[Afpif] African Peering and Interconnection Forum to be held 8 – 9 August in Accra, Ghana

[mwangi at isoc.org]

<Kindly distribute>

Regional Interconnection to be Key Focus for Second Annual AfPIF Conference

African Peering and Interconnection Forum to be held 8 – 9 August in Accra, Ghana

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND and RESTON, VIRGINIA, USA – 21 April 2011 – The Internet Society, the world’s trusted source of Internet leadership, today announced details of the second African Peering and Interconnection Forum which will take place in Accra, Ghana on 8th and 9th August 2011. The Ghanaian National Information Technolgy Agency (NITA) will host the event.

Commenting on the event, Michuki Mwangi Senior Manager for Access and Development at the Internet Society said: “Currently only 30 percent of West African countries have national Internet Exchange Points, a low percentage compared to East and Southern Africa. We hope that this event will serve as a platform to examine the related issues and to identify strategies to remove the barriers to implementation.”

This event will address the key Interconnection opportunities and challenges in the Africa and provide participants with insights into maximising regional opportunities. Its theme: “Regional Interconnection: Outlining the business case”, aims to foster a robust discussion on cross-border interconnection approaches, economics and challenges.

As a multi-stakeholder forum, the event will bring together a range key players such as; infrastructure providers, Service Providers, IXPs and regulators and will aim to build on the success of the inaugural AfPIF event held in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2010.

This second AfPIF Conference is conceived as a non-profit event. The Internet Society welcomes additional international and regional sponsorship and support to help convene the AfPIF-2 event. For more information on sponsorship opportunities please contact the Internet Society at sponsorship at isoc.org.

For more information about the event or to register, please visit: http://www.afpif.org

About the Internet Society
The Internet Society, the world’s trusted source of Internet leadership, is a non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. More information is available at: http://www.isoc.org

About NITA
NITA is a public service institution established in 2008 as the Information Communication Technology (ICT) policy implementing arm of the Ministry of Communications and the agencies responsible for implementing Ghana’s IT policies. It also ensures the sustainable growth of ICT via research and development planning and technology acquisition strategies to facilitate Ghana’s prospect of becoming a technology-driven, knowledge-and value-based economy. More information is available at: http://www.nita.gov.gh