The Africa Internet Summit 2016 (AIS'16) took place in Gaborone, Botswana, from 29 May - 10 June 2016. Over 365 people took part in training sessions, workshops, tutorials, parallel meetings, policy development discussions, plenary sessions, elections and networking events. The meeting was organised by AfNOG and AFRINIC and generously hosted by BOCRA. The organisers would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the AIS'16 sponsors, partners and donors and the attendees, whose continued dedication and support ensure that the AIS remains one of the region's leading ICT events. We look forward to seeing you all in Nairobi, Kenya, for the AIS'17, from 21 May - 2 June 2017.
The AIS'16 agenda can be found here. Click on the Info section to see the presentation slides.
Meeting statistics can be found here.
Detailed Daily Recaps of each day's events can be found here.
Session recordings (6 - 10 June only) can be found here.
Opening Ceremony
The AIS'16 Opening Ceremony took place on Monday 6 June at 17:00. Formally opened by Minister of Transport and Communication HEM Tshenolo Mabeo, the session also saw speeches by the representatives of the AF*: Pierre Dandjinou (ICANN), Boubakar Barry (AfREN), Dr Nii Quaynor (AfNOG), Marcus Adomey (AfricaCERT), Ali Hadj (AfTLD), Raul Echeberria (ISOC), Alan Barrett (AFRINIC), and Thari G. Pheko (BOCRA). The Opening Ceremony was followed by a Welcome Cocktail.
AIS'16 Training Sessions
The AIS'16 sessions were held from 29 May - 6 June and offered a wealth of training courses, workshops, tutorials and panel discussions on topics including Cybersecurity, IPv6, RPKI, DNSSEC, infrastructure, monitoring, routing, CSIRT, App Development, Internet number resource management and more. Over 230 people took advantage of these sessions. An overview of all of the training sessions can be found on the agenda.
Africa CERT Forum
The Africa CERT Forum took place on 4 June. Over 60 people attended this lively parallel meeting with discussions focusing on the importance of cooperation among the various CERTs in the African region as well as practical tools and strategies that Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) can implement. A panel discussion on the opportunities and challenges that African CSIRTs face also took place with much of the discussion centering around the need for cybersecurity communities to build stronger relationships to facilitate information share.
ICANN Day
ICANN representatives, regulators, TLD operators and governments also gathered on 4 June for ICANN Day. Several Internet dignitaries gave presentations, including Botswana's Deputy Permanent Secretary for Media at the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology Jeff Ramsay, ICANN Board Members George Sadowsky and Mike Silber, ALAC Chair Alan Greenberg, and Tanzania’s Network Information Centre (NIC) Manager and AFRINIC Board Member Abibu Ntahigiye. ICANN representatives also gave an overview of several ICANN programs and activities including updates on the IANA Stewardship Transition, the NextGen and Fellowship Programs and ICANN IDN programs.
Women in ICT Forum
The AIS'16's female industry leaders gathered for the Women in ICT Forum to share knowledge, best practice and success stories. During the morning sessions, the Internet Society hosted Connected Women, a particularly lively event where four of Africa’s digital trailblazers - Evelyn Namara, Dorcas Muthoni, Agang Ditlohogo, and Michuki Mwangi - shared their experiences on developing capacity in ICT and discussed how the community can work together to overcome cultural barriers to promote greater involvement of women developing and using Internet technology across Africa. Over 80 people attended the forum, many of whom took the opportunity during the panel discussion to share their own experiences and direct questions to the speakers | Watch the video stream here.
AIS'16 Newcomers Session
On 6 June, first time meeting attendees were given a comprehensive introduction to the AIS'16, the AFRINIC Meetings and the AFRINIC community. Discussions centred on the various organisations and stakeholders that make up the African - and global - Internet industry, what AFRINIC is and does, the AFRINIC community and the bottom-up policy development process | View slides
AfREN/AA Meeting
The The Africa Research and Education Networking (AfREN)/ Meeting took place on 6 June. Around 40 attendees were given updates from three regional RENs : ASREN, Ubuntunet Alliance and WACREN as well as an overview on the EC funded Africaconnect2 project. The session concluded with a brainstorming session on the sustainability of AfREN.
AfGWG Meeting
Government representatives and regulators from the African continent gathered for the AFRINIC Government Working Group (AfGWG) Meeting on 6 June to discuss matters of importance to governments in the region and beyond. Topics included IXPs, IPv6 deployment and IPv4 exhaustion.
AfNOG Session
On 7 June the plenaries kicked off with the African Network Operators' Group (AfNOG) session. There was a packed agenda on offer, which saw several interesting presentations take place on topics including certi::6 - AFRINIC’s IPv6 Certification System, IPv4 semantics, Managing the DNS Root Zone KSK, IP hijacking, cybersecurity and DNSSEC. The session also included reports from local Network Operators' Groups (NOGS) and messages of support from DotAfrica, ICANN Africa and AfREN. Kathy Brown, Internet Society (ISOC) CEO, gave an inspiring keynote speech and Alain Aina delivered the Secret Working Group report. Links to each of the presentations can be found here.
