Volume 8 - EN AFRALO NEWSLETTER Volume 8 | English January 2022 The latest news from the African At-Large Regional Organization (AFRALO) Visit our Website AFRALO Chair's Remarks Seun Ojedeji, AFRALO Chair Dear Colleagues, I trust you are staying safe and maintaining all safety precautions during this period of pandemic. On behalf of the AFRALO Leadership (Myself, Aziz Hilali and Abdeldjalil Bachar Bong), I welcome us all to our final newsletter for the year 2021 (volume 8). Our AFRALO Webinar series 2021 continued in Q4 with the topic: “Data Security”, with participation from members of our community. This webinar was also an initial step into drafting the statement for the Joint AFRALO-AfrICANN meeting that was held during the ICANN72 Virtual Annual General Meeting (vAGM). The AFRALO Webinar series 2021 was initiated to keep our community engaged, making this “online only” time more beneficial and productive for all. Due to the limitations in our face-to-face meetings imposed by the current health crisis. The webinar series will continue to alternate between topic-based and activity-based, both of which are geared towards improving capacity and participation of our members within ICANN. As earlier mentioned I encourage members of our community who would like to lead any of the upcoming webinar topics to contact the coordinators in person of Tijani Ben Jemaa and Bram Fudzulani. In 2019, AFRALO leadership reactivated the AFRALO operating principles Rules of Procedures working party (afralo-rop) and tasked them with review of the Individual membership section of our operating principles. I am happy to report that after several cumulative hours of meetings and engagement with the AFRALO community, the working party completed their work. I would like to once again thank the working party led by 2 Co-Chairs namely Isaac Maposa and Abdeldjalil Bachar Bong and the entire members of the group for a job well done. The draft changes to the operating principles were put to a vote of members and I am glad that the proposed changes were approved by the membership by their votes. That said, the voting process on the operating principles brought out certain revelations that there are some of our existing ALSes who have not been following any of our activities owing to the fact that some of the ALSes did not fulfill one of their membership obligations which is their participation in a voting exercise. We shall therefore be launching a process next year to re-confirm all our ALS membership; this will fall under the scope of one of our out-reach and engagement strategic objectives. Finally, I would like to thank the At-Large staff members, Africa GSE team lead by Pierre Dandjinou, all our AFRALO members and colleagues within the ICANN community for your work and support through the year 2021. We have engaged through this virtual year and will be entering into another virtual year as far as ICANN meetings are concerned. I trust that we shall remain steadfast by contributing our part within the ICANN community, I also trust we stay safe in our various environs even as various variants of the Covid-19 emerge. Here is to wish us all a fulfilled 2021 and a wonderful 2022 in advance! Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief: Seun OJEDEJI Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Aziz HILALI Managing Editor | Secretariat: Abdeljalil Bachar BONG Editor (English): Remmy NWEKE Co-Editor (French): Olévié KOUAMI CONTRIBUTORS Pierre Dandjinou,ICANN Regional Vice President, GSE Africa ENGLISH Brenda Namata Bukola Oronti Emmanuel Mfitumukiza Foldestine Pay Jules Nizeyimana Mary Uduma Mutegeki Cliff Agaba Nomsa Mwayenga Yazid Akanho FRENCH Bakary Kouyaté Michel Tchonang Linze Olévié A. Kouami Full list of team members SUPPORT ICANN At-Large Staff staff(a)atlarge.icann.org About AFRALO African Regional At-Large Organization: Engaging Africa for Development AFRALO is the home of the individual Internet user community for the African region. It provides news, key resources and interactive information sharing tools for individuals and end-user groups in the African region who are interested in ICANN and in shaping the future of the Internet. AFRALO aims to: Strengthen users’ participation in ICANN decision-making structures Help ensure that its members will actively encourage more direct participation by end users Build Internet policy making capacity in the region Reach out to Internet users on the issues in the scope of ICANN Represent users’ interests and defining public interest aspects of Internet governance with specific focus on the areas of privacy, transparency, and accountability Strengthen consumer protection in ICANN policies Identify social impacts of technical infrastructure design Take cultural diversity into account when formulating technical standards (e.g. IDN implementation) AFRALO currently consist of 69 ALSes located in 32 countries and territories, as well as 16 Individual members and 3 Observers. To learn more about the ongoing work of AFRALO, you are welcome to check out the AFRALO workspace. Regional GSE Update Pierre Dandjinou,VP, Stakeholder Engagement - Africa As we find ourselves at the end of this other year 2021 of remote work and restrictions on international travel, it gives me pleasure to reflect on yet another hard period, which for many was another year of mixed opportunities