Access

Finding common paths towards strengthening human rights online.

Open Science is becoming increasingly popular globally and provides unprecedented opportunities for scientists in Africa. Three key challenges remain, namely 1) access to high speed internet, 2) Open Science governance by African policy makers, 3) standardization and interoperability of online tools and platforms.

During this meetup we will present the actors, challenges and opportunities and discuss the next steps towards making Open Science ubiquitous across Africa.

A fireside chat with Prof. Nii Quaynor - Africa's "father of the internet".

Mark Surman is one of the CEOs of Mozilla, one of the words leading Internet organisations. Meet him at re:publica and ask him anything about Mozilla, how open source business models and global communities work.

In an age where access to the internet is deemed a human right, continued shutdowns are more harmful than they are helpful. Africa internet shutdowns are second only to Asia, buoyed by a desire to silence popular voices, quell protests and “maintain order”.

The value of being connected to a communication network is steadily rising. And yet, half of the world population remains unconnected to the Internet. Existing network operators are showing signs of having reached their limits in terms of connected the unserved. Steve Song argues that if we are going to connect *everyone* affordably, we need to change the way we think about the problem.

Affordable access to communication is of such value as a social and economic enabler that we need strategies that can embrace everyone. In order to have a meaningful conversation about options to reach the unconnected , we need better information on current telecommunications network development. Telecommunications has been overlooked as a sector to which transparency principles and Open Data policies might apply.

More than 450 million of Africa’s population does not have access to mobile broadband signal. Community owned and managed networks are showing potential to contribute to close this gap. These networks not only provide access, but also have broader development implications. In this workshop, authors will engage with the audience going through the steps of creating one, reinforcing good practices and highlighting common pitfalls to avoid.

Using 3D printing innovation, we will hack and build simple low-cost DIY open science lab equipment.

This session is going to address the most underlying issue regarding digitization in Africa: Access to the Internet. Data affordability is the main barrier for people using the Internet. Today, zero rating services are often marketed as the only way to provide free access to Internet services.

Internet shutdowns have become so ubiquitous that African governments and others resort to it in times of protests, elections, and school exams. Access Now's Shutdown Stories Project documents the stories of ordinary citizens during internet shutdowns across the African continent and beyond. With this narration, I will share the resilient stories of people that defied internet shutdowns and other censorship measures and continued to protest, organize, elect, and speak without the internet.

Connectivity for connectivity's sake is not enough. To bridge the gap that technology creates, it’s not just telecoms infrastructure that needs to be installed, but affordable connectivity and relevant content to engage with in order to ensure that individuals can advance their digital literacy. 'Smart Township' initiatives empower localised content as well as access to real economic opportunities by providing affordable Public Wi-Fi in conjunction with citizen journalism.