SAMENA Telecommunications Council has announced its collaboration with the Internet Society, to help ensure sustainability of the Internet and to foster digital trust-building, as the world embraces new communications technologies and new challenges emerge within the digital space. The Internet Society is a global non-profit promoting the development and use of an open, globally connected, and secure Internet.
Expressing his warm welcome to the Internet Society on this new collaboration front within the ICT Industry, Bocar BA, CEO & Board Member, stated: "The aim for Universal Digital Access depends greatly on the protection, sustainability, and inclusive access to the Internet. We are surrounded by new challenges and while opportunities ahead of us are tremendous, so are the difficulties. It is critical that trusted bodies within the Industry join hands and collaborate to address Internet policy, technology standards, and future development issues. We are delighted to enter into a collaboration framework with ISOC."
Sharing the Internet Society’s views, Rinalia Abdul Rahim, Senior Vice President, Strategy, Communications and Engagement at the Internet Society, stated: “Our partnership with SAMENA Council will help us do more for the Internet. By promoting security in Internet routing, the role of community networks, and the need for quality Internet measurements, we will be helping to shape not just the future of the Internet in the region, but also the benefits it can offer to all those who use it. Together, we will be able to assist organizations in adopting technical best practices, and we will be more effective in advocating for policies that deliver a bigger, stronger Internet for everyone.”
This new partnership between SAMENA Council and the Internet Society will help highlight the need for routing security and the adoption of Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS), an activity aimed at securing global Internet routing, with participants ranging from Telecom Operators, ISPs, Cloud providers, Internet Exchange Points, Content Delivery Networks, to Internet Companies. As a part of the collaboration, both SAMENA Council and ISOC will help conduct technical capacity-building workshops and introduce the concept of community networks which are communications infrastructure built, managed and used by local communities to address connectivity gaps in underserved areas within the SA-ME-NA region.
About the Internet Society
Founded in 1992 by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society is a global non-profit organization working to ensure the Internet remains a force for good for everyone. Through its community of members, special interest groups, and 120+ chapters around the world, the organization defends and promotes Internet policies, standards, and protocols that keep the Internet open, globally connected, and secure. For more information, please visit: internetsociety.org.