Hi everyone,
The 4th Summit on Community Networks (CNs) in Africa will take place in Dodoma, Tanzania from 28 October – 2 November 2019. The Summit hopes to promote the creation and growth of CNs, increase collaboration between CN operators in the region, and provide an opportunity for them to engage with other stakeholders.
The main activities planned include:
• Training Workshop: 28 - 29 October 2019
• CN Summit Plenary: 30 - 31 October 2019
• Site Visit to Kondoa Community Network: 1 - 2 November 2019
The event is targeted at CN operators, policy makers, researchers, evangelists, sponsors, and related networks such as community radio.
The 4th Summit is organized by the Internet Society in partnership with APC and hosted by the University of Dodoma.
Application for fellowships will be open soon. Limited fellowships will be awarded to qualifying applicants.
Link to the Event Registration page will also be shared shortly.
Learn more about previous summits held in Africa: https://www.internetsociety.org/events/summit-community-networks-africa
Regards,
Michuki.
Hi All –
We are hiring a new Senior Director of Fellowships.
Our Fellowships programme is being revamped, and we are looking at better synergies related to our substantive focus areas, including key community input throughout our processes.
Please spread the word. Job info is here: https://internetsociety.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=77
Best,
Jane
Internet Society | www.internetsociety.org
Skype: janercoffin
Mobile/WhatsApp: +1.202.247.8429
Dear all,
Just a brief report on the excellent discussion we had at RightsCon.
The session was very good and we had very interesting exchanges and comments from participants. The meeting we had after the session was really excellent, we progressed a lot with regard to the type of document we want to develop as DC3 annual outcome and, as a cherry on top, the meeting was perfectly gender balanced.
First we agreed to avoid using the term “Model Policy” for our outcome but to rather call it Policy Proposal to signify that we are not being prescriptive but we are simply putting forward suggestions for proper CN policies.
The target audience for the outcome are regulators and our aim should be to offer useful information. In this spirit, we agreed to build a threefold outcome document, including
1) A brief introductory session on CNs and their core elements. For this purpose, we could utilise a brief 2-page text that Steve and Carlos prepared for WSIS.
2) The CN Policy Proposal that should be reworked including an introduction explaining that the aim of the proposal is to offer a set of core (and non-exhaustive) elements as policy suggestions to regulators willing to consider CNs and that such elements should ALWAYS be discussed as a first step with local CN representatives, to understand the specificities of such elements in the local context and obtain feedback on the proposed elements, etc
3) A final part calling for further research in specific areas, while already referencing existing literature and good practices that should be considered by regulators
We identified 4 macro areas that we could explore in 4 webinars over the next months, ahead of the IGF, so that we can consolidate them into the final section of the outcome document:
- Access to infrastructure including spectrum
- Licensing, fees and compliance
- Taxation and funding
- Fundamental rights
To facilitate the webinar, Kira has agreed to utilise her podcast organising a series of 4 webinars dedicated to the abovementioned areas (to be called “Rights to the network” or something along these lines). Steve and I have volunteered to be the curators of the first and last webinar respectively. I have not noted in my notes other volunteers so there are still two webinar left open in case you are interested in being a curator: be my guests!
The DC3 session will be therefore largely dedicated to the presentation and debate of the outcome document, to have further feedback. We can print copies of the document to present them at the IGF but the goal is to use the outcome doc as a working document that could be updated in the future and is not cast in stone
All comments are more than welcome!
All the best
Luca
Hi all,
In the lead up to IGF 2019, we’ll be livestreaming 4 webinars on topics related to ‘Rights to the Network’ to help build capacity and knowledge around issues related to community networks and to collate resources for the DC3 annual outcome on community networks, which Luca emailed about on June 17th.
The first webinar is this Wednesday, July 17th at 16:00 BST and will be livestreamed on the YouTube Channel for the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at the University of Oxford<https://www.youtube.com/user/PCMLPOXFORD>. Steve Song and I will be talking about ‘Access to Infrastructure’ for community networks, including open access to telecom data, expanding access to fibre and spectrum, infrastructure ownership and the tensions between private and public ownership, and more.
The goal of the webinar is to popularize and raise awareness of these issues and also to collate resources, insights, and experiences related to each topic in order to inform the DC3 outcome this year. To this end, we invite you to:
1. Participate in the livestream! Leave comments on the YouTube video and ask questions during the broadcast. You can tweet your comments and questions using #GlobalMediaQ.
2. Send us your suggested resources/readings/insights around the theme (Access to Infrastructure): feel free to email directly to me (kira.allmann(a)csls.ox.ac.uk<mailto:kira.allmann@csls.ox.ac.uk>)
We look forward to seeing you (virtually) on Wednesday, and stay tuned for an announcement about the next 3 webinars…!
Warm wishes,
Kira
--
Dr Kira Allmann
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Media Law & Policy, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies
Communications Director, Oxford Human Rights Hub
Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
kira.allmann(a)csls.ox.ac.uk<mailto:kira.allmann@csls.ox.ac.uk>
FYI
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Todd Moss (Energy for Growth Hub) <info(a)energyforgrowth.com>
Date: Tue, Jul 2, 2019 at 5:58 PM
Subject: The Hub in Axios | As global energy access improves, cost and
reliability lag
To: Michael Oghia <mike.oghia(a)gmail.com>
July 2, 2019
[image: Hub Logo]
Dear Michael,
Axios and the Axios Generate newsletter featured Todd's article this morning.
A link is here
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
or the full piece is below. Please share this email with a colleague or
retweet below.
[image: Axios Logo]
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
As global energy access improves, cost and reliability lag
By Todd Moss
Progress continues to be made on global energy access, with the latest
report
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
from the International Energy Agency finding that 89% of the world’s
population is connected to electricity.
