The New Internet governance setup proposed by the French Senate

The French Senate is proposing a new Internet governance Setup under the United Nations, specifically the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Reading through the paper published by the french senate with raporteur Mrs Catherine MORIN-DESAILLY, Senator for the Seine-Maritime with notice the following issues:

1. An outcry for survival: The French senate considers the present Internet as an “American Thing” Mrs Catherine MORIN-DESAILLY reports “The Internet in fact appears as an extension of legal and economic power. Since the beginning of the 1990s and even before the World Wide Web was generally used, the United States had taken legal and fiscal measures to achieve a leadership position in this technology. Thus today for example, out of the 50 leading digital media companies, 36 are American. In the 2000s, both China and Russia built up their own ecosystems of leading digital companie”
2. The fall of the State power: French rapporteur expresses her fears of the State loosing its power to private companies. It should be noted that 36 out of the top 50 private companies championing the Internet world are Americans. She goes on “Because of the network effect, the Internet is becoming hyper-centralised, favouring major private companies which are
   organised as verticalised silos, particularly in the mobile sector, where they provide devices, operating systems and applications. These 2 EUROPE TO THE RESCUE OF THE INTERNET major players defy States
3. Denouncing a new form of colonization: She considers Europe as a colonized territory by the Internet magnets, arguing that this old continent has lost its grip on the Internet. In her own words mrs DESAILLY says that Becoming a ‘colony of the digital world’, Europe is largely outdistanced by this redistribution of powers. The Old Continent is even going backwards – considering the drop of top EU companies from 12 to 8.
4. An outcry of the American domination: She demonstrate the continuous challenge of the American domination of the Internet Governance. She says “Such American domination of Internet governance is being increasingly challenged. The Tunis Agenda, published at the end of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2005, recognises the equal importance of all stakeholders –governments, the private sector, civil society -in Internet governance and calls for their
   enhanced cooperation. It created for this purpose the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)”
5. A call for action: She demonstrates the importance and indispensability of the open standards of IGF and calls on EU states to agree to embody the founding principles of the NETmundial of Sao Paolo in an international treaty open to all States,
   which could be ratified on line by Web users.This Mission also recommends globalising the governance of Internet on the basis of the NETmundial principles and calls for:- the creation of a network of bodies to provide a distributed and transparent Internet governance, by formalising the roles of and interactions between ICANN, Internet registers…
6. Reforming ICANN (Internet cooperation for Assigned names and numbers) to WICANN (World ICANN)
7. Giving political powers an upper hand on digital issues:  She argues that the governance of digital issues should be better structured politically : within the Council of the European Union through specific ministerial meetings on digital technologies so as to overcome political barriers; within the European Parliament by creating special committees to examine Internet-related texts; in France, through the creation of both an interministerial Committee on Digital Technologies, reporting directly to the Prime Minister, and a Digital Committee in the French Senate whose members would also be members of a standing legislative committee.Furthermore, the European Internet model should be promoted through a proper digital diplomacy policy.

What the founder of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Barner Lee thinks of an ITU cordination of the Internet.

He told BBC, “I think it’s important that these existing structures continue to be used without any attempt to bypass them. These organisations have been around for a number of years and I think it would be a disruptive threat to the stability of the system for people to try to set up alternative organisations to do the standards.”

QUESTIONS FROM AFRICA AND OTHER COUNTRIES FROM THE UNDER DEVELOPED WORLD

We are wondering what will become of Africa if the Internet governance is handed to the United Nations in its present configuration with five countries dominating the world. What will be the constitution of the World council Mrs DESAILLY is talking about? we are interested to know how the members of this council will be nominated or voted and what is the guarantee of transparency. Will the outcome not be influenced by the Internet giants still from the private sector?

These are just a few preoccupations  I think we should ponder before giving the French proposal a chance.

Download details on the French Proposal @ http://www.senat.fr/fileadmin/Fichiers/Images/commission/MCI_nouvelle_gouvernance_de_l_internet/EUROPE_TO_THE_RESCUE_OF_THE_INTERNET_english_summary.pdf

 

Net Neutrality in Cameroon: discussion on STV

TV talk on Net Neutrality

An interactive multi-stakeholder discussion on Spectrum Television (STV) Douala, Cameroon on the 26^th of July 2014 from 3pm- 4:30pm Cameroon time. The presenter of the show was Amy Banda, panelist included Excel Asama, CEO of I-Vission International (www.ivission.net) and Ngwaneba Jonathan, managing Director of Leading Edge Technologies Cameroon (www.letecam.com)

For ninety minutes, the panelist explored the concept of Net neutrality and surrounding issues including:

• The actual context of the Internet as a whole in Cameroon
• The reasons behind the slow bandwidth
• Regulatory issues (in the ability of the regulator to redress the issues)
• Network Shaping and censorship
• Deep Packet inspection Technologies
• Legislation in Cameroon
• What structures have been put in place to manage the Internet as a resource and
• Online safety

Some questions from televiewers

 Televiewers were interested to know why the Internet bandwidth is slow in Cameroon, how can they work safely online and what are the indicators that a user’s bandwidth is either throttled or system hacked.

