[Chapter-delegates] Application to form an ISOC chapter in Sierra Leone

[Anne Lord]

Dear Colleagues,

The following application for a new Chapter to be formed in the  
Sierra Leone has been received. It is being sent to this list for peer
comment and review.

Please note that the chapter is not yet formed. If there are people  
on this list that know the individuals proposing to form the chapter,  
feedback is especially welcomed.

The period allowed for comments is 2 weeks and the deadline is Monday  
16th April.

Please do not hesitate to contact me on or off list.

Best wishes,

Anne


The Sierra Leone Chapter of the Internet Society (ISOC.SL) Application

A. Proposed name of the Chapter
The Sierra Leone Chapter of the Internet Society (hereby referred to  
as ISOC.SL)

B. Community of Interest the Chapter will to serve
The Chapter will serve the country of Sierra Leone, in West Africa.  
All Sierra Leoneans at Home and the Diaspora will be served.

C. Purpose and Scope of Chapter
ISOC.SL’s principal purpose is to maintain and extend the development  
and availability of the Internet and its associated technologies and  
applications - both as an end in itself, and as a means of enabling  
organizations, professions, and individuals worldwide to more  
effectively collaborate, cooperate, and innovate in their respective  
fields and interests.

Its specific goals and purposes include:

* Development, maintenance, evolution, and dissemination of standards  
for the Internet and its internetworking technologies and  
applications to 	Sierra Leoneans at home and in the Diaspora;
* Growth and evolution of Sierra Leone’s Internet architecture;
* Maintenance and evolution of effective administrative processes  
necessary for operation of the global Internet and internets;
* Provide education and research related to the Internet and  
internetworking;
* Harmonization of actions and activities at international levels to  
facilitate the development and availability of the Internet in Sierra  
Leone;
* Collection and dissemination of information related to the Internet  
and internetworking, including histories and archives;
* Assisting technologically developing countries, areas, and peoples,  
specifically Sierra Leone, in implementing and evolving their  
Internet infrastructure and use;
* Liaison with other organizations, governments and the general  
public for coordination, collaboration, and education in effecting  
the above purposes.

ISOC.SL Background Information:

ISOC.SL on the WWW.  ISOC.SL is currently located online at  
www.sierravisions.org/isocsl. Eventually the portal will be hosted at  
www.isoc.sl.  Establishment of ISOC.SL will encourage involvement and  
contributions to the development of Internet technologies in Sierra  
Leone.  Background work on the management of .SL domain can be found  
http://SierraLeonePortal.net/nic

ISOC.SL Mission and Vision:

The mission of ISOC-SL will be largely based on the vision of its  
founding members, member organizations and partners given that  
Internet Development in Sierra Leone to date has been slow and  
dispersed. Internet has been treated much like an imported commodity  
and its potential in the country’s economic development remains  
untapped. There are now signs that key stakeholders are realizing  
that this new medium is open to be employed and developed in a way  
that it serves our cultural, social and economic interests. The  
management of the .SL domain will be central to maximizing this  
potential in a just and equitable manner. The establishment for ISCO- 
SL among other initiatives in the government, private sector, public  
sectors and academic sectors is a testament to this emerging vision.  
A sense of the ensuing ISOC-SL mission and the length and breath of  
ISOC-SL vision can be found in the intersection of the following  
notes by founding members:

The Diaspora/Non Government (Chrystabel Davis and Cecil John)

The Sierra Leone Diaspora is an international community of Sierra  
Leoneans at home and abroad.  We have worked diligently over the last  
two years to evolve ISOC.SL as a professional membership organization  
that includes key institutions, stakeholders and individuals who can  
influence the IT policies and practices around the .SL domain. In our  
efforts to bridge the divide amongst stakeholders, the information  
supplied and activities provided by ISOC would contribute immensely  
to our work.

Sierra Leonean Professionals, academics & entrepreneurs, abroad and  
amongst the Diaspora, are using the Internet more effectively as a  
primary medium for collaboration, social networking and archiving of  
documents and multimedia.

