Event Overview
The East Africa Internet Governance Forum (EAIGF) was held in Nairobi Kenya from the 10th to 12th November 2008 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC). The theme of the meeting was 

Opening the Internet Governance Debate in East Africa
“Thinking Globally; Acting Locally”

The EAIGF was a follow up to the national Internet Governance Forums that were held in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda in October 2008 and was aimed at identifying, exploring and building consensus around national level Internet Governance issues.

The meeting was launched by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC), Dr. Bitange Ndemo, and attracted international speakers including, among others, Markus Kummer, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Executive Coordinator.
The main objectives of the EAIGF were:

• To raise awareness of Internet Governance issues among policy makers and stakeholders in the East Africa Region

• To establish which Internet Governance issues were relevant to East Africans

• To build consensus and national and regional positions around relevant Internet Governance issues and

• To share the outcomes of the regional forum with IGF Hyderabad 2008 in India.

First of its Kind

To quote Markus Kummer, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Secretariat Executive Coordinator, (NOT verbatim) “the event (EAIGF) is the first of its kind in the world having brought together representatives from the East Africa region to discuss issues surrounding Internet governance. National IGF’s yes, but regional IGF’s…..never before!”

EAIGF Summary Report. Kindly send your comments on the draft report to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

EAIGF Thematic Areas

The EAIGF brought together representatives from the 4 East Africa states of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to discuss IGF issues that were common in the four countries. 

Discussions surrounded the following thematic areas:

• Access - Supply, Demand and Development

• Content – Development, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Localisation

• Management of Critical Internet Resources

• Cybersecurity, Privacy and Trust

• Governance – Participation in Internet Governance

The EAIGF Logistics Team

The EAIGF logistics team comprised of the following:

1. Vincent Ngundi, EAIGF Logistics Coordinator

2. Alice Munyua, KICTANet Coordinator

3. Harry Hare, EAICT4D Network Coordinator

4. Evelyne Ofwona, KICTANet Human Resources and Administration Manager

Sponsors

The following organisations co-sponsored the EAIGF:

1. The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet)

2. The Kenya ICT Board (KICTB)

3. The Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC)

4. The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK)

5. The Association of Progressive Communications (APC)

6. The International Development and Research Centre (IDRC)

7. The East Africa ICT for Development Network

8. Strathmore University and

9. The Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK)

Publicity

The event was highly publicised in all relevant mailing lists including, inter alia:

• The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) mailing list

• The Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC) mailing list

• The Skunkworks mailing list

• The Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK) mailing list

• The Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP) mailing list and

• The Kenya Internet Users mailing list

• The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) mailing list

• The I-Network mailing list and

• The Sharing With Other People Network (SWOPNET) mailing list

The event was also advertised in the print media (Daily Newspaper) in all the four East Africa countries as well as on the EAIGF website, www.eaigf.or.ke.

Presenters

The meeting drew presenters from the public sector (government), the private sector, civil society and academia. Most important was the representation from the 4 East Africa countries and as the presence of the IGF Secretariat Executive Coordinator.

Participation

The event attracted over 150 participants from various sectors including the public sector (government), the private sector, civil society and academia.

Way Forward

During the meeting, participants agreed to make the EAIGF an annual event with Tanzania volunteering to host the 2009 EAIGF.

The outcomes of the EAIGF will be submitted and presented in form of a report at the third global Internet Governance Forum taking place in India in December 2008.