FIRE Africa Workshop
The three-day FIRE Africa Workshop took place from 7 - 9 June. The workshop introduced the topic of Project management to hand-elected participants who had either been FIRE Africa Grantees or Award winners in the past or who were applying for the 2016 round of Grants.
Policy Day
Policy Day took place on 8 June. With a packed session and several policy proposals to discuss, the session began with policy overviews from each of the other four RIRs. The day continued with intense discussion on the following current policy proposals:
Discussion focused on the need to acquire an IPv6 block before requesting IPv4 space, the rationale behind the set maximum IPv4 block size to be allocated during the exhaustion phase and the need to reserve space for Critical Internet Infrastructure. There was considerable support and some opposition. The proposal was sent back to the list for further discussion.
Discussion focused on the fact that the proposal appears to be a “Crash Landing” rather than “Soft Landing” proposal as its main focus is to accelerate the consumption of IPv4 space rather than delay it. This proposal received mainly opposition rather than support and hence goes back to the mailing list for further discussion.
Discussion focused on the fact that IPv4 space should not be allowed to leave the continent, since much of the infrastructure on the continent is still in its infancy. As the rest of the developed world has been resistant to deploying IPv6, it affirms that IPv4 is still here for the long haul. As no consensus was reached, the proposal was sent back to list for further discussion.
Discussion focused on the need and importance of audits and that these should be put in place by AFRINIC to enable proper monitoring of compliance with policies. The community expressed concerns about exposing members’ confidential information during those audits and the possible workload these audits may put on AFRINIC staff. As no consensus was reached, the proposal was sent back to list for further discussion.
The proposal was supported by the community members present as written. This policy proposal is currenty under discussion on the rpd mailing list.
PDWG Elections
Elections for a second Policy Development Working Group (PDWG) Co-Chair took place. Only one candidate, Sami Hassan Omer Salih, stood for election. As no objections from the community were voiced, Sami assumed the position of the PDWG co-Chair alongside Seun Ojedeji. However, at the end of the day, Seun announced his resignation. Dewole Ajao was elected to complete Seun's remaining tenure (until June 2017) after Seun stepped down. The community thanked Seun for his tireless work and contribution to the PDP over the years and welcomed Sami and Dewole into their new positions.
Open Policy Hour
The open policy hour enabled the community to discuss anything policy-related. Discussion focused on
- A consensus-building document that contains guidelines for the PDWG Co-Chairs to determine consensus on policy proposals inline with the PDP.
- The need to draw the line between duties of the election committee and nominations committee (nomcom) during election proceedings.
- Authors of different proposals need to sometimes collaborate when proposals have common parts.
AFRINIC AGMM
AFRINIC Members and community observers gathered on 9th June at 14:00 for the AFRINIC Annual General Members' Meeting (AGMM). Elections for the open seats on the Board of Directors took place. The following candidates were elected by the Members:
- Sunday Folayan / Western Africa region
- Hytham El Nakhal / Northern Africa region
- Seun Ojedeji / Non geographical seat
The community welcomed back Sunday and Hytham and welcomed Seun onto the Board. Outgoing Director Aminata Garba was thanked for her work over the last years.
An outline of the board activities for 2015 and the first half of 2016 was given, focusing on achievements including the recruitment of Alan Barrett as CEO and a change in budget strategy. The budget is now based on activities’ key requirements and needs as well as on the availability of funds
Alan Barrett, CEO AFRINIC, provided the AFRINIC Activities Update. This was followed by presentations on AFRINIC's finances and budget for 2016. Highlights included:
- 150 new members joining AFRINIC in 2015.
- AFRINIC is expected to meet its budget for 2015/16.
- Expenses across all key areas decreasing during 2015
The AFRINIC Board also discussed other revenue sources to ensure sustained growth in membership in light of the potential effects that IPv4 exhaustion will have, including how to monetise products being developed by AFRINIC’s Innovation & Research teams and expanding AFRINIC’s capacity building efforts by looking at way to monetise training for those who are not members.
Detailed minutes and the recording of the meeting will be available on AGMM section of the AFRINIC website shortly.
AFRINIC-24 Plenary
The AFRINIC-24 plenary sessions began on 9 June, kicking off with updates from the APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and RIPE NCC, followed by the IANA Update and the Address Supporting Organization Update.
IANA Stewardship Transition Panel
A Panel Session on the IANA Stewardship Transition took place, with discussions focusing on the status of the ongoing status of the transition and an overview of recent news.