*The big picture: *These impressive, rapid gains have kept the world on
track toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7): modern energy
access for all by 2030. As household access improves, the agenda to combat
energy poverty is shifting to affordable and reliable access for business.
*Where it stands: *The number of people living without electricity has
dropped to 840 million, from 1.2 billion in 2010.
- Kenya and Bangladesh made the fastest progress over the past 8 years,
driven by aggressive government investments in last-mile connections.
- The greatest challenges will soon be limited to sub-Saharan Africa,
where the report projects that 90% of the world’s 650 million people still
without electricity access will live in 2030.
*But, but, but. *Residential electricity accounts for only 5% of global
energy consumption
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
.
- Electricity at home has benefits, but impact studies from India
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
and Kenya
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
show that neither off-grid solar home systems nor on-grid connections for
the very poor increase incomes.
- Meanwhile, many middle-income countries at or near universal access
still suffer from dysfunctional power systems. Business surveys
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
across Asia and Africa frequently cite high energy costs and unreliable
power among the greatest constraints to business productivity and, by
extension, job creation.
- A new World Bank report
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
on electrification argues that policymakers need to shift strategy to
center on the "productive use" of electricity at affordable rates.
*Between the lines: *
- High relative energy costs make it harder for firms in regions like
sub-Saharan Africa to compete globally.
- Lack of reliability is even more damaging. Lost output from outages
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
— in addition to the costs of backup systems — can be devastating for
competitiveness.
- Building an energy system for residential and business customers
should be mutually reinforcing. But the push for universal access in
Kenya
<http://energyforgrowth.acemlna.com/lt.php?s=3c228e556dbead3eb73c4d830785741…>
and other countries has at times strained electric grids and ended up
undermining reliability.
*What to watch:* As more countries approach universal access, they'll have
more latitude to set energy targets around cost and reliability that will
have a stronger impact on economic growth.
Energy for Growth Hub, 2055 L St NW, Washington, DC 20036, United States
Hi All -
I just wanted to share this info re TVWS and connecting people.
Best,
Jane
Internet Society | www.internetsociety.org
Skype: janercoffin
Mobile/WhatsApp: +1.202.247.8429
On 7/3/19, 10:35 AM, "1st-mile-nm on behalf of Richard Lowenberg" <1st-mile-nm-bounces(a)mailman.dcn.org on behalf of rl(a)1st-mile.org> wrote:
Microsoft, Sacred Wind attack digital divide in rural NM
By: Kevin Robinson-Avila / Journal Staff Writer 6 days ago
(See the article for photos)
https://www-abqjournal-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.abqjournal.com/133392…
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque-based Sacred Wind Communications is
partnering with Microsoft Corp. to provide wireless broadband to remote
New Mexico communities through unused TV spectrum.
Sacred Wind will install Microsoft technology to tap into “TV white
spaces,” or unused UHF and VHF broadcast spectrum, to potentially
provide high-speed internet for the first time to up to 40,000 rural
households over the next eight years, Sacred Wind CEO John Badal told
the Journal.
“This technology allows us to leap frog over older technologies to get
broadband to more rural areas,” Badal said. “Microsoft’s equipment costs
about the same as other technologies widely used today, but it has much
farther reach. The radio waves travel longer distances, and they can go
through thick foliage, penetrate walls and roll over hills.”
The Federal Communications Commission made UHF and VHF spectrum
available for broadband several years ago. But new equipment to manage
carrier-grade broadband signals with enough capacity to satisfy
customers was needed by providers like Sacred Wind to tap into TV white
spaces, Badal said.
With Microsoft equipment in hand, the availability of TV spectrum could
now open a lot more rural communities to affordable, fixed wireless
service.
“Those frequencies are being used in urban areas, but they’re unused and
available where there are no local TV channels, which is most of rural
America,” Badal said.
The partnership is part of the Microsoft Airband Initiative, which aims
to expand broadband to 3 million unserved people by July 2022. Under the
initiative, launched in July 2017, Microsoft has signed partnerships
with local service providers in 16 states. That will grow to 25 states
by year-end.
“The broadband gap is hindering tribal and rural communities from
reaping the social and economic benefits that come with access to the
internet,” said Shelley McKinley, Microsoft general manager of
technology and corporate responsibility, in a prepared statement. “Our
partnership with Sacred Wind Communications will bring reliable,
high-speed Internet to underserved communities in New Mexico so that
they can access the same opportunities as their urban counterparts.”
Sacred Wind will install transmitting microwave equipment on existing
towers, and will also build a few new tower sites. It will attach
receiving antennae on customer’s roofs.
Microsoft and Sacred Wind will share installation costs and revenue from
the new service, Badal said.
Pricing has not been determined yet.
The technology will first be deployed in Grants, Milan, San Rafael,
Yatahey and areas within the Navajo Nation’s Church Rock Chapter.
Depending on success in that first-phase, which begins in late summer,
the partners will expand service to more Navajo communities.
Sacred Wind, which launched in 2006, is the only private
telecommunications firm in the country dedicated to providing services
solely on tribal lands.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute 505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl(a)1st-mile.org www.1st-mile.org
---------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
1st-mile-nm mailing list
1st-mile-nm(a)mailman.dcn.org
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/1st-mile-nm
I just visited the http://commconnectivity.org/ and it doesn't resolve.
Will we continue the work on the https://comcon.nu and redirect this domain
that no one wanted to maintain?
If people want, I can share editor credentials on comcon.nu and we should
really keep updating it rather regularly AND share those posts in the
social media, if we actually want some wider traction with our
collaboration. I created all of this after our meeting in Mexico and I
think we should really start showing (and updating) our presence now. I
think this should really be a crowdsourced effort, since we're all
volunteers here.
-Raoul