Here's what's happening at the seventh African School on Internet Governance in N'Djamena, Chad

By APCNews N'Djamena,

Published on 6 September 2019
Page last updated on 1 September 2023

Between 3 and 9 September, 60 participants from 26 countries are gathering in N’Djamena, Chad, for the seventh African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG), a week of peer learning-based sessions that include hands-on experience which fellows will have the opportunity to apply at the African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF), taking place right after.

Understanding how the internet works

How does the internet work? What is an internet protocol? What types of disruptions do we face and what causes them? These were some of the questions addressed during the first sessions of the School, which focused on internet architecture and address management, as well as basic internet governance concepts, issues and institutions.

"What does good internet governance mean to you?" AfriSIG 2019 participant, storyteller and YouTuber Olamide Egbayelo asked fellows Allan Mulenga and Lydienne Nathalie Ntogue to capture their first impressions after an intense day of work.

She also talked to fellows Musab Muhamad Isa and Ndunge E. Kiundi.

Here's a recap of day 1:

Access and infrastructure, digital inclusion, gender, community networks and sustainable development

What is digital inclusion and digital exclusion? What does the concept of “gender” mean when we use it in the context of internet governance? What factors shape or impact meaningful access, economic and social participation, access to infrastructure? These are some of the questions shaping the following day's sessions, which included hands-on work through the practicum, an experience that runs throughout the duration of the School and culminates in a mock international multistakeholder meeting.

Working on the practicum

AfriSIG features a practicum that gives participants hands-on experience through role playing in multistakeholder negotiations and allows them to use that experience by participating in the AfIGF immediately following the School. The theme of this year's practicum is drafting a multistakeholder consensus response to the call for input on the report of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation. To try and reach consensus, participants engaged in lively, sometimes heated discussions during the third day of the School.