The Global Gathering organised by Team CommUNITY (TCU) in Estoril, Portugal, from 27 to 29 September 2024 can be regarded a huge success. Representing Jokkolabs Banjul, an APC member organisation, and as a recently appointed APC Board member, one thing was very clear from this event – it showed the magnitude of APC’s work globally in the area of digital rights.
I was sad that the event coincided with the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica), which was happening in Dakar, Senegal. This clash did not allow a majority of APC’s African members to fully benefit from the prime global digital rights gathering, which otherwise would have enabled better knowledge-sharing of APC’s work from an African perspective with the global community of digital rights activists. It could have helped others be better informed of the work of APC members in Sub-Saharan Africa, and my suggestion is that our member organisations planning FIFAfrica cultivate better synergy for such events in future.
The Global Gathering had an array of different circles (sessions), exhibition booths, job fairs and so on, dealing with a range of topics within the digital rights space. A notable feature for me was the Guardian Project, a global collective of software developers, designers, advocates, activists and trainers who develop open-source mobile security software and operating system enhancements for digital rights activists. One of the more riveting sessions was on the role of research in the digital rights space, especially as discussions centred on how better to use data generated from digital rights activism so as to make it more accessible to a wider audience through better storytelling on various platforms and better use of data visualisation tools in reporting digital rights research.
I am passionate about digital inclusion and it was great to contribute to the session by Jordan Open Source Association, an NGO working with the Jordanian Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship to create policies for a truly digital inclusion strategy for all Jordanians. This, to me, is very important as I have always felt that in approaching digital inclusion strategies, civil society actors have to engage their governments within a truly multistakeholder framework, and I am glad to see Jordan doing it. I feel this model will help other civil society entities in the global South working on digital inclusion projects to collaborate better with their governments on programmes that act as a catalyst in the area of digital rights.
Above all, I was very happy to share in all sessions the need for our various digital rights movements to look ahead and work towards achieving the United Nations General Assembly-approved documents during the Summit of the Future at the 79th UNGA in New York this September. The Pact for the Future, Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations are good documents to guide our work in the digital rights space. Action 27 of the Pact says, “We will seize the opportunities associated with new and emerging technologies and address the potential risks posed by their misuse,” and in my opinion, section C of Action 27 is important for our work. I was glad to guide a number of participants on the importance of these as I noticed many were not fully aware of these outcomes from the Summit of the Future.
In all the sessions I attended, I emphasised the need for our community to be fully engaged with such discussions, as I observed there is a big disconnect among our community and such global declarations backed by the UN member states. We cannot work in isolation within the digital rights community space – our governments, international agencies, businesses, Big Tech, etc. have to be engaged in this fully. We have to “agree to disagree” to achieve and promote true digital rights for our communities and we need to participate in such global discussions within a multistakeholder framework. This was my message to all participants I met both individually and during the circles (sessions) at the Global Gathering.
Overall, it was great to catch up with various APC staff who make our movement strong by what they do. The traffic to the APC exhibition booth showed the importance of its work globally, and I saw how participants wanted to learn from APC about its work on community networks. These networks have enabled various underserved communities to be digitally inclusive, and this gladdened my heart. It was also noteworthy that a number of participants I spoke to wanted to join APC, even as associate members, which again showed the impact of APC’s work in digital inclusion globally.
The Global Gathering was memorable as it was a truly engaging event in all aspects within a safe space for expression and exchange of ideas and achievements among digital rights activists and technologists from diverse places across the world.
Cover image via Team CommUNITY Wiki.
Poncelet Ileleji, founder and CEO of Jokkolabs Banjul, has long been involved with the use of ICTs as a tool for sustainable development in The Gambia. A computer scientist, Ileliji is on the board of the Jokkolabs global network. He is currently the secretary of APC’s board of directors.