Africa Geospatial Data and Internet Conference (AGDIC) serves to bring people together from various stakeholder groups as equals, in discussions on public policy issues relating to geospatial, open data, ICTs and Internet in Africa. AGDIC informs and inspires those with policy-making powers across sectors in Africa to discuss, exchange information and share good practices.
Theme of the Conference is Shaping Africa’s Digital Future
Which holds on 22nd - 24th October 2019.
At Accra International Conference Centre, Accra, Ghana.
Please visit https://afrigeocon.org/ for more information on AGDIC
Kontemporary CEO, Dr. Jimson Olufuye was the Moderator of the panel that did justice to the topic “Internet Governance: Bridging the Digital Divide” which has Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers( ICANN) Vice-President, Mr. Pierre Dandjinou of Benin Republic, Programme Coordinator of United Nations (UN) International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mrs. Ida Jallow of Ethiopia and Engineer Alaa Abou El Seoud of Egypt as speakers.
(L-R) CEO Kontemporary, Dr Jimson Olufuye, ICANN Vice-President, Mr Pierre Dandjinou, Programme Coordinator UN ITU, Mrs Ida Jallow and Engr Alaa Abou El Seoud.
Some of the vital points raised during the conference include
#AGDIC Public Forum:
No data means no information. No e-solutions means #digitaldivide.
Long term planning by those responsible for the sustainability of the underlining #ICT infrastructure for data #access is imperative!
- Dr Jimson Olufuye (@jolufuye)
#AGDIC: The US has made its geospatial data readily available for the world. EU is doing the same & it's good to note that countries in Africa & Ghana (http://ghana.gov.ng) in particular are doing the same. - Amb Stephanie Sullivan (US Embassy of Ghana)
-Capacity development is essential.
-High cost of Internet access can be addressed through competition among service providers and by removing barriers e.g. multiple taxations.
-Embrace country to country peer review mechanism (#SDG17) to measure progress on the implementation of #SDGs. - Dr Jimson Olufuye (@jolufuye)
#AGDIC :
The food market is to grow above US$1t in Africa by 2030 - Abebe Haile-Gabriel
#AGDIC2019: Data (& geospatial data in particular) should be for people not people for data. It'd be for innovation & it'd be FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable & Reusable) - Andre Laperriere (Executive Director, GODAN Secretaria)
#AGDIC2019: Africa needs to use Geospatial data to "tunnel not leapfrog" its economic development - Nii Narku Quaynor
Dr Jimson Olufuye moderated a session titled Internet Governance: Bridging the Digital Divide. He further gave highlights on SDGs supporting GeoData and Internet Governance. Respectively ; SDGs 1,2,3,4,5,6,12 and 17.
Speech by Dr Jimson Olufuye @ The Africa Geospatial Data and Internet Conference 2019.
Internet Governance for all round Development (IG4D)
by Jimson Olufuye @ the Africa Geospatial Data and Internet Conference
Accra, Ghana on 22/10/2019
Introduction
It gives me great pleasure to be here today on the occasion of the Africa Geospatial Data and Internet Conference with the theme - Shaping the Africa’s Digital Future.
I would like to thank the organisers and the sponsors of this programme for the great efforts put into ensuring the event is a success.
I have been asked me to speak on my work in United Nations Commission for Science and Technology for Development (UN CSTD), Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) and the evolution of the Africa Information and Communication Technologies Alliance (AfICTA) with respect to Internet Governance and the bridging of the Digital Divide. I have therefore taken the liberty to re-phrase the topic as Internet Governance for all-round Development (IG4D).
How did it start?
In March 2007, I was elected as the President of the Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN) and I served for four years till 2011. It was during this period as part of my agenda to connect Nigeria with the global Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry that I attended the World IT & Services Alliance’s (WITSA) World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2008. It was at that meeting that I met many IT industry colleagues including the legendary Marilyn Cade thereby heralding my journey in the Internet Governance world.
The Journey
In 2009, I organised a World ICT Conference in Abuja with the visiting Chairman of WITSA in attendance and it was at that event that we launched the National IT Public-Private Forum (NITPPF) - a revolving forum for bringing state governments and industry together to rub minds and review ICT enabled governance solutions toward bridging the digital divide. In 2010, I was elected as the Vice-Chair for Africa of WITSA. Similarly, in 2011, I was elected as one of the five Global Business Representatives to the United Nations Commission for Science and Technology for Development Working Group on Improvement
to the Internet Governance Forum (UN CSTD WG IGF), 2011 -2012; member, United
Nations Secretary-General Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group responsible for organising the annual Internet Governance Forum from 2011 - 2012. I was further elected as one of five Global Business Representatives to the United Nations Commission for Science and Technology for Development Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation on public policy matters pertaining to the Internet - 1st Edition 2013 -2014, and 2nd Edition 2016 - 2018. I’ve since continued to play roles in IGF in Africa and Nigeria.
Following the conclusion of my term as ITAN President, I mobilized by colleagues in Africa
to form the Africa ICT Alliance (AfICTA.africa) in 2012 to fill a digital divide created by lack of ICT private sector led advocacy group for Africa. We were from six countries when we started and today we have member associations, companies and individuals from 32 African countries. I finished my constitutional 2 terms of 3years in 2018 and the alliance is currently under a new leadership led by Engr Hossam Elgamal of Egypt and it is waxing stronger. As it were, AfICTA is actively engaged with the African Union, UN and many other international organisations on IG issues. At this year’s IGF in Berlin, Nov 28, AfICTA is scheduled to host a Workshop #293 on Unlocking the Digital Potentials of DLDC
You’re all invited to participate in the Workshop even remotely. (Please visit aficta.africa for details.)
