at Association for Progressive Communications
Her Excellency, Dr Omobola Johnson, Nigeria’s Minister of Communication Technology
Dr Alison Gillwald, Executive Director at Research ICT Africa
Download the presentation on the results of a survey on Internet Governance in Africa.
The final report on the workshop is available from the following link.