Individuals, and institutional (in the private and voluntary/NGO  
sector) are collaborating towards a common objective of narrowing the  
digital divide between the poor and wealthy in Sierra Leone, and  
between the Sierra Leone indigenes and Diaspora. The establishment of  
ISOC.SL would be an essential catalyst for these processes, as this  
will form a core institutional foundation from which various project  
initiatives could spring.

The formation of ISOC.SL is key to the facilitation of access to  
secondary level domains such as .gov.sl for the public/government  
sector, .com.sl for private and .org.sl for non-profit and non- 
governmental agencies.

Institutional Development of .SL Domain (Adrian Q. Labor):

Institutions are the backbone of strong democratic countries  
irrespective of size. The human resource, the professionalism and  
visionary directions for all facets of nation building emanates from  
the ideas, reviews, discussions, conferences, reports and policies  
that take place with institutional settings. In the digital era, the  
increasing speed and portability of technologies has provided  
unimaginable opportunities for institutions in developing nations  
such as Sierra Leone. The capacity to archive and retrieve all forms  
of media generated by institutional activities from anywhere lends  
itself to our nation’s current decentralization objectives.   
Institutions that are at the forefront of nurturing Sierra Leone’s  
fragile democratic ideals will need the .SL space to be managed  
effectively with agreed upon principles of equality and equitable  
access at all times irrespective of ethnicity, gender and political  
beliefs.  The ISOC.SL provides the forum for public Institutions to  
collaborate with Government, Private Sector, Business and others in  
ensuring their vision for information collection and dissemination is  
achieved. Representatives of frontline institutions are already  
engaging this process by getting involved in the establishment of  
ISOC.SL

Internet Related Service in the Private Sector (Conrad Parkzes):

Establishment of ISOC.SL will encourage standardization and  
uniformity as well as collaboration between the different providers  
of Internet related services in Sierra Leone ultimately providing the  
end-users with a much more productive and enriching Internet  
experience.  Currently Sierra Leone has approximately ten different  
Internet Service providers mostly centered around the capital city of  
Freetown.  ISP use separate infrastructure with no direct inter- 
connectivity in the country. Traffic from one service provider to  
another has to go across satellite links to Europe and/or North  
America before going back down to the other user thereby creating a  
less than optimal Internet experience for users especially when  
trying to access local content such as online newspapers, government  
agency websites, etc.  ISOC.SL will work with local government and  
Internet industry stakeholders to work on the creation of a ‘carrier  
hotel’ environment whereby local content is encouraged to remain  
local thus contributing to Sierra Leone eventually becoming a net  
producer as it relates to the Internet instead of the current state  
where the country is a net consumer.

ISOC.SL will also work to encourage the establishment of fiber  
connectivity across key towns/cities in the country as well as  
obtaining access to the SAT-3 fiber link for Internet access.  With  
VSAT satellite Internet access being the only option currently for  
outside links to the country, the cost for Internet service to end- 
users is still very high as providers have high backbone costs thus  
severely limiting the rate of Internet penetration in the country.   
ISOC.SL in collaboration with key stakeholders will work to encourage  
investment in Internet backbone bandwidth to help decrease the cost  
of Internet service to end-users thereby helping to bridge the much  
talked about digital divide.  The recently formed National  
Telecommunications Commission has established a Universal access  
telecommunications fund that will be used to fund the expansion of  
Internet and Telecommunications services to rural areas.  ISOC.SL  
will work with this commission on coming up with solutions such as  
those from companies such as Inveneo and Green Wi-fi that are built  
specifically for energy deprived economies like Sierra Leone.   
Availability of high bandwidth links will have significant economic  
impact for the country as Sierra Leone will then be in a better  
position to take advantage of its low cost, educated English-speaking  
workforce to offer services such as call center outsourcing and banks  
and other businesses. Currently businesses rely on expensive VSAT  
links for connectivity between sites. In future, with high bandwidth,  
they will have lower Internet and connectivity costs and in turn pass  
the cost savings on to the consumers.


