Youth and IG in East Africa

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Emmanuel Oloo Khisa on May 17, 2010 at 9:23pm

I believe that the future participation of the youth is to get the young generation talking. I believe we could start by going the good old fashion marketting, radio interviews, TV programs and newspaper articles. If we can (for the Kenyans here) bring the rural folk to talk abt such abstract things as the constitution then we can do much more with IG. Get the word out there thru time tested channels

Permalink Reply by Barrack Otieno on May 18, 2010 at 8:40am

@ Emmanuel, i suppose there is too much information in the old channels that young people are unable to pick what is relevant, how about promoting proper use of social networking media such as Social Networks tweeting as a way of Social reporting (especially for school meetings such as science congresses and blogging). I have realised the BC generation is catching up with blogging and some of them are writing amazing Blogs coz they have the content, mostly their experiences, just a thought...East Africa has a rich History, i would love to be a tourist in Uganda without necessarily touring Uganda, Blogging and Social Networking can offer such avenues, the question however is how and where do we begin? Reformers are influencers, how do we influence if we dont have clear strategies?, skill is useless without strategy..

Permalink Reply by Rafik on May 18, 2010 at 1:43pm

Hi Barrack,

that is why we launched the youth coalition on Internet Governance to bring more youth to participate in the debate, to coordinate initiatives related to IG and concretely to have more young panelists in workshops and IGF main sessions
http://groups.google.com/group/ycig

Permalink Reply by James Mwita Okech on May 18, 2010 at 7:02pm

Hi all,
I'm just wondering deeply whether the use of IG related conferences can also help in creating awareness and participation of youths. Well, I wonder because I've a feeling that research in IG may not be popular amongst the youth researchers.

Permalink Reply by Barrack Otieno on May 18, 2010 at 7:11pm

@ Okech the thing is the IG related conferences have been going on at local regional and global level, probably the high level of engagement might be a barrier of entry, i just saw post from Rafik Dammak from the Youth Coalition, probably Raffik could share some of the strategies he is is using alongside Dmitry Epstein and many other young people to encourage the involvement of the youth in IG, Social Media attracts young people and we should take advantage of this platforms.

Permalink Reply by Barrack Otieno on May 18, 2010 at 7:17pm

Thanks Raffik, could you provide some input as to how you are going about this, congratulations for the great work. I hope to engage more actively this year in the coalition

Permalink Reply by Solomon Mburu on May 20, 2010 at 2:23pm

Barrack,
This is an important question that you've raised, well according to me. However, the BC guys really don't want to be obsolete so they will do all in their capacities to be AC (After Computer) generation.
The only way the youth can be involved in these processes is to make sure they are available and are part of the whole IGF platforms.
They must also be ready to learn... by free will and not by forceful interventions. Radical shift comes out when there is a directional balance, that can't be gotten by mere assumptions. Involvement of the youth in the core aspect for full realization of the IGF in the region and at the global level, but can come out when the concerned become the key activists!!!!

Permalink Reply by Deirdre Williams on May 20, 2010 at 5:52pm

Dear Solomon, Mwende, Everyone,
I feel like a bit of a trespasser since I am definitely BC (though not obsolete yet I hope :-) ), not youth, and not East Africa. However I AM a citizen of the virtual world, and I hope that Mwende might vouch for my bona fides.
I have been reading this discussion thread with interest because I have been working to create an interest in IG among the students that I teach (in the Caribbean).
I find Solomon, like his namesake, to be wise in his answers. I hope that many people are following general activity on the ning, because his comment is good for everyone and everywhere.
The discussion thread also raises another issue which has gone quiet in the last few years - information overload. In one way classification and subsets help to make the information manageable, but in another way they fragment so that important pieces of information can be "lost".
My final comment concerns classification of users. One of the precious things about the Internet for me is the opportunity to escape the confines of "self" and become just an "ear" to listen and a "mouth" to speak. Internet users were once defined as "angels" in that they are (or can be) ageless, sexless, without ethnicity, without all the "labels" of individual identity. Now I observe that individual identity has surged in importance.
I would be very interested to learn more of the AC generation's ideas on these issues.
Best wishes from the West Indies to East Africa
Deirdre