and challenges. We also note that the global Covid Pandemic continues and constant mutations keep making long term planning even harder. Nevertheless, I am also happy and encouraged by the level of engagement and community work that we have managed to execute together, majority of which, with the direct involvement and participation of the Afralo community. Specifically, in this last quarter of 2021, the GSE Africa team focused on supporting and promoting a number of national level multistakeholder Engagement fora such as National IGFs, National DNS Fora as well as National SIGs. This stems from the strong belief that naturing Multistakeholderism also means localizing it closer to the community, and applying it to real issues affecting the community, and inviting them to collectively find suitable solutions to the issues. In this regard, the GSE Africa team were part of a number of such national level processes including Benin IGF, Benin SIG and DNS Forum, Nigeria DNS Forum, Uganda Youth IGF and Uganda SIG, Tanzania IGF, South Africa IGF and SIG, Kenya IGF and SIG as well as Central Africa IGF to mention but a few. While it was not possible to physically be part of these meetings, we were glad to join and contribute virtually, thanks to the power of One Global Internet. At the same time, we also continued with our capacity building initiatives on two critical thematic topics of DNSSEC and Universal Acceptance (UA) and Email Address Internationalization (EAI). Africans would only fully benefit from the full potential of the Internet, when they can access and interact with it, in their respective local languages. No language should be left behind. But equally important, was a joint consultation webinar which we held with you in December 2021 to further understand and receive feedback and suggestions on the future of our meetings; we needed to provide an African perspective to a topic that ICANN org continues to ponder over continuously owing to its criticality and impact. Consequently, I would just want to share a few observations and takeaways in summary: While your participation remained commendable, consistent and active, we have noted a gradual slowdown on overall attendance and participation in virtual meetings / webinars, possibly for various reasons, but still an important observation. Despite the great improvements in Internet connectivity and Bandwidth available today, other barriers to virtual meetings such as cost of connectivity and appropriate devices still affect the overall community participation in Africa. With Africa not hosting an ICANN public meeting before 2023, and the community eager for face-to-face meetings, the GSE Africa team would consider holding the next iteration of the African Engagement Forum in 2022 in a hybrid format, subject to prevailing conditions and overall risk assessment and approval by the org. I sincerely hope to see a continuous and active participation from our at-Large community in other general topics discussions like the System for Standardized Access/Disclosure (SSAD) and the Next round on the generic Top level domain Names. Lastly, and on behalf of my team I sincerely want to thank you and wish you happy holidays. Until then, please keep safe. ICANN Update In December, ICANN: Announced revised dates of ICANN73 from 7 to 10 March 2022 and prep week between 22-24 February Announced a new forum ICANN Resolver Operator Forum created for Domain Name System (DNS) resolver operators and experts from across the world Shared an update in the progress of the ICANN Workstream 2 implementation Nomination period is open till 21 March 2022 for the ICANN Community Excellence Award. Opened a Public Comment proceeding to receive input on ICANN's Draft Fiscal Year 2023–2027 (FY23-27) Operating and Financial Plan and Draft FY23 Operating Plan and Budget till 7 February 2022 Period to submit applications for ICANN73 NextGen@ICANN extended to 31 December Launched New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Operational Design Phase The NomCom is inviting applications for the ICANN and PTI Board and leadership positions in SO/AC till 11 March 2022. These include: Three members of the ICANN Board of Directors; One member of the PTI Board of Directors; Two regional representatives to the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) – one each from Europe and North America; one member of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council – non-voting and one member of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Council. ALAC Update The ALAC held their monthly meeting in November. The November ALAC Monthly meeting featured guest speaker Göran Marby, ICANN President and CEO, who discussed activities towards ICANN73 and ICANN74, as well as Q&A with the ALAC. The agenda also featured updates regarding At-Large policy activity including ALAC advice, membership updates, and reports from At-Large Liaisons and WG leaders, as well as planning for ICANN73. AFRALO would like to welcome the reappointed and new ALAC members who took their seats at the ICANN72, the Annual General Meeting(AGM) meeting in October 2021: Dave Kissondoyal (2021 AGM- 2023 AGM); and ALAC member (NomCom selected) Raymond Selorm Mamattah (2021 AGM - 2023 AGM). The At-Large community organized their policy sessions during an “At-Large Week” from 18-20 October 2021, just before