We noticed that some of the questions were asked by government officials and ISPs. This programme will be rebroadcasted today Sunday at 10:30pm and on Wednesday at 4pm Cameroon time on STV (Voice of the Voiceless)

Observations

1. The discussions on Net Neutrality in Cameroon are getting more and more emotional and sensitive
2. Government officials and ISPs are not willing to make public declarations. They instead prefer to meet us in our offices for any talk.

Netsquared camp 2013 Cameroon

 

The goal of Netsquared Camp 2013, Cameroon was to build a community of techies and members who can actively participate in the extension of the network both in their local communities and beyond. This was done through:

• One week workshop to train participants on web development, fund raising and online Communication from the 9^th to the 12^th of September 2013,
• One day conference on the 20^th of September 2013 with the press to mobilize new members for local groups.

​One week workshop

This workshop brought together fifteen motivated and engaged citizens from different social backgrounds among which were civil society organizations, civil servants, businesses and religious bodies. The participants had a wonderful marathon in learning the following web applications: Web development :

• Wix (www.wix.com)
• Digital mapping (www.Ushahidi.com)
• Social widgets and how to embed them in website and blogs

Initiation to Web Communication

• Introduction to web 2.0
• Online campaigns/activism with focus on  Email marketing (mailchimp.com), petitions (www.change.org) surveying (www.surveymonkey.com) online events planning (www.eventbrite.com), Meetup (www.meetup.com)
• Blogging/Micro blogging (Word press, Facebook, Twitter…)
• Online photos and videos broadcasting with case study Flickr (www.flickr.com) and Youtube (www.youtube.com)

One day conference

The conference assembled fifty five (55) participants including civil servants, civil society, techies, businesses and pressmen @ hotel Lewatin Doulala.

Major activities of the day

·         Presentation of Netsquared and Techsoup by Excel Asama

·         Restitution of the one week workshop by Grace Same, Coordinator of Women and Girls in ICTs Working Group (www.wgict.net)

·         Presentation of the global campaign on ‘Women raise their voices for peace through Social Media’ by Sylvie Ndongmo president of Women Peace Initiatives, founder of FEMNET Cameroon and coordinator of the AWANICH and COREFAC Networks in Cameroon and Central Africa.

Key projects presented

·Prevention Talk:An initiative to demonstrate the power of Web2.0 in the prevention of socio political crisis and the promotion of pace with case study; legislatives and municipal elections in Cameroon come September 30; 2013.

Website:www.preventiontalk.com

Presenter:Excel Asama

Organization:I-Vission International (www.ivission.net)

·  Cameroon Road Safety Platform presented by Grace SAME. The objective of the project is to combat road insecurity in Cameroon via the Internet.

Website: under construction @ www.camroadsafety.com

Netsquared Camp Cameroon 2013 attempted a response to the following needs:

1.      Slow penetration rate of the network in this part of the world;

1. Indifference of citizens to ICT matters as a result of ignorance;
2. Absence of a team of techies ready to engage in ICT start ups.  

 Outputs of the Camp

• Fifteen (15) participants were trained on Web development, Web Communication etc
• A team of techies to boost the Netsquared Network  was put in place
• We succeeded to create awareness on the Netsquared network in particular and the ICTs as a whole in our Sub region through national and international press
• More members joined Netsquared Cameroon local groups from 92 to 104 and is growing
• Four Regional Delegates from Government officially declared their support for the network!

Pictures

–         Workshop pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivission/sets/72157635495860704/

–         Conference pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivission

Cameroun : Prévenir des crises socio politique grâce à Internet

Sur le thème « Bâtir une communauté d’experts en TIC pour une collaboration novatrice » en Anglais « Build a community of techies for innovative collaboration », l’ONG I-VISSION International vient d’organiser une formation de quatre jours à l’intention des responsables des OSC et des administrations publiques sur le bon usage du WEB 2.0.

Du 09 au 12 Septembre 2013, une quinzaine de participants encadrés par Excel Abel Asama, le Président de I-VISSION International, ont appris à mieux utiliser Internet et surtout sa version WEB 2.0 dans son application relative à la prévention des revendications sociales qui dégénèrent souvent en rébellions comme celle que l’on vit actuellement en Syrie.

Au terme de cette formation ils ont mis en place une plate-forme dénimmée PreventionTalk (Ptalk) qui va permettre de prévenir des incidents, avant, pendant et après le processus électoral en cours dans le pays.

Cette formation a pris fin par une conférence de presse le 20 Septembre dernier à l’Hôtel Lewet de Douala au cours de laquelle les participants ont présenté aux femmes et hommes de média ce qu’ils ont retenu des enseignements reçus.