Permalink Reply by Barrack Otieno on May 21, 2010 at 8:39am

Deidre, your intervention is welcome we are one world, you are certainly on point and so is Solomon, i cannot dispute that. The only challenge is that in the event that the youth are not able to come forwad, what can we do to prod them or bring them on board?, clearly not everyone thinks the way Solomon or Deidre does, that is why the whole aspect of governmnets and governance comes in to ensure that the benefits of technology are available to all , could you enlighten me on this perspective, we still appreciate BC, our parents belong there :-)

Permalink Reply by Lillian Nalwoga on May 21, 2010 at 9:40am

Interesting submissions.... the question of youth involvement in IG debates and discussions comes in handy as youth are turning out ot be the most consumers of the Internet. I would like to agree with Solomon and disagree as well. Youth have to be given a reason to take active participation in IG issues or else they may not see the importance. That way, they will be available and ready to learn. Otherwise, telling them to be availble to learn at free will not bring them to the discussions.
Further, we should be able to repackage information in ways that are apealling to them. For instance, we all know that youth and social networks are inseperable. So why don't we find ways of making use of these networks as a way of reaching out to them??



The only way the youth can be involved in these processes is to make sure they are available and are part of the whole IGF platforms.
They must also be ready to learn... by free will and not by forceful interventions. Radical shift comes out when there is a directional balance, that can't be gotten by mere assumptions. Involvement of the youth in the core aspect for full realization of the IGF in the region and at the global level, but can come out when the concerned become the key activists!!!!

Permalink Reply by Solomon Mburu on May 23, 2010 at 3:33pm

I have a feeling that the involvement of the youth should not be 'a take and go' approach.

Rather, it should be packaged to involve them in understanding the whole concept of internet governance, and the various processes that make it work. When a person wants to do something, it must be packaged from the intra-personal communication ( or what is referred to as omniscient speaker in drama) so that a lot of time is used to understanding the concept and maybe, application of the same in real life situations.
If we go via making a network, how many are wiling to join? And what are the expected benefits? Maybe we need to have a long term network that brings all the interested youth in the IGF process!

@Deirdre, the BC generation have been dominating everything and this makes the AC remain mere spectators and passive thinkers. I have a feeling that when there is a synchronized approach to issues, then we shall not be having a situation where each of the sides (BC and AC) look at each other with an ostentatious suspicion. Both depend on each other in a way!!!

@Lilian, there is a notion that free things are always not good, and so, giving the youth a platform for sharing experiences at IGF sets a risky trend - people will be expecting free stuff without working for them. I strongly feel the urge to play a collective role of letting the youth come up with ideas, themes and thoughts of what they want to see addressed in the IGF. Such an approach, in my view, will help in drawing various views appertaining the involvement of the youth in the realization of their aspirations. And by the way, I'm not a BC!!!!

Permalink Reply by Emmanuel Oloo Khisa on May 23, 2010 at 5:00pm

@ All, I do buy into insights shared by Solomon. I am also constrained to say that while its right that the youth need to be helped only to the point where they see value of IG and then let to make choices of what they want, it is important to build awareness. I can bet you 90percent plus Internet users in EA have not the foggiest of clues as to what IG is. Now how do we expect these same lot of people to make decisions regarding IG? It starts with building awareness, more like its been done with OFC...you ask any technology oriented teenager in Kenya and they will tell you one or two about Fibre Optic and so the moment the so called AC generation are able to say one or two things about IG we will be 1/2 way towards building a strong and vibrant community of aware users.
Imagine if cellphones were limited in usage to the very top elite as was the case in the late 90s, wouldnt we be lagging behind and same goes for IG, awareness is key then we build on this by creating a commmunity of advocates. I think toward this end Diplo has done quite some work, its now critical to the IG diplomats to get the word out there in University curriculums and media and NGOs and various offices.