Panel: Seun Ojedeji, Janvier Ngoulaye, Elise Gerich, Pierre Dandjinou, Raul Echeberria, Fiona Asonga and Alan Barrett (moderator).
The plenaries continued on 10 June with a packed agenda including panel sessions and presentations on a wide variety of topics.
Historical Perspective of the Af* Organisations Panel
A lively panel session on the "Historical perspective of the Internet and AF* organisations" kicked off the day in the main room. The session was rich in both insights and anecdotes, in addition to showcasing some of the most important pioneers in African Internet development.
Panelists: Alan Barrett, Alan Greenberg, Nii Quaynor and Pierre Dandjinou. Panel chaired by George Sadowsky
Af* Updates
Representatives from the Af* organisations - AfNOG (Noah Maina), AFRINIC (Madhvi Gokool), ICANN Africa (Bob Ochieng), ISOC Africa (Dawit Bekele), AfPIF (Michuki Mwangi), and Aftld (Abdalla Omari) - gathered in the main room to give an update on their activities.
ICANN Africa Strategy Session
Pierre Dandjinou, Bob Ochleng, William Stuke, Mark Elkins, Loren Kabosha, Pierre Ouedraogo and Yaovi Atohun led the ICANN Africa Strategy session. Pierre Dandjinou, VP for Africa, led the Africa strategy session in the plenary that was aimed at updating the community on the various projects and activities that the ICANN team has been executing though FY16. Yaovi and Bob jointly presented on these activities and projects while calling for even more collaboration and support from the community and the Af* & I* especially with the ICANN office now formally housed in Africa. The session also included a presentation by the SACF who are currently conducting an Africa DNS Market study and who used the planform to call upon the community to respond to the online questionnaire hosted at : https://dnsafrica.study/ . Pierre Ouedraogo updated the community on the plans and status of the Africa Internet History Project, a project aimed at documenting the journey of the Intenet in Africa from the perspective of the pioneers
NCUC Outreach Session
The Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) Outreach Session took place, chaired by Anriette Esterhuysen. This event introduced NCUC to organisations and individuals at the Africa Internet Summit. The session showcased some of its successes regarding policy making and impacting policy making within ICANN through a series of brief introductions by the active members. The session also highlighted the importance of domain names related policies and how to participate effectively to voice African non-commercial users concerns.
ISOC Cyber Security Panel
The ISOC Cybersecurity Panel, moderated by Dawit Bekele, took place. The panel discussion on "Internet Infrastructure Security in Africa” was organised by Internet Society. The panelists were Ahmed Hussien Seid, Ben Maddison, Choolwe Nalubamba and Niel Harper. It was chaired by Dawit Bekele. The panel discussed on identifying the major security challenges facing the Internet Infrastructure in Africa in view of preparing guidelines that will serve the African countries in their effort to protect their Internet Infrastructure from present and future threats. The contributions from the panel as well as from participants enabled to gather information on what Internet infrastructure needs to be protected, what are the threats and from where they come, which infrastructures are easy targets, the measures that need to be taken and the stakeholders that need to be involved. The panel also discussed the type of guidelines that need to be developed.
Presentations throughout the day included:
- Modelling the Impact of the Internet in Africa - Mukom Tamon
- African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms - Emilar Gandhi
- Promoting Internet Content in Africa - Michael Kende
- Mobile Applications in Citizen Journalism - Daniel Nanghaka
- IPv4 Exhaustion and the Role of Price in Technology Investment Decisions - Fried Gabe
- Lame Delegations in WHOIS Database - Logan Velvindron
- A Framework for Increasing IPv6 Deployment Success to 100% - Mukom Tamon
- OpenSource Systems Development as a FastTrack Cost Effective Technology Solution Towards the Development of Africa - Phemelo Khetho
- IPv4 Transfer - Alain Durand
- Fund For Internet Research and Education (FIRE Africa): Create. Enable. Connect. Mwendwa Kivuva
- L'initiative PAHFINDER de GKPF : un partenariat « Gagnant-Gagnant » - Olivié Kouami
- Internet of Things, Big data, and Cyber security - Farell Folly
- Cloud and Big Data - Bonface Witaba
- Internet Possibilities in Rural Africa, Stories of Empowerment - Agang K. Ditlhogo
Links to all presentations can be found here.
ASO-AC/NRO-NC Elections
Elections for the AFRINIC region's representatives on the ASO-AC / NRO-NC took place on 9 June. Omo Oaiya was the successful candidate, replacing Fiona Asonga whose term will be ending at the end of 2016.The community thanked Fiona for her hard work over the years.
Gala Dinner
The AIS'16/AFRINIC-24 Gala Dinner took place on 9th June from 19:00 - 21:00 at Botswana Craft. Generously sponsored by ITPT Networks and LARUS, over 300 people attended to experience local culture, music, food, dancing and more.
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