the ICANN72 AGM. During the AGM, the ALAC held several sessions with various stakeholders, including the ICANN Board, the Government Advisory Committee (GAC), and the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC). The At-Large community also held regional outreach and engagement activities and operational sessions during the AGM. They also participated in the ICANN72 plenary session and other sessions of the Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. AFRALO held the ICANN72 AFRALO-AFRICANN meeting on the statement “Data Security”. The statement on "Data Security" included recommendations for ICANN org and the community on security and integrity of the internet naming system, the security of registrant's data and the security of user's data as it relates to the Domain Name System (DNS). Four AFRALO focused Capacity building webinars were held in 2021. The goal of the Webinars was to continue strengthening capacities of our members, advancing the knowledge of participants towards and agreed learning objective which will contribute to enhance AFRALO’s parrticpation in Policy Development Advice development. ALAC / At-Large Policy Comments & Advice All of AFRALO and the At-Large Community are invited to contribute to ICANN Public Comment proceedings. For more information, please visit the At-Large Policy Advice Development Page or contact At-Large Staff. Have your say! To contribute to ALAC policy activity, please comment on the At-Large workspace or volunteer as penholder, and join the weekly At-Large Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) meetings. For more information, please contact At-Large Staff. The ALAC submitted four (4) policy statements since the last AFRALO Newsletter: Proposed Revisions to the ICANN Documentary Information Disclosure Policy Proposal for Latin Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules Draft PTI and IANA FY23 Operating Plan and Budgets Initial Report from the EPDP on Specific Curative Rights Protections for IGOs The ALAC is currently developing the following responses to ICANN Public Comment proceedings, and other cross community and/or external consultations: ccNSO Proposed Policy on the Retirement of ccTLDs ICANN Draft FY23-27 Operating and Financial Plan and Draft FY23 Operating Plan and Budget In addition, the ALAC plans to submit in January ALAC responses to ICANN Board clarifying questions, regarding ALAC Advice on EPDP Phase 2 (SSAD) and Subsequent Procedures. See: At-Large Website on Public Comments and Policy Advice See: Executive Summaries: ALAC Public Comments and Advice See: Consolidated Policy Working Group (CPWG) See: At-Large Operations, Finance and Budget Working Group (OFB-WG) ALAC/At-Large Policy Issues ALS Activities DigitalSENSE Africa partners 2021 ITREALMS on E-Waste Dialogue DigitalSENSE Africa is partnering with ITREALMS Media inc, in commemoration of the International E-waste Day (IeWD) 2021, is hosting a day discourse on e-Waste in Nigeria: Consumer as key to Circular Economy and 20 years of GSM! Under its flagship ITREALMS e-Waste Dialogue scheduled for Thursday, December 9, at the Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos by 9am. ITREALMS e-Waste Dialogue aligns with the International Telecommunication Union organized “Internet Waste Dialogue," Thus, our objective is to scrutinize the challenges and opportunities of end-of-life of electrical and electronics equipment that enables connectivity, especially on mobile computing devices; bringing together various manufacturing and recycling companies, regulatory agencies as well as service providers to elaborate on waste management challenges and prospects in responsible recycling as data centers, 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) demands soar. Hence, raising awareness and exchanging knowledge of this complex waste stream will provoke thought and support the transition to a sustainable society and circular economy as we anticipate 5G full implementation. 2021 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue …From left: President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, Very Rev. Fr. Augustine Ebido of Dominican University, President, Guild of Corporate Online Publishers and Publisher/Editor Realnews, Ms. Maureen Chigbo, host of ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue series, Group Executive Editor-in-Chief ITREALMS Media Group, Mr. Remmy Nweke; Head, Online Media, Public Affairs Department, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan who represented the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta at the event; Teach/Admin Officer, E-Waste Producer Responsibility Organisation Nigeria (E-PRON), Ms. Mofesayo Oyedeji and Executive Director, DigitalSENSE Africa, Mrs. Nkem Nweke, at the 2021 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue on “E-waste in Nigeria Consumer as a Key to Circular Economy and 20 years of GSM” in Lagos, organised in partnership with DigitalSENSE Africa. ______________________________________________ Uganda hosts hybrid School of Internet Governance Uganda had its first-ever School of Internet Governance (SIG) for three days from November 08 through 10th, 2021 with 22 fellows. The main objective was to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to participate in the internet governance discussions and forums at local, regional, and