jeudi 11 avril 2013

Brief on a local Internet governance



The Internet Governance as defined after the Tunis Summit on the Information Society in 2005 became a concept and concern of the states, private sector and civil society. Those different actors and stakeholders part s'activated to ensure a bright future and a better future Internet to the international community.
The African countries do not remain on the sidelines of this concern because the Internet is a tool that all communities are entitled without any discrimination. Benin is also involved in this process through its local players, stakeholders and various commercial and non commercial entities.  
Several challenges and practical needs were clearly identified at the national level for better governance of the Internet. This is primarily the Freedom and Privacy, security and management of critical Internet resources. Despite these priorities, international challenges are not ignored at all.
 With regard to access and diversity, efforts from both government and civil society are implementations for a better service to citizens of the Internet. The State supports and strives through the private sector for an Internet available to the community without discrimination and geographical position.
As for the Internet Governance for Development [IG4D] it is also a transversal priority for the Internet community in my country Benin. Efforts are doing to provide paper relate to capacity building and establishment of an appropriate framework for the evolution of the Internet.
In terms of priorities related to the management challenges of Internet governance at the local level, they fall into three categories namely:
  •     The freedom and confidentiality of data and resource users
  •        The security of the Internet
  •        And the management of critical Internet resources.


From the point of view of freedom of expression and human rights, users of Benin have a free environment of major trade without restriction. The internet has become the platform of choice for communication. But the real danger here is based on the respect of user privacy and the confidentiality of user data. On these points the multi-stakeholder governance has  promoted the establishment of the Privacy Commission which works to protect the privacy of users of digital.
The other point is inseparable protection and Internet security. The joint United Group in Promoting cyber security in africa with Benin Telecom SA History operator can ensure security on the Internet in Benin and better traffic control.
Management of critical resources of the Internet remains a very important level of local governance of the Internet in Benin.
For example the domain name. BJ still suffers and is rarely used. Unlike other countries where it is managed by the actors of the Internet, the Internet community, this domain name suffers from its monopolization by the state telecommunications operator. Therefore it is very difficult to acquire and use; its maintainability and continuous service too are not easy.


By Ramanou B.

International Space Apps Challenge




Les 20 et 21 Avril 2013, EtriLabs servira de cadre à un événement mondial dénommé « International Space Apps Challenge » organisé par la NASA (National Air and Space Administration) se déroulant dans plus de 75 pays sur 6 continents sur la Station Spatiale Internationale. Pendant ces deux jours, les citoyens du monde entier vont travailler ensemble pour relever les défis actuels pertinents à l'exploration spatiale et aux besoins sociaux. Cotonou et St Louis au Sénégal sont les seules villes d’Afrique Francophone retenues cette année. Il n'y a que 3 autres sites dans le reste du continent.

A Cotonou, plusieurs équipes développeront des applications, des logiciels et autres dispositifs et les meilleures propositions seront primées. C'est également une occasion pour montrer au monde que le Bénin fait de bonnes choses malgré les défis particuliers que nous devons surmonter.