Community Networks and Local Access Monthly Newsletter - Number 39

By APCNews

Published on 26 August 2021
Page last updated on 28 April 2023

Welcome to the 39th monthly round-up of developments impacting your local access networks.

We have created a platform for community networks to share our experiences and grow together. Please join us at https://communitynetworks.group/

Events and conferences

• During three regional sessions, taking place between 26 August and 2 September, the 2021/2022 grantees of the Local Networks initiative (LocNet) will present their grant projects to other grantees, peers and partners. This is a great chance to get insights into innovative ideas in the fields of community-based technologies, regulation initiatives and gender and diversity approaches within community networks. Read more.

• The EsLaRed Foundation announced the 24th Workshop on Internet Network Technologies for Latin America and the Caribbean (WALC, in the Spanish acronym). The event will be held online from 15 to 19 November. One of its six tracks is focused on community networks. Pre-registration is open on the event’s site. Read more.

• The virtual version of the camp of the Training Program for Promoters and Technical Promoters in Indigenous Communities in Telecommunications and Broadcasting is happening from 16 August to 3 September. Some activities are open and streamed by Redes AC YouTube channel (available in Spanish). Read more.

Resources from past events

• From 27 to 30 July, representatives from 16 organisations (see them in the map above) working with community network projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America joined together for an online convening organised by the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative, led by APC in partnership with Rhizomatica, to discuss challenges, learnings and achievements. Read more.

Community networks in news and blogs

• This episode of the Brazilian podcast "Ondas da Resistência" spoke with the activist Daiane Araújo dos Santos about community networks and alternatives being mobilised in the global South to promote internet access (available in Portuguese). Read more.

• The University of Buenos Aires, with the support of the Ministry of Social Development of the Nation, launched the "Appropriation of technologies for the communication of social organisations" diploma. In this piece, AlterMundi tells how it reflects years of exchanges with community networks and the need to build bridges between careers, knowledge and territories (available in Spanish). Read more.

• This story brings more information and two concrete cases on how Nupef Institute helps to improve communications conditions for traditional communities fighting for their rights in Brazil, mobilising community networks and promoting digital citizenship. Read more.

• AlterMundi is an NGO based in Argentina that strives to unlock the power of peer-to-peer collaboration from a technological perspective, particularly committed to building wireless community networks to facilitate independence and self-reliance among communities. Find out more about their work and innovative projects in this blog post from 48percent. Read more.

Gendering Community Networks

• KICTANet works towards network building to bring diverse voices and pieces of evidence to the spotlight and build enabling regulation for ICTs in Kenya. The lack of women's voices and evidence around their realities was the focus of a research project that they led during the pandemic. Read more.

• At the Portal sem Porteiras community network in Brazil, the feminist project Nodes that Bond has convened circles of women with an emphasis on technology. To share their methodology and learnings, they produced an inspiring workbook. Find some pictures of it and the link to access its online version in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Read more.

• The Feminist Action Lab offers an open online course to share knowledge on feminist advocacy and intergenerational activism. Among its seven themes is "Feminist Technology", a study guide that features videos, case studies and concepts like community networks, surveillance, data feminism and more. Read more.

News on policy and regulation

• All over the world, various communities have been connecting themselves. In this context, it is essential that governments and regulators take action and promote participatory processes to create an enabling regulatory environment for community network initiatives. And this has just happened in Argentina through the Roberto Arias Programme and its approach to digital inclusion, as we find out in this article from AlterMundi. Read more.

• During a civil society consultative meeting promoted by CITAD, over 40 organisations from different parts of Nigeria highlighted the importance of community networks as a tool for addressing the digital divide and explored the possibility of joint advocacy for the government to develop an enabling policy framework. Read more.

Funding opportunities

• The Internet Freedom Fund supports projects creating or promoting tools that allow users to circumvent internet censorship, communicate safely, and access information that is blocked. Projects can apply for up to USD 300,000 until 1 September. Read more.

• Connect2Recover Research Competition from the ITU seeks to identify promising research proposals that will accelerate digital inclusion during the global pandemic. There will be 15 grants awarded to research teams exploring digital inclusion opportunities. Deadline to apply is 17 September. Read more.

Previous editions

• Previous editions of this newsletter are available here.

 

This newsletter is part of the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative, an initiative led by APC in partnership with Rhizomatica that aims to directly support the work of community networks and to contribute to an enabling ecosystem for the emergence and growth of community networks and other community-based connectivity activities in developing countries. You can read more about the initiative here, here, and here. 

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One more thing! If you have comments about the newsletter or information relevant to the topic that you would like us to include in the next edition, please share it with us at localaccess.newsletter@apc.org.