Dr Mawaki Chango is the Founder & Managing Director of DigiLexis Consulting. Being a recurrrent member of faculty of the AfriSIG, we thought it wise to collect his impressions about the AfriSIG 2016, in comparison with the previous edition.
APCNews: What is your general impression about the school?
Mawaki Chango: My general impression is that it has been improving and this year the diverse backgrounds of the attendees have come out complementarily in a very well-integrated manner.
APCNews: How did you find the involvement of the participants in this edition?
MC: Participants were committed to their role and responsibilities. They remained highly engaged with the learning contents and fully involved in the experience throughout.
APCNews: What do you think went well this year?
MC: One of the things that went very well this year is the multistakeholder role-play component and the negotiation exercise to reach a consensus on a common policy statement as required in the practicum.
APCNews: What would you recommend for an even better edition next year?
MC: For a better edition next year, I would recommend that the organisers and the faculty keep working on having a well-integrated and coherent curriculum. Maybe the whole programme could be organised around three clusters: Historical, Technical and Policy. There could be a technical practicum (or more hands-on learning about the technology) as well as a policy practicum. It might also be useful to pay attention not to make the programme overloaded for the learners in such a short span, especially if they are going to attend the African IGF (AfIGF) right after the school. A useful addition could be a full or half day break somewhere along the two programmes, left for an organised outing and/or sightseeing.