[Advisors] Fwd: [ISOC] NEWS RELEASE: African Union (AU) Selects the Internet Society to Support Establishment of Internet Exchange Points across Africa

Gary W Kenward garykenward at eastlink.ca
Sat, 25 Aug 2012 13:11:57 -0300


--Apple-Mail=_0229908F-EA2E-490C-AB22-B2801CAFC463
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset=windows-1252

What ISOC is doing to help reduce the "Digital Divide"

Begin forwarded message:

> From: cover@isoc.org
> Subject: [ISOC] NEWS RELEASE: African Union (AU) Selects the Internet =
Society to Support Establishment of Internet Exchange Points across =
Africa
> Date: 23 August, 2012 12:16:30 PM ADT
> To: isoc-members-announce@elists.isoc.org
>=20
> African Union (AU) Selects the Internet Society to Support =
Establishment of Internet Exchange Points across Africa =20
>=20
> Project includes 60 capacity building workshops in 30 countries
>=20
> [Johannesburg, South Africa --23 August 2012] =96 The Internet Society =
today announced that it has been selected by the African Union (AU) to =
conduct community mobilization and technical aspects workshops to =
support the establishment of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in AU =
Member States as part of the African Internet Exchange System (AXIS) =
project. The AXIS project aims at keeping Africa=92s Internet traffic =
local to the continent by providing capacity building and technical =
assistance to facilitate the establishment of National Internet Exchange =
Points and Regional Internet Exchange Points in Africa. The project is =
funded by the Euro-Africa Infrastructure Fund and the Government of =
Luxembourg.=20
>=20
> The Internet Society is committed to organizing 60 community =
mobilization and technical aspects workshops in 30 African countries. To =
this effect, the Internet Society will also contribute its own resources =
for the implementation of this component of the AXIS project.
>=20
> Currently, much of Africa=92s Internet traffic is routed through =
Internet exchange points external to the African continent. As countries =
establish their own IXPs, Internet traffic will be routed locally, =
creating a downward pressure on costs and stimulating growth in and =
distribution of local Internet content. Through the AXIS project, the =
interests of the AU and the Internet Society, working with other African =
Internet organizations such as AfriNIC, AfNOG, and AftLD, will be =
realized in this collaborative effort to assist in the development of a =
more locally operated and, hence, more robust and economically =
accessible pan-African Internet.
>=20
> Moctar Yedaly, Head of Information Society Division, African Union =
Commission, commented,=93Africa is paying overseas carriers to exchange =
=91local=92 (continental) traffic. This is both a costly as well as an =
inefficient way of handling inter-country exchange of Internet traffic. =
Independent analysis has shown that Africa pays over US$600 Million to =
developed countries every year for inter-African traffic exchange that =
is carried outside the continent. We are therefore pleased that the =
African Internet Exchange System project will address this challenge by =
facilitating optimization of Internet traffic to support =
intra-continental traffic flows in Africa.=94=20
>=20
> Dawit Bekele, Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Africa, =
stated, =93We are very excited to be selected by the African Union to =
support the growth of IXPs throughout Africa.  We believe the AXIS =
project is extremely important to the continued health of the Internet =
ecosystem in Africa, and building the technical infrastructure and =
training the people to sustain it are fundamental to extending the =
Internet in Africa. Partnering with the African Union on the AXIS =
project is central to the Internet Society=92s mission to ensure the =
open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of =
people everywhere.=94=20
>=20
> The Internet Society has provided technical training in Africa since =
the early 1990s, and supports the development of human and technical =
capacity to build reliable and sustainable Internet infrastructure in =
Africa and around the world. The organization=92s African Bureau was =
started in 2006. With 24 Chapters, the Internet Society African Bureau =
works to promote capacity building and the responsible development of =
the Internet throughout Africa. Its principle focus is improving =
interconnection and traffic exchange within the continent through the =
implementation of IXPs, network training, and capacity building. =20
>=20
> Link: =
http://www.internetsociety.org/news/african-unionau-selects-internet-socie=
ty-support-establishment-internet-exchange-points-across
>=20
>=20
> _______________________________________________
> To manage your ISOC subscriptions or unsubscribe,
> please log into the ISOC Member Portal:
> https://portal.isoc.org/
> Then choose Interests & Subscriptions from the My Account menu.


