ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network is undertaking a pioneering project to complement existing regional mechanisms for stakeholders from the African continent to share knowledge, consult each other, interact with stakeholders around the world, and develop a shared understanding of and capacity around digital policy issues.
A key outcome of this project, the Internet & Jurisdiction's Regional Status Report on Cross-Border Digital Policies in Africa has been produced to help frame, map and address cross-border digital policies across the African Continent.
Watch this video to learn more about the project:
This project is enabled with the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
ABOUT THE REPORT
Dr. Alison Gillward, Executive Director of Research ICT Africa (RIA) has been commissioned to prepare the Report.
"The need for this report which will tap into the collective local knowledge of multiple stakeholders to understand the regional status of cross-border policy challenges in relation to the Internet, in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns and the compounding negative effects digital inequality has had on the ability of people to mitigate its negative impacts, has never been greater. But this also provides an opportunity to identify and reflect on the nature of the challenges. It will enable us to find consensual ways to cooperatively govern cross-border issues to enable the flow of information that will be essential to preparing for the next inevitable pandemic and realising wider economic objectives for the continent such as the African Continental Free Trade Area. Undertaking this project with I&J will enable us to contribute to the broader continental project envisioned in the Digital Transformation Strategy of the African Union Commission," said Dr. Gillwald.
Through the utilization of regional mechanisms and partnerships, recurring workshops, in-depth data collection, the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network Regional Status Report "Framing, Mapping and Addressing Cross-Border Digital Policies in Africa", will consolidate the timely information needed to enable the necessary capacity building to pursue an inclusive digital transformation based on evidence.
Through a series of knowledge dialogues furthering meaningful multistakeholder participation and in-depth data collection, the resource aims to provide the information needed to develop interoperable policy and regulatory frameworks and contribute to the ambitions set-forth in Africa’s Agenda 2063 and the UN Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
ABOUT INTERNET & JURISDICTION STATUS REPORTS
For the past years, the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network has collaborated with regional and global institutions, through the production of its Internet & Jurisdiction Status Reports.
This has included the launch of the first Internet & Jurisdiction Global Status Report at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum on November 27, 2019, during a Special Session. Authored by Professor Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, the report presents a first-of-its-kind mapping of internet jurisdiction related policy trends, actors and initiatives.
In 2020 the Secretariat of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network and the United Nations Economic Cooperation for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC) launched the Internet & Jurisdiction and ECLAC Regional Status Report 2020 in a special session within the framework of the 7th Ministerial Conference on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean on November 24, 2020. The Report, authored by Carlos Affonso Souza, aims to serve practitioners as a roadmap to some of the most pressing issues surrounding policymaking and the cross-border nature of the Internet in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Learn more about the I&J Status Reports here.
Learn more about the I&J Global Knowledge Network and the expert contributions that make these reports possible here.
