[governance] Fwd: [bridges.org news] Should Africa care about ICANN? (CIPESA commentary)

[Adam Peake]

Looks interesting.

Further summary <http://www.circleid.com/article/1244_0_1_0_C/>

Full report (20 pages) is here 
<http://www.cipesa.org/files/ICANN,%20Internet%20Governance%20and%20Africa.pdf> 



Adam



>Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:30:52 -0400
>Subject: [bridges.org news] Should Africa care about ICANN? (CIPESA
>	commentary)
>
>CIPESA INTERNATIONAL ICT POLICY COMMENTARY SERIES
>Volume 1, Commentary 3, 10 October 2005
>Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa
>(CIPESA)
>
>[First of eight commentaries in a sub-series on ICANN and Internet
>governance]
>
>------------------------
>SHOULD AFRICANS CARE ABOUT ICANN?
>
>During the last few years the relationship of African stakeholders with
>the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has
>received greater attention. Driven by a few key individuals within
>African governments, the technical community, and civil society
>organizations, the increased scrutiny has highlighted the importance of
>Internet governance issues for Africa. But the question hangs in the
>air: "Why should Africans care about ICANN?"
>
>The number of Africans using the Internet is increasing every year, but
>there is debate as to whether ICANN and Internet names and numbers
>management should be a priority issue for the continent. Many
>commentators argue that Africa /should/ care about ICANN. Internet
>infrastructure offers Africa unprecedented access to information,
>participation, communication, and trade, and Africans are major
>stakeholders in the information society today and, perhaps more
>importantly, in the future. The argument follows that, therefore, Africa
>should have decision-making responsibility to control its own Internet
>resources, such as domain names and IP addresses. And this view holds
>that the continent's participation in ICANN is essential if it is to
>accelerate the development of its technical communications
>infrastructure -- something that promises to benefit the poor every bit
>as much as the wealthy.
>
>Many others disagree. They point out that only a limited number of local
>technical experts and civil society organizations need to be involved in
>ICANN and Internet architecture development in order to look after
>Africa's Internet development. Bolstering their efforts may be useful.
>But taking the ICANN debate to the general public and getting
>governments more involved may not only be a distraction from more
>pressing issues facing Africa, it could backfire and lead to government
>control of the Internet that is not in the best long-term interests of
>Africa's development efforts. These commentators point out that people
>in poor countries need to learn how to use the Internet and to use it to
>run businesses, share information, support healthcare and education and
>other important activities. Instead, many of their best-educated,
>wealthiest citizens are spending time in Geneva and other nice places,
>glad to have a seat at the table. But what is being accomplished at that
>table? The creation of additional bodies and working groups and advisory
>councils to give people a say is not the best use of scarce resources.
>Africa would do better spending its valuable time discussing issues
>related to the rampant disease, poverty and food security issues, among
>other pressing needs.
>
>The answer may be that African Internet architecture development /would/
>benefit from the effective participation of a few well-informed and
>well-resourced people from each African country who have a role in
>Internet names and numbers management. But ground-level realities in
>Africa demand that the issue be put in perspective; even given the
>importance of Internet for the long-term development of the continent,
>ICANN's relevance to the general public may be small compared to other
>priorities.
>
>------------------------
>WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>Please let us know what you think about the following questions:
>=> Do you think ICANN's work is important to the general public in Africa?
>=> Why do you care about ICANN? Why should other Africans care?
>=> Is it worth it for African countries to participate in ICANN-related
>policy processes?
>
>Please share your views with us via email to stakeholders at cipesa.org or
>post them in the "comments" box under this commentary on the CIPESA
>website at www.cipesa.org. (Email responses will be posted to the
>website too.)
>
>------------------------
>WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ICANN AND AFRICA?
>See the CIPESA public briefing on /ICANN, Internet governance and
>Africa/, 7 October 2005,
>http://www.cipesa.org/reports_briefings/icann_internet_governance_and_africa.
>
>
>
>------------------------
>ABOUT CIPESA
>The Collaboration for International ICT Policy for East and Southern
>Africa (CIPESA) is an initiative to help Africans to better understand
>the policy-making processes that affect them, especially in the area of
>information and communications technology (ICT) and development. Our
>objectives are to raise awareness about key issues, provide useful
>information to assist African participation in policy-making, and stir
>debate by sparking discussion and convening productive gatherings. The
>aim is to enable African interests to be more effectively represented in
>international policy fora, and international policy decisions to be more
>effectively translated into positive outcomes in Africa. Broader debate
>and coordination are needed for improved participation by African
>stakeholders in international ICT policy. CIPESA has launched a
>discussion forum that aims to achieve just this by eliciting thought and
>dialogue on important issues in the field.
>
>CIPESA is a program of bridges.org (see www.bridges.org). It is one of
>several components of the Catalysing Access to Information and
>Communications Technologies in Africa (CATIA) initiative, funded by the
>UK Department for International Development. Its sister program, CIPACO
>(serving West and Central Africa) has been launched by Panos West Africa.
>* *
>For further information about CIPESA see www.cipesa.org, and contact:
>
>Vincent Waiswa Bagiire, Director of the CIPESA Program
>vincent at cipesa.org
>Plot 30, Bukoto Street, Kamwokya, P.O. Box 26970 Kampala - Uganda
>Tel: +256 31 280073, +256 41 533057, +256 41 533054
>
>Copyright (2005) CIPESA/bridges.org, Creative Commons
>Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 License
>
>--
>Teresa Peters
>executive director, bridges.org
>tmpeters at bridges.org, +1 202 234 4492, Fax +1 202 318 7792
>www.bridges.org
>
>
>
>
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