FRIDA and Ayitic at IGF Paris
29/11/2018
LACNIC was an active participant at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, which was attended by a team representing the organization’s Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRIDA) and Ayitic Goes Global project.
In addition, the LACNIC representatives who attended this global Internet summit sought to promote dialogue between regional community network initiatives and international funding agencies, with the aim of discussing strategies to facilitate the connection of communities that are yet unable to access the Internet.
Awards Ceremony in Paris. Together with its partners in the Seed Alliance, a collaborative partnership with APNIC’s ISIF Asia and AFRINIC’s FIRE initiatives, LACNIC organized a ceremony to present the FRIDA Awards to Atalaya Sur (Argentina), Editatona (Mexico), and Promoting Careers in ICT Among Secondary School Teenagers (Uruguay), winners of the 2018 edition of the Awards for their focus on reducing the digital divide and the gender gap in technology in Latin America and the Caribbean. Get to know the winners here.
Community Alternatives. The LACNIC team participating at the IGF organized a workshop on community networks through which they sought to promote dialogue between funders and promoters of this type of Internet connection initiatives. Held under the title “Upscaling Community Networks: Investment Strategies,” the workshop was attended by representatives of many Latin American community networks, including Colnodo (Colombia), Coolab (Brazil), as well as Altermundi and Atalaya Sur (Argentina).
Considering that community networks have proven to be an alternative for connecting the disconnected, the goal was for funders and promoters to try to establish priorities to amplify these projects and increase their scale. During the debates, it was noted that the work of community networks involves a human component that is key to their success, regardless of which technology is used. Community network advocates asked donors to support the community network movement in its exploration of different strategies, as the problem of connecting the disconnected is very complex and not even the market has managed to solve it.
They also proposed that funders support the community networks collectives, as these networks collaborate with each other and face many common challenges. Likewise, they stressed that, in addition to financial support, it is important to encurage progress on regulatory issues and/or access to universal funds so that these networks will be sustainable over time.
Ayitic Update. LACNIC also took advantage of this World Summit on the Information Society to report on the progress of its Ayitic Goes Global project. Carolina Caeiro, Development Projects Coordinator, and Kevon Swift, Head of Strategic Relations and Integration at LACNIC, made a brief presentation in lightning talk format with IGF participants.