Between a rock and a hard place?

If you are like me, an i suspect that you are, you wondered which
major event to attend when
you received notice that the innovation summit and the BPO ICT conference were taking place on
the same date (30th September-1st October). Like a couple who in the 'local wedding month'
(peak season for wedding and similar events) find themselves having to split resources to attend two weddings taking place on the same date.

The East African Internet Governance Forum and the Forum for Internet Freedom in
East Africa are slightly different. In that the former was slated for the 24th and the 25th
of September (at Imperial Royale-Kind of Sounds like the name of a James
Bond Movie!) while the latter is to take place 28th and 29th (at the Golf
Course Hotel). The dates differ but the names seem rather similar.

So which one will you attend.

Having been part of the ISOC (Internet Society Uganda Chapter) gathering that took place at Statistics House and
i had some measure of familiarity with the group which i did write about in my blog.
This event was co-sponsored by NITA Uganda, The Uganda Internet Governance Forum,
The ministry of ICT as well as SMS Media.   

To gain a better understanding of the content of the meeting, we used a program for the day as well as the introduction page on eventbrite (www.eventbrite.com) an international platform that  allows users to create events and create simple sign-ups that can be accessed internationally.

So this is what i distilled from it.

A Regional Event (Session One)

The gathering that took place prior to this was designed to map the local governance challenges. This one is
a larger platform that allows Uganda to measure itself against regional partners.
Naturally the opportunities presented by such a gathering are many. Networking, Benchmarking
Learning and more. Please note that there was representation from the East African Communications
Organization (EACO). As well as participants from Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya all of whom
were tasked to present National Reports from their respective countries.

A Time to Identify Linkages
Locally we have struggled to get rid of overlapping organizations and responsibilities.
In a sense, the new recruit has had difficulty knowing who to salute because
there has been unclear split between the ranks of his superiors. This is why it was good to
see representation from the Uganda Communications Commission as well as the State
Minister of ICT.

Governance is at the core
As the name suggests, this is primarily designed around governance and leadership challenges.
An important difference which you will realize when you attend the Forum for Internet Freedom
which seems to have closer leanings to Civil Society (More about this in later). Naturally or Organically
discussions regarding Development (Session Three), Digital Safety (Session Five) and Democracy (Session Six)
also came up and were tackled. All of these were presented with East Africa at Heart.

The Future
Under the Subject of Emerging Challenges (Session Four) the group was tasked to deal with the technical
issues that may emerge in the Future which matches or falls in line with the second day discussions
(Session Seven-connecting the next Billion). The Eighth session was an expansion of some of the previous discussions (Net Neutrality) that were held in the local Uganda Chapter with additional material from the neighboring countries. 

Business Expansion and New Ways of Thinking
People who attended would be given a unique opportunity to engage with other thought leaders and to
begin to think about possibilities of expansion. The business person needs to know what the
structures were like in business for Information Technology Professionals and what rules (policy)
were in place to manage the manner in which business takes place.
The Forum was a good place to find out which countries in the region were actively pursuing
changes that would benefit their populace (immigration reform, tax for small business,
innovation friendly space, creation of industrial parks or special economic zones, support
for local entrepreneurs). In addition to this there was a need to have a very clear pathway
where business people could take their complaints and get support if they faced challenges.