La formation proprement dite

Partie intégrante du programme Netsquared Cameroun 2013, et en réponse à certaines défaillances observées sur le terrain à savoir : une faible pénétration du réseau Internet au Cameroun, l’indifférence des citoyens vis-à-vis des questions relatives aux TIC du fait de l’ignorance et l’absence d’une équipes d’experts prêts à s’engager dans le travail de formation des pépinières des TIC, cette formation s’articulait autour de trois points essentiels.

Dans le premier point, il s’est agi du développement du WEB avec son système de gestion de contenu, l’initiation aux applications mobiles, la cartographie numérique (exemple Ushaidi) et Widgets et dans son second point relatif à l’initiation à la communication WEB, l’on s’est intéressé à l’intriduction au WEB 2.0, aux campagnes et activisme en ligne, au blogging, micro blogging avec des exemples sur Word press, Facebook ou Twitter, les enquêtes et sondages en ligne, Online Video/photots, Youtube ou Flickr et enfin dans le troisième point l’on a parlé de développement personnel et de leadership.

Lors de l’évaluation de cette formation, les participants n’ont pas manqué d’exprimer leur satisfaction au facilitateur pour la qualité des enseignements dispensés.

 La conférence de presse

La conférence de presse a permis à Excel Abel Asama, le Président de I-VISSION International, Ambassadeur Netsquared/Trechsoup Global Afrique, coordonnateur Netsquared Cameroun de présenter aux journalistes et à l’assistance Netsquared et Techsoup, deux organisation non gouvernementales basées aux Etats-Unis dont le rôle est de même en contact des hommes et des associations dans le but de les aider à résoudre les problèmes auxquels ils font face, de s’entraider mutuellement. Il a également présenté le projet PTalk.

Grace Same, Directrice de projet à I-VISSION International et Coordinatrice du projet Women and Girls in ICT Working Group Africa a restitué les grandes lignes de la formation sur le WEB 2.0 et présenté le projet Cameroon Road Safety Platform éléboré au cours de la formation et qui a pour objectif de lutter contre l’insécurité routière au Cameroun à travers le WEB 2.0 et enfin, Madame Sylvie Ndogmo, la Présidente de Women Peace Initiatives, Fondatrice du réseau FEMNET et coordinatrice des réseaux des associations féminines AWANICH et COREFAC a entretenu l’assistance sur la Journée Internationale de la Paix et présenté la Campagne Mondiale de la Paix dont le thème set « Les Femmes élèvent la Voix Pour la Paix » à travers les média sociaux.

Les journalistes et lezs particiapnts à cette conférence de presse ont voulu, à travers un jeu de questions-réponses, en savoir plus sur les différents projets présentés par les orateurs et se sont surtout attardés, actualité oblige, sur la plateforme PTalk.

La plateforme PTalk

Ce projet dont la mission est de démontrer le pouvoir des TIC dans la prévention des crises sociales a permis à l’assistance de comprendre son mode d’interactivité. Les promoteurs de cette plateforme gérée par trois personnes dont Excel Abel Asama, Grace Same deux professionnels des TIC et Georges Ndenga, un professionnel des média, se sont inspirés des crises sociopolitiques en Côte-D’Ivoire, Tunisie, Egypte ou Kenya, qui auraient pu être évitées s’il y avait eu une conversation républicaine et citoyenne entre les différentes partis prenantes à ces crises. Elle s’inspire des concepts de médiation sociale et de journalisme citoyen comme outils de promotion d’un processus de construction ouverte  et démocratique de dialogue pacifique. Sa mise en ligne permet déjà à différentes personnes de s’exprimer et de faire des suggestions quant au bon déroulement du double scrutin législatif et municipal du 30 Septembre prochain au Cameroun.

 Les recommandations des participants

Celles-ci étaient nombreuses et diversifiées mais les plus importantes ont porté sur la multiplication et la tenue régulière de pareilles formations pour la mise en place de plateformes dynamiques de la société civile, l’intéressement de beaucoup de femmes aux TIC dans le but de bâtir des réseaux solides d’échanges d’expériences et d’expertise, les pouvoirs publics accorder plus d’importance, d’encouragement et d’implication aux initiatives individuelles de formation sur les TIC, les opérateurs économiques à appuyer et à apporter leur appui financier nécessaire à ces initiatives individuelles, les médias Camerounais à se faire l’écho de ces formations et de ces initiatives individuelles, les internautes Camerounais et étrangers à participer activement aux plateformes PTalk  (www.preventiontalk.com) et Cameroon Road Safety (www.cameroonroadsafety.com) et enfin les bailleurs de fonds et les partenaires au développement locaux et étrangers du Cameroun à financer des formations du genre afin de réduire davantage la fracture numérique dans les pays émergents ou en oie d’émergence et de prévenir les crises sociales qui ne cessent de naître et de se développer dans le Monde et qui pourraient, sirien n’est fait, dégénérer en Troisième Guerre Mondiale.