Internet Development Conference 2024

The conference, taking place from 23 to 25 April 2024 (dates TBC), aims to create the foundation for a robust Internet Ecosystem in Eastern Africa.

In 2019, Ethiopian regulators began to liberalize the Ethiopian telecom sector. To foster new opportunities for telecom development, in partnership with Meta, we organized the Ethiopia Internet Development Conference in Addis Ababa in March 2020. The conference was very successful and enabled discussions that had never happened in the country, contributing to the revival of the Ethiopian Internet community. As a result of the conference, the Internet Society Ethiopia Chapter was founded, and discussions began about the establishment of an IXP and a community network initiative.

After a four-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in northern Ethiopia, we are back. The 2024 conference will reinforce, and further the gains made in Ethiopia during the 2020 conference and expand them into neighboring countries that have similar and even greater connectivity challenges (especially South Sudan and Somalia).

The conference will also present new opportunities to encourage regional cooperation and knowledge sharing. The Internet infrastructures and economies of Kenya and Sudan are further developed than those of Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti. We expect that professional exchange amongst these countries’ leaders and technical communities will be a powerful driver for regional Internet growth.

Get Involved

To discuss your involvement in helping to create the foundation for a robust Internet ecosystem in Eastern Africa, contact Dawit Bekele and Sally Harvey.