IGF 2018 LIGHTNING SESSION #9 Model of Community and Indigenous Connectivity

·  Title: Model of Community and Indigenous Connectivity

·  Presenter Name/Organization/Stakeholder Group/Regional Group: Karla Velasco Ramos/Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad A.C./GRULAC

·  Short Description, including Subtheme:

The project "Model of Community and Indigenous Connectivity" from Mexican organisation Redes AC and which is part of the Beyond the Net program from ISOC in Mexico, intends to analyse and develop the implementation of a prototype of last-mile community mesh networks, in order to link experiences from  three different Mexican States: Chiapas, Oaxaca and Nayarit; in an IntraNET network in order to design and elaborate a technical, economic, organisational and legal basis that may be replicable.

In the presentation I will show how the project has been developed in the different communities and how they have appropriated the networks to create indigenous and autonomous connectivity.

 

Session Time
Report

IGF 2018 Short Report

Indigenous Community Intranet
 

- Session Type (Workshop, Open Forum, etc.): 

Lightning session

 

- Title: 

Digital Inclusion & Accessibility

 

- Date & Time: 

Tuesday, 13 November, 2018 - 13:20 to 13:40

 

-  Speaker:

Karla Velasco Ramos, Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad A.C.

 

- Theme:

Digital Inclusion & Accessibility

 

- Subtheme:

Community Networks &/or Indigenous Connectivity

 

- Please state no more than three (3) key messages of the discussion. [150 words or less]

  1. We must rethink connectivity
  2. Have an Internet with a Concept
  3. Appropriation and Self-determination 

 

 

- Please elaborate on the discussion held, specifically on areas of agreement and divergence. 

To ask ourselves “why”, “what for”, “how” and “where” is the path of building a community network. In the case of indigenous communities the “why should we have an Intranet?” question normally is because: 1) indigenous communities rethink connectivity, 2) indigenous communities prove that Internet can have a context, 3) the appropriation and self-determination are the most important parts in each one of their processes. Therefore, the first part of the presentation talks about this questionings. We’ve seen in Mexico that indigenous communities that indigenous communities decide to create an Intranet because of four things: 1) In an Intranet, they can reflect their dreams, 2) they create the Intranet through a community process, which is based on their nature, 3) They reinforce their sense of autonomy and 4) it stands for the international self-determination of the indigenous peoples. 

 

- Please describe any policy recommendations or suggestions regarding the way forward/potential next steps. [100 words]

This presentation recommends to have the questionings “why”, “what for”, “how” and “where” in every community networks’ process. 

 

- What ideas surfaced in the discussion with respect to how the IGF ecosystem might make progress on this issue? [75 words]

The presentation showed how, with these questionings, each process of each community turns out to be completely different one from the other. It also shows the immense creativity of the indigenous peoples. This creativity can be replicated by other communities, whether they are indigenous or not. This way of thinking is very different from the other panels at the IGF, where there’s sort of a traditional mindset of how Internet works. 

 

- Please estimate the total number of participants. 

10 participants. 

 

- Please estimate the total number of women and gender-variant individuals present.

2 women. 

 

- To what extent did the session discuss gender issues, and if to any extent, what was the discussion? [100 words]

It did not discuss any gender issues.