By Staff Writer
The Internet Society Zimbabwe Chapter (ISOC-ZW) hosted a webinar to discuss the state of connectivity in rural communities and options to bridge this gap in Zimbabwe.
Event organizer and ISOC-ZW’s Policy and Governance lead, Wadzanai Chihombori Ndlovu, said the webinar was a first of several planned events to discuss challenges and opportunities of providing connectivity to rural communities through innovative technologies such as community networks.
“As ISOC-ZW we plan to bring together communities, technical experts, policy makers and civil society organisations representatives to share their views on how Community Networks can be an innovative and viable option to help connect the unconnected,’ she said.
The coronavirus outbreak disrupted daily activities across sectors in the country including education. Schools were left scrambling for alternatives to continue providing education through non-contact learning. While some schools managed, many in the rural communities were forced to suspend learning activities throughout the lockdown phases.
Participants attending the webinar underscored the importance of Internet access, especially during the coronavirus outbreak going into the future. The availability of Internet enables online learning which could be supplemented with traditional technologies such as radio to offer comprehensive learning.
The webinar focused on the presentation of the Mobile Solutions for Marginalised Communities (MOSMAC) connectivity initiative implemented in Beitbridge presented by Dr. Leon Gwaka, a Research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania who is leading the project.
“Community networks present an option to address the connectivity needs of resource-constrained communities. The challenges faced when setting up and operating a community network are many, inclusive of perennial lack of funding, vague licensing framework and regulation as well as lack of technical capacity within communities,” Gwaka said.
Jabhera Matogoro, CEO for Tanzania Community Networks and an Open Internet Mozilla Foundation Fellow, highlighted the importance of involving the community members throughout the process of initiating, implementing, and operating a community network.
“Noone must be left behind in initiating, implementing and operating community network and it is important that we involve all members of the community in this important undertaking,” he said.
Member of Parliament, Hon. Nguluvhe highlighted the importance of following protocol when implementing projects in communities while committing to providing support to initiatives aiming to improve the livelihoods of the community.
“Every development initiative though welcome must be done according to set protocol and standards to ensure buy-in and acceptance. Government will always be ready to support any such initiatives aimed at improving livelihoods,” he said.
The webinar provided an opportunity for stakeholders to initiate dialogue on efforts to connect the unconnected. Through discussions, webinar participants concurred that in most cases, there are duplicated efforts in some communities which must be aligned to benefit the community. Also, there were suggestions to learn from other successful initiatives such as the Zenzeleni network in South Africa which is operated by the community to provide Internet access to the local school, businesses, and the community.
The discussion recommended the involvement and training of youths in communities to set up and operate, repair and maintain a community network and lead other initiatives. Stakeholders made concrete pledges to support efforts to connect the unconnected. Event organizer and community networks expert, Wadzanai, pointed these discussions will serve as an opportunity to discuss unique challenges Community Networks and initiatives face,” we plan to connect them, prevent working in silos, promote community ownership empowerment and amplify local sustainability”.
As a way forward, ISOC, working with the various stakeholders, will embark on documenting existing connectivity efforts across the country and facilitate discussions among the implementers to explore ways to fast-track providing connectivity.
The webinar was attended by experts and stakeholders in the internet space including the Member of Parliament for Beitbridge East, Hon. Albert Nguluvhe, Murambinda Community Network leader Joseph Bishi, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Policy and Legal Officer, Nompilo Simanje, Engineer Mavis Mawunganidze, and Community Informatics Practitioner, Michael Graaf.
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