Private Sector’s Competitive Advantage in Delivering IT Services  
(Daniel Chaytor):

It is well known that the strategic use of information technologies  
such as the Internet can work as a catalyst for a country’s  
development and contribute significantly to its competitive  
advantage. The ISOC.SL initiative provides a unique opportunity for  
private sector IT firms in Sierra Leone to network and partner with  
similar firms both within Sierra Leone and in the sub-region and the  
rest of the world. It also allows the achievement of economies of  
scale by providing training, assisting in the production of local  
content and providing content production and hosting services to  
other organizations wanting to produce their own content and make it  
available online.

ISOC.SL will work actively to pursue funding to tap into the SAT-3  
Fiber link that encircles the African continent. This will provide  
robust, affordable, high-speed internet access for Sierra Leone. As  
in the case of the Gambia, Internet service providers can benefit by  
providing new access technologies to end users once the link is in  
place. A more efficient means to administer and manage the .sl domain  
also becomes a reality.

Extract from National Communication Project (Lionel George)

The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) Communications Strategy,  
adopted by cabinet in November 2005 as the National Communication  
Strategy, identifies “public information dissemination” as “crucial  
to democracy and instrumental to sustaining peace in Sierra Leone.”  
The GoSL Communications Strategy document, now constituted in the  
GoSL Communications Strategy project with funding from the United  
Nations Development Program (UNDP) County office, noted the  
ineffectiveness of government at “communication some of the  
undeniable gains made since the war”/ It argues for a newly  
resourced, strategic and business-focused communication approach for  
public information” in the country. The document proposes “open  
channels of communication approach for public information” in the  
country. The document proposes “open channels of communication” among  
its identified stakeholders as a lead to an informed citizenry and an  
attractant for foreign investment capital, while helping to build  
confidence in the GoSL with “all constituencies, national and  
international”.

The project implementation strategy lays out key “strategic  
management objectives”: information coordination, information  
management and dissemination.
This involves coordination of information at the line ministry level  
and a regular, efficient and effective information management and  
dissemination approach targeted to key constituencies. In a general  
sense, the project calls for the provision of “strategic assistance” in:

* Capacity building (training, technical assistance and exchange of  
experiences to strengthen national communication offices and functions
* Support to Execution (specific, tailored support in media  
relations, opinion polling)
* Advocacy (facilitating dialogue between GoSL and Journalists,  
consensus building and policy advisory as required for project  
implementation).

Hi Anne:

Apologies for missing out the contact details. Please see the  
attached two tables below, and let me know if you need anything else.

Regards,
Chrystabel Davis
cdavis at sierravisions.org

D. List of Founding Members.

Chrystabel Davis
E-Mail: cdavis at sierravisions.org
Phone Number: 1 240 328 0728
Mobile Number: 1 240 328 0728
Fax Number: 1 240 554 1555

Adrian Labor
Email: aqlabor at sierraleoneportal.net
Phone Number 240 271 4602

Cecil John
  E-Mail: cj at virtualdeveloper.com
Phone Number: 703 5974378
Fax Number: 202 3187673

Daniel Chaytor
Email: chay at tmm-web.com
Phone: +232-22-240747
Fax: +232-22-240747
Mobile: +232-76-60520

Lionel George
Email: lag at ipam-usl.org
Phone Number: +232 76 608450 /33 608450

Maxwell Massaquoi
Email: mmassaquoi at broadrangesolutions.com
Phone: +232 (33) 312920

Conrad  Coyanda-Parkzes
E-Mail: cparkzes at apafrica.com
Phone: +1 703 935 1566
Mobile : +1 703 300 2032
Fax : +1 703 656 4752

Bimbola Carrol
Email: info at otolo.net
Phone: +4420 7193 4532
Mobile: +44 7939 016 405
Fax: +44 20 8181 6571

Evelyn Lewis
Email: elewis at sbtsgroup.com
Phone: +232-33-344-266, + 1-202-595-1955x555

Agyeman Taqi
E-Mail: tiqtaq2001 at hotmail.com
Phone Number: +232 22 223736
Mobile Number: +232 76 655998
Fax Number: +232 22 226143

These are members who’ve already signed up as Individual Global ISOC  
Chapter Members:

