The 2009 East Africa Internet Governance Forum (EA-IGF) was held in Nairobi, Kenya starting from 7th to 9th September. The meeting held at Jacaranda hotel was sponsored by Kenya ICT  Action Network (KICTANet) and Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC), attracting an estimate of 140 participants. The theme of the forum was "thinking globaly, acting localy". 

The 2009 EA-IGF was a follow up to the inaugural EA-IGF that was held in November 2008 in Nairobi, which aimed at catalysing the internet governance debate in the East African sub region.

With the increased access to broadband infrastructure in the East Africa region and the continued spread of sophisticated mobile services, understanding and addressing Internet policy issues has become a priority. The national and regional EA-IGF’s will help prepare East African stakeholders to address the opportunities, strengths and challenges that arise, as well as ensuring that they have a voice in shaping Internet policy decisions at the global level.

The EA-IGF 2009 therefore sought to continue strengthening the national and regional dialogues on Internet Governance as well as;

• Increase awareness of Internet Governance issues, including but not limited to local content and cyber security;
• Continue to develop capacity  and skills of various stakeholders and build regional consensus IG issues; and
• Begin to discuss the development of a regional East African Communication policy, among others.

The outcomes of the EAIGF will be submitted to the East African regulatory authority EARPTO, the African Parliamentary Knowledge Network (APKN), the East African Community, as well as, the fourth UN Internet Governance Forum taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2009. Further, the 2009 EAIGF will set the stage for the 37th ICANN meeting to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, in March 2010.

Relevant Documents:

2009 EA-IGF Programme

2009 EA-IGF Programme Session Summary

2009 EA-IGF Presentation on WAIGF