At the ongoing Africa Internet Summit (AIS) at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel, global Internet organizations such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Internet Society’s Uganda Chapter have shared their perspectives on African representation in the Internet ecosystem, and participation in shaping the Internet’s future. The event dubbed AIS’19 is taking place till the 21st of June 2019.
ICANN actively engages in helping to raise awareness as well as build capacities around the domain name system, and the Internet in general across the African continent. The body helps people connect to each other online through the coordination of parts of the Domain Name System (DNS). It translates computer host names into IP addresses, as well as the Internet Protocol addressing system used to route Internet traffic.
The body has been supporting and holding several activities in the region, with a lot more set up at the AIS such as the Workshop for African Registries, Registrars and Registrants on 15 June; and the ICANN Day on 16 June.
Pierre Dandjinou, the ICANN Vice President of Global Stakeholder Engagement in Africa, argues that Africa’s digital potential is rising and this makes it urgent for the continent to have its say on the global Internet governance and protect its interests.
“With this in mind, ICANN is committed to providing equal opportunities to inform the region’s different communities about the domain name industry, and working with them on how best to not only strengthen Africa’s online presence, but also improve their participation within ICANN. Uganda is no exception.”
Lillian Nalwoga, the President of ISOC Uganda Chapter, asserts that ICANN has an important role to play in the successful Internet penetration within Africa, and adds that Ugandans should use he opportunity to grasp their share of the Internet space.
“We need to have this dialogue about the Internet now, and not later; as Africa is not outside the realms of the Internet. Every policy made about the future of the Internet concerns us, too. So, we need to join the decision-makers, and not stay as bystanders.”
Uganda still faces a large obstacle when it comes to Internet. As per the 2019 Jumia Mobile report, the Internet penetration stands at 19 million users, of which 2.5 million of these are active social media users. This implies that 42% of the population have access to the internet, and 5.6% uses the access for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, and the likes.
However, the implementation has been blocked by the introduction of the OTT tax. Pollicy released a report titled “Offline and Out of Pocket” studying how the tax impacted the social and economic aspects of the day-to-day lives of Ugandans.
The survey showed that majority of the people felt that the OTT tax should be removed, with only 7.2% of these feeling that it should not be removed. Majority of these responded to have used social media for their business activities and have since reported reduced income following the tax implementation.