Mr. Adel S. Suliman
Mr. Ansumana J Kaikai
Mr. Vivian Sidney Gorvie
Mr. Aiah Kortequee
Mr. Alvin Emerson-Thomas
Ms. Tayseer Abdel-razig
Mr. Chinya Harleston
Ms. Chrystabel Davis
Mr. Cecil John
Mrs. Malak M Abdel-razig
Mr. Kizito Kaloko
Mr. Adeyemi Browne
Mr. Alphonso Pratt
Mr. Ishmael Kargbo
Mr. Claudius John
  Mr. Tamba Kortequee
Mr. Joseph James
Mr. Momoh Conteh
Mr. John Awoonor-Gordon
Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura
Mr. Linford Roy-Macauley
Mr. Chrisford Davis
Mr. Martin Malamah-Thomas
Mr. Michael Kowa
Mr. Adrian Labor
Mr  Ayodele Spencer
Mr  Maxwell Massaquoi
Mr. Desmond Bishop
Mr  Claribel Hinton/Sawyerr
Mr  Mamesho Macaulay
Mr  Ade Daramy
Dr. Bidemi Carrol
Ms. Giileh Scholtz
Ms. Edleen Elba
Ms. Noellen Barber.
Ms. Angeline Bishop
Mr. Conrad Parkzes
Ms. Leah Mansaray
Mr. Bimbola Carrol
Mr. Daniel Chaytor
Mr. Agyeman Taqi
Mr. Lionel George
Mr. Daniel Chaytor
Mr. Evelyn Lewis

E. List of ISOC.SL Supporting Organizations/Partners.

E. List of ISOC.SL Supporting Organizations/Partners.

Sierra Leone National Telecommunications (NATCom)
Maxwell Massaquoi
Email: mmassaquoi at broadrangesolutions.com
Phone: +232 (33) 312920

Sierra Visions
Mamesho Macaulay
mamacaulay at sierravisions.org
Phone: 1 240 328 0728

Sierra Leone Network
Amadu Massally
amadu.massally at gmail.com
Phone: 703 9559212

Sierra Leone Telecommunications Limited (Sierratel)
Claudius John
Email: support at sierratel.sl
Phone Number: +232 22 235981

APA
Mohamed Hersi
mhersi at apafrica.com
Phone +1 703 626 2651

SBTS Group
Roselynn Lewis
rlewis at sbtsgroup.com
Phone: +232-76-768-440

Virtual Developer
  E-Mail: cj at virtualdeveloper.com
Phone Number: 703 5974378
Fax Number: 202 3187673

Tiwai Memory Masters
Mohamed Alpha Turay
pheaus at tmm-web.com
Phone: +232-76-602729

BroadRange Solutions
Maxwell Massaquoi
Email: mmassaquoi at broadrangesolutions.com
Phone: +232 (33) 312920

Digitized Networks
Adrian Q. Labor
DNetWorks at sierraleoneportal.net

CISCO
Gordon Williams
Email: gowillia at cisco.com
HP

Bolaji Olutade
Email: bolajio at sbcglobal.net
IBM Corporation

Leah Mansaray
Email: mansaray at uk.ibm.com
Phone: + 44 793 9455782

Otolo Web Solutions/ VisitSierraLeone
Bimbola Carrol
Email: info at otolo.net
Phone: +4420 7193 4532
Mobile: +44 7944 356 110
Fax: +44 20 8181 6571

QuantumNet
Agyeman Taqi
E-Mail: isoc at quantum.sl
Phone Number: +232 22 223736
Fax Number: +232 22 226143


F. Local Requirements

The local requirements to qualify the Sierra Leone Chapter as  
Organization with Legal Entity Status that have been completed are as  
follows:

1. Developed  and lodged an ISOC.SL Deed of Establishment at an  
Sierra Leone Public Notary. (See Appendix A)

G. Additional Information

Additionally, we have attached an excerpt of the National  
Communication’s (NatCom) .gov.sl Project (See Appendix B)

H. Your Contact Information
Name: Chrystabel Davis
Business Address: P.O. BOX 3271, Laurel, MD 20708
E-Mail: cdavis at sierravisions.org
Phone Number: 1 240 328 0728
Mobile Number: 1 240 328 0728
Fax Number: 1 240 554 1555