INTERNET SOCIETY FORUM TO ENABLE AFRICAN INTERNET LEADERS UNLOCK THE CONTINENT'S POTENTIAL New regional community to address key interconnection opportunities and challenges in Africa [Nairobi, Kenya, 15 June 2010] - The Internet Society (ISOC), today announced the launch of the African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF), established to help address the operational, regulatory, and business challenges facing the growing African Internet industry. Organized by the Internet Society, in partnership with the Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK), the inaugural meeting of the forum, entitled "Unlocking Africa's Regional Interconnection", will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 11-12 August 2010 and is expected to attract some of Africa's key business leaders, technical experts, policy makers, and infrastructure builders. Until now, Internet growth in the region has been slow, hampered by poor infrastructure and low levels of investment. But the signs of change are now on the horizon. "To date, gradual, ongoing policy and regulatory changes have made a positive impact on the region, where we are seeing many new opportunities for regional and global connectivity," said Michuki Mwangi, Regional Development Manager for Africa at the Internet Society, and recipient of the 2010 African Network Operators Group (AfNOG) Network Information Infrastructure award. "Supporting the recent momentum in Africa by facilitating these positive discussions plays a vital role in delivering against one of the Internet Society's key strategic initiatives; enabling access in emerging markets," added Mwangi. "Africa has also seen major investments in submarine cables, terrestrial fiber infrastructures, and mobile and wireless data technologies, all of which are addressing some of the challenges that previously restricted Internet growth in the region." Critically, the new infrastructure developments create the opportunity for much higher levels of local and regional interconnection. This exerts a multiplier effect on the economic and technical performance of regional networks, as well as opening the door to higher levels of local content production, all of which are necessary elements in enabling Internet access to Africans across the continent. The African Peering and Interconnection Forum will create a regional community to address the key cross-border Interconnection opportunities and challenges in Africa and discuss global and regional insights on maximizing regional development. In addition to local and regional support provided by TESPOK, the event has received international sponsorship from expert organisations including the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), the Deutscher Commercial Internet Exchange (DE-CIX), the German Internet exchange, and Netnod, the Swedish Internet exchange provider, For more information, details about sponsorship opportunities, and to register for this event, see: https://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/africanforum2010/ About the Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet's premier technical standards body. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. For more information see: http://InternetSociety.org Media contact Greg Wood [email protected] +1-703-439-2145