From Demand to Delivery: Building Digital Capacity Around Local Priorities

Earlier this year, ICANN shared how its longstanding cooperation with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) supported efforts to meet growing demand for digital capacity-building across Africa.

This cooperation also contributes to work under the Coalition for Digital Africa, which brings organizations together around Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure, meaningful connectivity, and capacity development.

The May update reported expressions of interest from more than 20 countries and regional bodies. As of September, eight countries and organizations were engaged across 13 workstreams. These figures reflect different stages: The first records initial expressions of interest, while the second reflects work that has progressed into active workstreams. Other requests remain at earlier stages of discussion or development.

Needs vary across the region, and the activities reflect those different priorities. In Nigeria, work is underway on Internet Exchange Points, Universal Acceptance (UA), and Internet governance capacity-building for regulators and legislators. Discussions elsewhere in the region have focused on DNS Abuse, UA, and Internationalized Domain Names. At the intergovernmental organizations level, requests include support for government participation in ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), including from the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), which represents eight member countries, and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), which represents 17 African member countries.

The starting point is each country’s or institution’s assessment of its own needs. A request may involve technical infrastructure, policy questions, or participation in ICANN processes. ICANN, ITU, and ATU draw on regional organizations and local technical specialists where their expertise is relevant.

Several activities have already been concluded. These include a GAC capacity-building series of webinars for African member states of the CTO from June to October,  a capacity-building workshop during the International College meeting of the Association française pour le nommage Internet en coopération (Afnic) in Paris; a first UEMOA GAC capacity-building webinar in July, a second one in September, and a third one in October; a Country Code Names 

Supporting Organization webinar delivered with Afnic and Côte d’Ivoire; and a hybrid UA workshop with the Nigerian Communications Commission in August.

The work has also supported steps toward more active government participation. During September, one government completed the formal appointment of a GAC representative and the update of its delegation. Several additional governments also updated their GAC representation.

Other requests have progressed to different stages of development. Some activities are being developed into work plans, while others require further discussions to establish priorities and agree on next steps. This reflects the different needs and circumstances of the countries and organizations involved.

These first months reinforce the value of starting capacity development with locally identified priorities. Bringing together the right expertise can help ensure that support responds to the issue at hand, rather than with a predefined list of training topics.

Ultimately, a workshop or webinar is only one part of the process. Its value also lies in what it enables afterwards: stronger participation, better-informed policy discussions, clearer institutional roles, or more effective engagement with the Internet community.

Existing workstreams will continue over the coming months, and further expressions of interest are expected. Through the Coalition for Digital Africa, we will continue to share what is delivered and what we learn from our work.