[Chapter-delegates] Re : NEWS RELEASE: African Union (AU) Selects the Internet Society to Support Establishment of Internet Exchange Points across Africa

[Narelle Clark]

A MASSIVE well done to all concerned on this.

This type of project is exactly why we are here.

I wonder if there is room, scope, capacity, funding sources, partners and
need for similar projects in the Pacific, Asia, South America, the Middle
East and Eastern Europe?

Is this a model for other areas? What would be needed to do the first base
assessment of the feasibility and need for such projects?


Narelle


-- 


Narelle Clark
President
Internet Society of Australia
ph: 0412 297 043
int ph: +61 412 297 043
president at isoc-au.org.au
www.isoc-au.org.au

> On 23.8.12, cover at isoc.org <cover at isoc.org> wrote:
>
> De: cover at isoc.org <cover at isoc.org>
> Objet: [Chapter-delegates] NEWS RELEASE: African Union (AU) Selects the
> Internet Society to Support Establishment of Internet Exchange Points
> across Africa
> À: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org
> Date: Jeudi 23 août 2012, 13h35
>
> African Union (AU) Selects the Internet Society to Support Establishment
> of Internet Exchange Points across Africa 
>
> Project includes 60 capacity building workshops in 30 countries
>
> [Johannesburg, South Africa --23 August 2012] – 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’s 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.
>
> 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.
>
> Currently, much of Africa’s 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.
>
> Moctar Yedaly, Head of Information Society Division, African Union
> Commission, commented,“Africa is paying overseas carriers to exchange
> ‘local’ (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.”
>
> Dawit Bekele, Internet Society Regional Bureau Director for Africa,
> stated, “We 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’s mission to ensure the open
> development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people
> everywhere.”
>
> 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’s 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. 
>
> Link:
> http://www.internetsociety.org/news/african-unionau-selects-internet-society-support-establishment-internet-exchange-points-across