international level. The training had a mix of lectures and interactive activities as participants listened to experts and practitioners with different Internet governance topics. Areas covered during the training included introduction to internet governance, main concepts in internet governance, internet governance processes and how to get involved, Uganda’s internet policy, legal and regulatory frameworks, multistakeholder engagement in global internet governance among others. Also Youth Internet Governance Forum The youth are key stakeholders in the internet governance ecosystem as they occupy the most percent of internet users in Uganda and world over. The UYIGF is a youth led initiative that seeks to develop the capacity of young people in coordinating, mobilizing and advocating for meaningful inclusion in the internet governance space. Now in its second year, the UYIGF took place on 11th November 2021 and continues to serve as a platform for young people to deliberate on areas of concern needed to improve youth adoption of the internet in Uganda. The UYIGF 2021 started with a keynote address from Mr. Okuti Richard who gave the definition of the internet and how far Uganda has come in terms of holding the UIGF and later introducing the Youth IGF. He later gave a brief on the issues young people are facing in this time of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Challenges like cyber security, the rising cost of internet connectivity, the widening digital divide and high cost of digital devices and the rampant internet disruptions and digital inclusiveness. He called on the youth to find lasting solutions to many of the challenges and be the champions of a safe, resilient and sustainable internet. Fig 1: Fellows during a session at the UgSIG 2021 Uganda Internet Governance Forum The Uganda Internet Governance Forum (UIGF) has since 2006 been a platform for deliberation on internet governance concerns in the country. This year the forum took place on the 12th November 2021 at Protea Hotel, Kampala with online participants making it a hybrid event. With the Theme: Envisioning an Internet of Trust and Resilience in Uganda. Participants were welcomed by the coordinator of the Uganda Internet Governance Forum (UIGF), Ms. Lillian Nalwoga who gave a brief of how far UIGF has come with the different challenges of bridging the digital divide especially for women, the rising cost of internet and many other issues. After her brief, a high-level panel session then began and the panel was to discuss Tracking Uganda’s Steps for a Transformative digital economy. The second session addressed the issues on Trust, Security and Stability. An example from the Internet Society (ISOC), the Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) project was discussed. The initiative brought together network operators who believe and care about routing security making sure that the core of the internet is absolutely secure as traffic is being switched from one network to another (routing). Also noteworthy is that Uganda needs to build trust and have more people having meaningful connectivity and access. Secondly, the country needs to encourage and bring more marginalized groups on the internet like women and girls in rural areas, persons with disability, and tackle some of the issues that have increased the gender digital gap like affordability and digital literacy, online violence and policies that promote access to the marginalized groups. In conclusion, the Uganda Police Force and Judiciary need to build more capacity in detecting and investigating cybercrime cases. The force should open up more desks in the different regions of the country. The judiciary needs to equip itself more to handle cybercrime cases, not only in Kampala but also in other parts of the country. Police need to work with the Civil Society organizations and private sector to fight cyber crimes and create more awareness on cybercrimes with the different players. W.TEC empowers women entrepreneurs to leverage Internet On December 2, 2021, the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) graduated 3 cohorts of women from its SHE CAN with ICT programme in Lagos, Nigeria. SHE CAN with ICT (Sustaining Her Enterprise, Career and Network with ICT) is a programme designed to enable female entrepreneurs to leverage the Internet to catalyze their entrepreneurial growth in an increasingly technology-driven business environment. With a curriculum heavily focused on digital technology skills, participants learned how to strategically use productivity tools, design and manage a website, create marketing videos, and conduct online market research and analysis using their phones. It was important to design the curriculum in such a way that participants did not need access to a laptop or desktop computer, because baseline surveys indicated that most of the women had access to their own smartphone – no matter how simple a phone it was, but that most did not have regular access to a laptop or desktop. By the end of each four-week cohort, the participants were required to develop a technology strategy for their businesses, with the best performing participant receiving a seed funding. So far, 258 women have completed the programme, which will run until April 2022. SHE CAN with ICT is sponsored by ACT Foundation and delivered in partnership with