Job Description: Head of Policy
Based in Nairobi, Kenya, the Head of Policy for AfrISPA secretariat is a new position and is yet to be filled. This is a full time employee position. He/She reports to the General Manager and with his support monitors, manages and evaluates AfrISPA's policy agenda. He/She plays a key role in developing the AfrISPA community by enhancing the policy function, expanding the scope and range of policy actions and providing focused and sustained engagement with policy-makers, regulators and key stakeholders at national, regional and continental level.
Under the supervision of the General Manager, the Head of Policy is responsible for;

• Raising the profile of AfrISPA as a significant influence on policy and regulation for the Internet in Africa
• Working strategically with members of the Board, management and development teams to create, shape and disseminate the association's policy positions and key messages
• Developing the association's policy function
• Representing the association at a senior level, engaging with appropriate stakeholders to maintain the quality and relevance of our work and to increase the association's impact on the development of public policy
• Leading the policy function, managing the policy team
• Leading the development and delivery of policy projects to meet strategic objectives
• Identifying and disseminating the implications for the Internet and Internet stakeholders of changes in government, AU and international policy and regulation
• Maintaining an overview and identifying gaps and new areas for policy work and making appropriate recommendations to the senior management team
• Managing projects to improve the evidence base of our policy positions
• Providing other members of the team with appropriate briefings, papers and presentations
• Providing policy input to the association's interdisciplinary projects
• Writing policy content for the website and other communications activities
• Contributing to the planning and management of annual work programmes
• Seeking out, developing and managing opportunities for grant funding and commissioned work
• Taking part in corporate communications activities, development and fundraising efforts as required

Interested candidates should email their CV and full contacts to brian@afrispa.org

AfrISPA Policy Advocacy
The next phase of AfrISPA's work requires enhanced capacity on the policy and regulatory front. To this end the secretariat will be  expanded to include a "Head of Policy" position. This role would design, organise and implement policy advocacy actions across the entire spectrum of issues that affect Internet markets in Africa. This will follow AfrISPA Policy Development Strategic Canvas as follows:

Policy Development:
Strategic Canvas

• Provide industry perspective on policy as it relates to the Internet industry and act as an interface between government bodies and the wider public
• Develop policies in the best interest of the members and protect and promote these interests in regional and international fora
• Provide and promote educational opportunities that will enhance and empower technical and policy understanding of the Internet
• Develop policies that will guide members into active participation in the development of a free and open telecommunications market in their respective markets
• Mobilise ISPAs to deal with legal issues such as child pornography and cyber crime as a real threat to the growth of the Internet as a business tool and enabler
• Encourage the development and use of local content, particularly e-Government and online news services
• Value addition through assistance in setting up standards and guidelines for web development and promoting the setting up of server farms
• Develop policies to protect Internet user's privacy and rights of freedom of expression. Comment constructively on draft Bills in African countries relating to these issues.

Activities

• Create a new position within the AfrISPA secretariat for a Head of Policy.
• Identify key issues currently affecting Africa's Internet industry at national, regional and continental levels and design, develop and deliver suitable policy interventions.

About AfrISPA
The African Internet Services Providers Association, AfrISPA, is the Pan-African association of Internet Services Providers Associations of the countries in Africa. AfrISPA was founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in August 2001 when a gathering of ISP and ISPA representatives from various countries in Africa met to discuss and deliberate ways of addressing common issues and concerns that affect the growth and stability of the Internet in Africa.

By engaging donors for funding and through the commitment of pioneer members AfrISPA
has implemented a number of activities that include:- 
• Establishment of Internet Exchange Points: AfrISPA has directly and indirectly contributed to the
establishment of IXPs in 22 countries.
• Establishment of ISP Associations
• High-level representations: AfrISPA has gained recognition as a key African
institution that is passionate about the role of the Internet as a vital underpinning
for national, regional and continental growth and development.  On this basis,
AfrISPA engages together in thought leadership, policy development and
strategic planning through representation in various key local, regional and
international fora. Key organisational affiliations include membership of the
ITU through the ITU-D, a close working relationship with EuroISPA,
involvement in the ICANN process, partnerships with various key African
institutions such as AfriNIC, AfNOG, AfTLD, the ATU and platforms at key
events.
• Position Papers: A vital instrument in AfrISPA's advocacy activities is position
papers that are developed around crucial issues that affect the development and
growth of the Internet in the region. These have included areas such as:
Infrastructure development, Content, Voice over IP, Spam and Regional
Integration among others. In collaboration with others, AfrISPA has contributed
towards the awareness and adoption of the Open Access framework for major
communications infrastructure. It is worth noting that most of the currently
ongoing submarine fibre optic projects as well as many of the terrestrial
backbone projects have recognised the principles of Open Access and structured
their funding and business models along those lines.
• Regulatory reports: Regulatory regimes that provide an environment conducive
to healthy growth of the ICT sector are essential for Africa's development.  To
this end, AfrISPA conducts periodic assessments of various countries'
regulatory environments and provides these reports to members to facilitate
local advocacy through benchmarking and to contribute towards smoother
regulatory harmonisation across the region. These reports provide an important
evidence base to justify local actions aimed at positive policy and regulatory
reform.
• Workshops and training: Capacity building is one of AfrISPA's primary
objectives. AfrISPA is well positioned to identify needs in this area and respond
through the development of appropriate materials which are delivered through
workshops and training sessions.



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Brian Munyao Longwe
e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com
cell:  + 254 722 518 744
blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com