Currently, I’m directly involved in IG viz the management of the critical Internet resources (CIRs) in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as a member & Vice-Chair, Finance & Operations of the Business Constituency (BC).
What is Internet Governance?
While Internet is the network of networks enabling data, information and content sharing, and communication over diverse media (such as cables, electromagnetic waves and at the speed of light - 300,000km/s); Internet Governance is an on-going process that ensures that all critical interconnected components, mechanisms, issues, policies and institutions related to the efficient and productive use of the Internet are administered in an open, multi-stakeholder, transparent and accountable way for the benefit of all stakeholders.
This is encouraged at the national, regional and international (NRI) levels through the
annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) around the world. While sovereignty issue does not apply at the national level, however it is a big issue at the international level. At the national level, it is quite easy to establish an implementation mechanism for IG but not quite so at the International level. So, the best framework with IG at the regional and international level is a form of fora where issues pertaining to IG can be discussed in a non-binding, open, transparent and multistakeholder setting.
What are the issues that concern IG?
Here are a number of topical issues where divide exists that are being addressed in an open, transparent and accountable manner among multi-stakeholder entities with the aim of finding the best approaches to addressing them:
- Cybersecurity, 2. Cybercrime, 3. Data Protection, 4. Intellectual Property rights, 5.
Internet Access, 6. Digital Inclusion, 7. Data Governance, 8. Critical Internet Resources - e.g. IPv6, 9. Artificial Intelligence (AI), 10. Cloud computing, 11. Robotics, 12. Digital Skill, 13. Inclusive governance, 14. Broadband, 15. Social Media, 16. Open source, 17. Mobile connectivity, 18. Human rights, 19. On-line safety, 20. Cross-border cooperation, 21. Accessibility to the physically challenged, 22. Hate speech, 23. Big Data, 24. Internet of Things (IoT), 25. Ethics, 26. 3D Printing, 27. Digital Cooperation, 28. Trust on the Internet, 29. Fostering global peace, 30. Multi-stakeholderism etc
What has CSTD WG on Enhanced Cooperation been all about?
At the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, 2005, Enhanced Cooperation (EC) was introduced as a means of achieving improved level of cooperation on the management of the critical Internet resources (CIRs): Internet Address names, numbers and protocol parameters; which US had solely been responsible for until 1st October 2016 when it voluntarily relinquished its oversight function of ICANN.
At the Summit, countries wanted to join the US in managing these resources and at the end, two important resolutions were proclaimed. The resolutions proclaimed are 1. the IGF, as a track for an open, transparent and multi-stakeholder discussion on the subject matter - Internet Governance; and 2. Enhanced Cooperation, as another track to enable governments join the US to govern the Internet critical resources. Details of my work on EC is available here - https://tinyurl.com/yy5b3755
While IGF has worked well since 2006, same cannot be said of EC. After two WGs there was no agreement on the mechanism for EC to operate though the WG agreed on the characteristics of EC including transparency, inclusivity, collaboration, effectiveness, sustainability, responsiveness, peace etc. I believe in a way, governments are operationalizing EC through the Government Advisory Committee of ICANN.
Where are we beyond EC?
In 2018, the UN SG established a High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation to advance global multi-stakeholder dialogue on how we can work better together to realize the potential of digital technologies for advancing human well-being while mitigating the risks. Indeed, working together to realize the potential of digital technologies is about tackling the digital divide.
In its final report submitted on 6 June, 2019, tagged “The Age of Digital Interdependence”, the Panel made 5 sets of recommendations as follows:
- Build an inclusive digital economy and society
- Develop human and institutional capacity
- Protect human rights and human agency
- Promote digital trust, security and stability
- Foster global digital cooperation
The panel was chaired by Mrs Melinda Gates and Mr Jack Ma of China. The Panel report is available here - https://digitalcooperation.org/report/ .
What is the Nexus of Geospatial Data, the Internet Governance & the SDGs?
Geospatial data as we know has everything to do with cadastral information of a country. It is a major national resource data which has the potential if well managed to be the fulcrum of prosperity of any nation. With the available of Internet tools, this resource can be better managed in an open, transparent and accountable manner for the benefit of the people. So, the nexus of geospatial data and Internet Governance is the values that drive them to enable benefits for all. These values again are: openness, transparency, inclusivity, collaboration, effectiveness, sustainability, responsiveness, peace, trust etc
With the holistic use of geospatial data engendered by IG principles, it would be possible that citizens can derive better values for their land thereby boosting their purchasing power with the attendant eradication of 1. poverty, 2. hunger, 3. ill-health, 4. illiteracy, 5. gender inequality, and 6. Clean water and sanitation would be available. Goal 15: Life on Land and goal 17: Stronger stakeholder Parnership are benefits that would also result in proactive geospatial data governance.
Conclusion
Shaping the Africa’s Digital Future thus requires that policy makers should pay serious attention to those core values such that geospatial and other critical developmental data are open and transparently accessible for innovation and creativity to thrive for the continuous growth and development of our economies; and for more jobs to be created for our large youth population and for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals in our countries and the bridging of the digital divide.
Dr Jimson Olufuye is the CEO of Kontemporary Konsulting, and Founder/Immediate Past Chair of Africa ICT Alliance, AfICTA and one of the 5 global business representatives to WGEC 1.0 & 2.0.
This speech is available in pdf format at https://tinyurl.com/yxd6apeh