other leading social enterprises like the Ajoke Ayisat Afolabi Foundation, International Women’s Society and Youth Empowerment Foundation. Photo: Graduation ceremony Left to right: Oreoluwa Lesi, Executive Director of Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC); Foluke Ademokun, Executive Coordinator of the Ajoke, Ayisat Afolabi Foundation (AAAF); Toun Okewale Sonaiya, CEO Women Radio WFM 91.7; Shyllon E. Olufunke, Director (WAPA) Representative of the Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs And Poverty alleviation (WAPA). _____________________________ ALS « INTIC4DEV » activities in Sénégal Since its accreditation in 2017, the INTIC4DEV organization has carried out several activities, during time and space, which is summarized with the most recent activities carried out in the field of Senegal. Some of the activities worthy of mention include: 1) Moderation of two very practical webinars on the topic of DNSSEC by INTIC4DEV representative, Olévié Ayaovi Agbényo KOUAMI. Organized by the Senegalese Chapter of ISOC and also moderated by our conferee Yazid Akhano of the OCTO of ICANN between April 28 and May 12, 2021. The content of these webinars can be summarized as follows: Introduction to DNSSEC. Basics of cryptography. DNSSEC, how it works. Details on DNSSEC records. DNSSEC validation. Some considerations for resolvers. 2) In the same month of April 2021, we launched a local organization of Internet users (OUI or ALS) in our commune of residence in Senegal. The town of Popenguine-Ndayane: located in the department of Mbour and the region of Thiès. This initiative is our modest initiative to shape the future of the Internet in our environment. The Club was born with the contributions of two other volunteers, members of the Senegalese chapter of ISOC (Fatou Sarr and Maryvonne Devay). We baptized this small nascent organization, the “ISOC Club of the commune of Popenguine-Ndayane''. It brings together representatives of various layers of the local population, specifically: pupils, schoolchildren and parents of pupils as well as the representatives of districts of the municipality, who have been invited to our training, information and awareness-raising activities on the challenges of ICT in general and the Internet in particular, in this period the Covid-19 pandemic. The town hall is officially informed of this initiative and encouraged it during the organization of the GVU 2021 or Useful Great Holidays - the 1st edition. In fact, during the school holidays (from August 17 to September 4, 2001) we organized activities that we called “Useful Great Holidays ou GVU 2021 edition”. During these activities, around fifteen (17) regular participants, all secondary and high school students in the municipality or on vacation, were initiated, trained in the basics of Libre Office (an open source software) and on the use of the Internet in learning languages like English and sports, specifically football. Nearly 30 people from the municipality are currently involved in the activities of the “ISOC Club of Popenguine”. 3) The Senegalese chapter of ISOC organized training sessions from May 19 to 29, 2021 as part of the celebration of the day of the young girls in ICT, I was invited to lead some of these sessions. This year's theme was: Cybersecurity. More than 120 young girls took part in this activity. (See a group photo at the end of this article). 4) My participation in the first edition of Togo SIG (School of Internet Governance) where I was the first to obtain the certificate of completion of the training program. It was October 14, 2021. 5) Over the past two years, my numerous participation in numerous and diverse online meetings on various Internet governance platforms: ICANN, ISOC, FGI, Francophonie, etc, as a representative of AFRALO. All of the above to say that these activities have been stages and opportunities for me to indicate my membership in AfRALO and to explain what this represents within the ICANN ecosystem, in particular, and that of Internet governance in general. These were opportunities for campaigns to promote AfRALO and other Internet governance bodies. As a reminder, INTIC4DEV joined the ICANN community by joining NPOC first and NCSG then NCUC in 2013. ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee in 2017 certified INTIC4DEV as an At-Large Structure for the Africa region RALO (AfRALO). Posters & Photos (below). Popenguine, 12/21/2021 Written by: Olévié Ayaovi Agbényo KOUAMI Representative of INTIC4DEV TZCNA, TCDC sign MoU The Tanzania Community Networks Alliance (TZCNA) and Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly “Promote community networks cooperative societies for economic growth, socio-economic development, poverty eradication and accelerating the digital transformation in Tanzania and beyond”. TZCNA is a not-for-profit Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) registered to operate in Tanzania Mainland to advocate for meaningful universal connectivity that contributes to positive impacts in the digital economy and TCDC was established by the Cooperative Societies Act No. 6 of 2013 to provide efficient and effective regulatory and promotional services for attainment of vibrant, modern and commercial cooperative societies in Tanzania. The signing of the MoU was held in parallel to the 2021 International Day of Cooperatives that