--Apple-Mail=_0229908F-EA2E-490C-AB22-B2801CAFC463
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset=windows-1252

<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html =
charset=3Dwindows-1252"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">What =
ISOC is doing to help reduce the "Digital Divide"<br><div =
apple-content-edited=3D"true"><br></div><div><div>Begin forwarded =
message:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span =
style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, =
1.0);"><b>From: </b></span><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; =
font-size:medium;"><a =
href=3D"mailto:cover@isoc.org">cover@isoc.org</a><br></span></div><div =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px;"><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; =
font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Subject: =
</b></span><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; =
font-size:medium;"><b>[ISOC] NEWS RELEASE: African Union (AU) Selects =
the Internet Society to Support Establishment of Internet Exchange =
Points across Africa</b><br></span></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span =
style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, =
1.0);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; =
font-size:medium;">23 August, 2012 12:16:30 PM ADT<br></span></div><div =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px;"><span style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; =
font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>To: </b></span><span =
style=3D"font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><a =
href=3D"mailto:isoc-members-announce@elists.isoc.org">isoc-members-announc=
e@elists.isoc.org</a><br></span></div><br><div>African Union (AU) =
Selects the Internet Society to Support Establishment of Internet =
Exchange Points across Africa &nbsp;<br><br>Project includes 60 capacity =
building workshops in 30 countries<br><br>[Johannesburg, South Africa =
--23 August 2012] =96 The Internet Society today announced that it has =
been selected by the African Union (AU) to conduct community =
mobilization and technical aspects workshops to support the =
establishment of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in AU Member States as =
part of the African Internet Exchange System (AXIS) project. The AXIS =
project aims at keeping Africa=92s Internet traffic local to the =
continent by providing capacity building and technical assistance to =
facilitate the establishment of National Internet Exchange Points and =
Regional Internet Exchange Points in Africa. The project is funded by =
the Euro-Africa Infrastructure Fund and the Government of Luxembourg. =
<br><br>The Internet Society is committed to organizing 60 community =
mobilization and technical aspects workshops in 30 African countries. To =
this effect, the Internet Society will also contribute its own resources =
for the implementation of this component of the AXIS =
project.<br><br>Currently, much of Africa=92s Internet traffic is routed =
through Internet exchange points external to the African continent. As =
countries establish their own IXPs, Internet traffic will be routed =
locally, creating a downward pressure on costs and stimulating growth in =
and distribution of local Internet content. Through the AXIS project, =
the interests of the AU and the Internet Society, working with other =
African Internet organizations such as AfriNIC, AfNOG, and AftLD, will =
be realized in this collaborative effort to assist in the development of =
a more locally operated and, hence, more robust and economically =
accessible pan-African Internet.<br><br>Moctar Yedaly, Head of =
Information Society Division, African Union Commission, =
commented,=93Africa is paying overseas carriers to exchange =91local=92 =
(continental) traffic. This is both a costly as well as an inefficient =
way of handling inter-country exchange of Internet traffic. Independent =
analysis has shown that Africa pays over US$600 Million to developed =
countries every year for inter-African traffic exchange that is carried =
outside the continent. We are therefore pleased that the African =
Internet Exchange System project will address this challenge by =
facilitating optimization of Internet traffic to support =
intra-continental traffic flows in Africa.=94 <br><br>Dawit Bekele, =
Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Africa, stated, =93We are =
very excited to be selected by the African Union to support the growth =
of IXPs throughout Africa. &nbsp;We believe the AXIS project is =
extremely important to the continued health of the Internet ecosystem in =
Africa, and building the technical infrastructure and training the =
people to sustain it are fundamental to extending the Internet in =
Africa. Partnering with the African Union on the AXIS project is central =
to the Internet Society=92s mission to ensure the open development, =
evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people =
everywhere.=94 <br><br>The Internet Society has provided technical =
training in Africa since the early 1990s, and supports the development =
of human and technical capacity to build reliable and sustainable =
Internet infrastructure in Africa and around the world. The =
organization=92s African Bureau was started in 2006. With 24 Chapters, =
the Internet Society African Bureau works to promote capacity building =
and the responsible development of the Internet throughout Africa. Its =
principle focus is improving interconnection and traffic exchange within =
the continent through the implementation of IXPs, network training, and =
capacity building. &nbsp;<br><br>Link: <a =
href=3D"http://www.internetsociety.org/news/african-unionau-selects-intern=
et-society-support-establishment-internet-exchange-points-across">http://w=
ww.internetsociety.org/news/african-unionau-selects-internet-society-suppo=
rt-establishment-internet-exchange-points-across</a><br><br><br>__________=
_____________________________________<br>To manage your ISOC =
subscriptions or unsubscribe,<br>please log into the ISOC Member =
Portal:<br><a =
href=3D"https://portal.isoc.org/">https://portal.isoc.org/</a><br>Then =
choose Interests &amp; Subscriptions from the My Account =
menu.</div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>=

--Apple-Mail=_0229908F-EA2E-490C-AB22-B2801CAFC463--