In October 2018, the Internet Society together with our partner, the Digital Empowerment Foundation, organized the second edition of Community Network eXchange Asia-Pacific (CNXAPAC) with a focus on how two sets of community operators — community radio network operators and community (Internet) network operators — could explore synergies in the work they do.
The event was kindly hosted by UNESCO at their Delhi office, and brought together more than 50 participants from around the world to exchange knowledge and best practices, and see how the Internet can improve the lives of underserved and unserved communities.
In many parts of the world, community radio stations play an important role in providing information to the public — particularly in rural communities. The community radio community have expertise in setting up radio communications, as well as creating content relevant to their local communities. This presents a wonderful opportunity for this community to add Internet services to their repertoire, and 12 community radio operators from around India were brought to CNXAPAC to learn about Internet community networks, and how these could be deployed in their local communities.
Thank you everyone for making #CNX2018 bigger and better | We hope to weave this network together to establish better #CommunityNetworks and Radios and take forward the learnings #SwitchItOn @internetsociety @ISIF_Asia pic.twitter.com/nv1awrf22g
— DEFindia (@DEFindia) October 31, 2018
The Internet Society Asia Pacific Bureau has been working on community networks since 2010 as part of its Wireless for Communities initiative, focusing on South Asia in particular. Our work has always focused on connecting underserved communities using readily available economical network equipment and not specialized and expensive equipment.
We also place great emphasis on the local community being trained to manage, operate, and maintain the network. Our efforts have led to hundreds of networks being inspired and deployed in the sub-region, providing access to tens of thousands of people.
This year, we piloted the Internet Society’s Community Network Champions project with great success. This brought together fellows from Africa, the Caribbean, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands in a 10-day immersive training and knowledge exchange program in India. The participants were provided with technical training and spent a number of days in one of our rural India project locations, observing firsthand the positive impact community networks can have on the local community.
Over the years we have built a great deal of knowledge and expertise in community networks in India and South Asia, and the Community Network Champions project is one way through which we can share our knowledge and expertise with the rest of the world.
While not all community network deployments are the same, they share the same goal to connect the unconnected and empower the community through the Internet and the digital services that it enables.
Read the report on CNXAPAC 2018 and the Community Network Champions Program.
We look forward to the Community Network Champions initiating projects and plans in their home economies so that their underserved communities can also benefit from the power of the Internet, and the socioeconomic empowerment it can enable.
Adapted from original post which appeared on The Internet Society Blog.
Rajnesh Singh is the Asia Pacific Bureau Director for the Internet Society.
The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of APNIC. Please note a Code of Conduct applies to this blog.