was held in Tabora Region from 29th June – 03rd July 2021 with the theme, “Rebuild better together”. The climax of the International Day of Cooperatives in Tanzania was attended by the Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa as the Chief Guest of the event. TZCNA and TCDC will collaborate in the realization of the following objectives: advocate and sensitize on the establishment of community networks cooperative societies in Tanzania; promote ease accessibility and affordable internet bandwidths in rural based communities; promote provision of computers and networking equipment at an affordable price in the rural based communities with a purpose of enabling a smooth networking; become the platform that brings together community networks and community-based telecommunication networks and promote meaningful universal connectivity in Tanzania. While exchanging the signed MoU, Dr. Benson Otieno Ndiege, TCDC’s Registrar said “We understand the role of ICT in supporting cooperatives societies in Tanzania and therefore TCDC encourages the use of ICT in operation of cooperatives both savings and credit co-operative societies and agricultural marketing co-operatives, commercial agriculture, extension services and introduction of modern crop management systems''. Tanzania Community Networks Alliance is committed to accelerating the digital transformation for the registered cooperatives in the country and beyond, said Jabhera Maseke Matogoro, the Founder and CEO for TZCNA. The signing was witnessed by Ms. Elizabeth James, Director of Legal Services for TZCNA, Mr. Shani Mayos, Head of Legal Department for TCDC, Journalist, representatives from Kondoa, Kasulu, Nyasa and Mpimbwe Community Network Cooperative Societies. NAIGF’21 meets on digital development, priorities and opportunities The fifth edition of the North African Internet Governance Forum (NAIGF'21) was held in Nouakchott, Mauritania on 12-13 November 2021 in hybrid mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic, back to back with the 3rd North African School of Internet Governance held from 9 to 11 November 2021. The forum was organized with the support of the United Nations and the Host Country, Mauritania under the theme “Digital development: priorities and opportunities in the North African region”. In his welcoming remarks at the 5th forum, the Chair of NAIGF MAG, Mr. Aziz Hillali, thanked Mr. Abdelaziz Ould Dahi, the Mauritanian Minister of digital transition, innovation and modernization of the administration, and Mauritanian officials for their welcome and total support in the preparation and organization of this forum. He also noted that four thematic sessions led by experts from North African countries and Sweden addressed topics such as digital transformation, Blockchain & Crypto-currency technology, opportunities and challenges of the digital economy & e-commerce, and data governance in the era of digital transformation. It was a good opportunity to discover the different strategies of countries like Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco in terms of digital transformation, the accomplishments already achieved, the barriers encountered and the projects to come. The debate on Blockchain technology touched on aspects such as the integrity and immutability of data, transparency and consequences on lack of privacy, the high power consumption and the size of the database which increases infinitely, especially for large chains like bitcoin. The economy of different countries is increasingly digital; The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this mutation. Connectivity and bandwidth challenges condition a reliable digital economy. With the digital transformation underway, the issue of data security has become one of the hottest topics affecting states and governments as well as business enterprises and even individuals. Several laws and regulations have been put into effect for data protection, but since the Internet is global, their applicability remains very limited in different jurisdictions. The European General Data Protection Regulation is the only one that has extraterritorial scope as it applies even to non-European companies that collect and use data from Europeans. The school and forum joint closing session was chaired by the Secretary General of the Mauritanian Ministry of Digital Transition, Innovation and Modernization of the Administration. Also, Mr. Hilali, Chair of NAIGF MAG applauded experts and all those who contributed remotely for their interventions on everything related to new technologies and for the rich, open and interesting exchanges with the participants. He made a special mention of consideration for the ministry team who helped in the preparation of the two events and who were mobilized throughout the week. They have been wonderful. He finally asked the Secretary General of the Ministry of Digital Transition, Innovation and Modernization of the Administration to reiterate the warm thanks of the NAIGF MAG to the Minister and through him the Mauritanian government for their support and their hospitality. North African School of Internet Governance (NASIG) 2021 The third North African School of Internet Governance (NASIG'21) was held in Nouakchott, Mauritania from 9 to 11 November 2021 in hybrid mode with the support of ISOC Foundation and the host country, on the sidelines of the 5th North African Internet Governance annual Forum (NAIGF'21). The School was held in 6 substantive sessions and a Practicum session in addition to the opening and closing sessions (See Program here). The practical aspect was privileged since each substantive session consisted of 90 minutes of presentation and Q&A followed by 60 minutes of practical exercises to improve learners' understanding (not mandatory for online learners). 