A participant brainstorming the issues around intellectual property within the context of broadband.

The African Commons project team was invited to take part in the SA National Broadband Policy Forum hosted by the APC with partners the Shuttleworth Foundation, The Edge Institute and Sangonet.

The forum marks the launch of the broadband policy framework which was discussed and debated at the one-day workshop. Participants were required to provide input to the draft framework during the workshop and will be able to take these ideas back to their own organisations. A final policy framework will be put online to be freely accessed by stakeholders who will be able to show their support for this initiative. A longer term goal will be to lobby government with this policy framework.

The team were invited to the event wearing two hats: one, to take part as a stakeholder that will contribute to the collaborative policy framework process, and two, as a provider of event coverage in the form of videography and event reportage (blogging) for the official website, South African Connect.

This is not a conference! The aim is to foster engagement between people. – Steve Song, Shuttleworth Foundation

The programme has been facilitated by the Shuttleworth Foundation’s Steve Song using a world café methodology which is designed to turn stakeholders from passive listeners to active contributors in discussion. Speakers ranged from World Wide Worx’s Arthur Goldstuck, who provided some interesting stats about current and future trends for broadband in South Africa and Africa, academic and media consultant Indra de Lanerolle who spoke about the tension between the way content can be created in a broadband environment, academic researcher and Shuttleworth Foundation fellow, Steve Vosloo who discussed what he terms as the participatory gap that South African learners would experience within a broadband environment. And finally, Ory Okolloh who spoke to e-government and e-citizenship within the context of a broadband policy framework.

A final wrap up of the event pointed to the way forward for the policy framework, and at this time participants’ ideas, concerns and debates were voiced. The final framework policy will be available online in the near future. Check back for details.