22 learners participated in person in this school while 48 from all North African region except Sudan participated remotely. Several High Level personalities from the Mauritanian Government and the International Organizations acting in Mauritania participated in the NASIG’21 official opening session. They include: The Mauritanian Minister of Digital transformation, innovation and modernization of the administration, Mr. Abdelaziz Ould Dahi, The Mauritanian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Ms. Amal Sidi Cheikh Abdallahi The resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Mr. Anthony Ngororano The resident representative of the International Monetary Fund IMF, Ms. Anta Ndoye. Mr. Aziz Hilali, Chair of the MAG of the North African Internet Governance Forum welcomed the Ministers, the Forum guests, speakers and moderators and all participants of the 2021 edition of the NASIG organized thanks to the support of the Internet Society Foundation. He also thanked the Mauritanian Minister of Digital Transition, Innovation and Modernization of the Administration for having presided over the opening of our two events and asked him to convey the sincere thanks of NAIGF to all the authorities of this dear country which is Mauritania. He underlined that the penetration rate of the Internet in our sub-region represents a little more than 50%, which is below the world rate of 65% as well as that of some countries of the Middle East which can reach 90%. He also pointed out the problem of the digital divide which exists in different forms not only between the 7 countries of North Africa but also within each country while emphasizing the pandemic which has shown more than ever the need for faster digital transformation. Minister Abdelaziz Ould Dahi subsequently welcomed the speakers and members of MAG NAIGF, as well as all participants. He insisted on the increasing connectivity of the Internet between individuals, devices, places and things as an essential lever for the development of societies, and that Mauritania's digital policy aims to enhance the geographical location of the country as a junction point between the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa. At the end, the Minister wished the school and the North African Internet Governance Forum every success in their 2021 editions in Nouakchott. The 6 Substantial sessions addressed the following topics: Introduction of the Internet & Internet Governance New Technologies: AI, Blockchain & Crypto Future Cybersecurity Data Protection & Privacy Digital transformation, e-commerce Role of Women leaders Digital rights (Access, Inclusion, Digital Divide, …), laws & Regulation Online Learning The Practicum topics proposed by the trainers are the following: Digital Rights Collection and Use of personal Data Internet Domain Name System Blockchain & Crypto-currency Technologies Digital Transformation & e-commerce The learners formed themselves into 5 groups and each group chose one of the proposed topics. The members of each group worked collectively, supervised by the relevant Trainer, to prepare a project that they presented at the end of the session to a Jury. During the closing session, chaired by the Secretary General of the Mauritanian Ministry of digital transition, innovation and modernization of the administration, Mr. Aziz Hilali, Chair of the NAIGF MAG thanked the learners for their attendance and the interest they showed during all the sessions at this school and congratulated them for the quality of the practical work reports Furthermore, he thanked the experts present and those who contributed remotely for their interventions on everything related to new technologies and for the rich, open and interesting exchanges with the participants. He made a special mention of consideration to the ministry team who spared no effort for the success of this school. In addition to their help in its preparation, they were mobilized throughout the week to ensure its smooth running. He finally asked the Secretary General of the Ministry of Digital Transition, Innovation and Modernization of the Administration to reiterate the warm thanks of the NAIGF MAG to the Minister and through him the Mauritanian government for their support and their hospitality. The onsite learners (Mauritanians) showed exemplary commitment and attendance during the sessions over the 3 days of NASIG'21. They also expressed their satisfaction with the program and the experience gained as well as the opportunity to present their projects to the juries and discuss their pluses and recommended improvements. The session ended with the handing over of certificates of participation to the Mauritanian learners present. The delivery of certificates to online learners who have attended at least 70% of school sessions will be carried out by the NAIGF secretariat after due verification. 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