Subject: N-1-4-014.10.2 BRINGING IT TOGETHER: AFRICA 1992 Bob Barad* Africa's inter-networking pioneers came together in 1992 as never before. At nearly a dozen meetings held in locations spanning four continents, the builders of Africa's new electronic community were at last able to overcome the physical barriers that divide them and meet together face-to-face. Here are brief descriptions and some commentary on just five of the best attended meetings: TORONTO 1992 was off to a promising start in early February with the meeting of the Global Networking Workshop funded by Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) and the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC). Networkers from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia were joined by operators and friends of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), an international association of closely affiliated peace, social justice, and environmental-oriented computer networks. APC's Canadian and British affiliates, Web and GreenNet, have supplied a large share of the technical expertise that has fueled the recent emergence of FidoNet technology-based nongovernmental organization and academic networks in Africa. Through the electronic dissemination of the Workshop's report and related documents and proposals, these locally managed and sustained network initiatives made themselves better known to the internet community. Members of one such network, the Eastern and Southern African Network (ESANET) which links university researchers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya, held a second meeting at Lusaka in November. DAKAR The Regional Informatics Networks for Africa (RINAF) project, an Italian government-supported UNESCO initiative under the technical direction of Stefano Trumpy, held its inaugural meeting at Dakar just two weeks later. The meeting began with a comprehensive overview of the status of networking initiatives in Africa that gave special attention to the successes achieved at the geographic frontiers of Africa's network connectivity through low-cost, low-bureaucracy dial-up network technologies like FidoNet and UUCP. Because of its continental scope and practical emphasis on learning from and expanding on the successful experiences of Africa's network infrastructure builders at all levels, RINAF is succeeding in achieving its primary purpose to become a major coordinating mechanism for promoting the inter-connectivity of Africa's networks and accelerating their rapid expansion. At the Internet Society meeting in Kobe and a special workshop held at Pisa, Italy, in October, RINAF made vital contributions by providing essential travel grants and technical training to participants from African countries. The RINAF project is currently considering funding proposed projects that would establish or expand internet access in Algeria, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, and Swaziland. KOBE Due largely to RINAF's support, Africa was broadly represented at the Internet Society's own International Networking Conference (INET '92) held in June at Kobe, Japan. The conference included workshop sessions focusing on the special needs of participants from developing countries. South Africa and Egypt, Africa's networking "giants" located at opposite extremes of the continent, put in impressive appearances. The South African experience was presented in detail, and Egypt presented a proposal to host INET '95 in Cairo. Among INET's technical discussions the voices of networkers who are still at the beginning of efforts to bring computer networking to their countries were heard. On the last day of INET, networkers from Africa gathered together in an informal "birds of a feather" session. The session's participants agreed that a subregional approach should be taken to expanding network connectivity from within Africa, by encouraging the African countries that are more advanced with inter-networking to concentrate technical support on their subregional neighbors. NAIROBI Networkers convened again in late August at Nairobi for two three-day workshops. The International Workshop on Digital Radio Technology and Applications, jointly organized by IDRC and Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), gave special attention to Africa's satellite-based packet radio applications that are being developed through the VITA and SatelLife/HealthNet projects. Packet radio operators from Chad, Djibouti, Lesotho, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia presented their challenges and successes in bringing digital communications beyond the reach of telephone lines. The Workshop on Science and Technology Communication Networks in Africa, which followed, was cosponsored by the African Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and brought together networkers and donor organizations concerned with improving connectivity among Sub-Saharan Africa's universities and research institutes. Many participants attended both meetings, thus demonstrating the important linkages that are emerging between Africa's packet radio and modem-based networks. There was much discussion about the FidoNet and UUCP dial-up technologies that are enabling networkers with limited resources to establish important footholds for internet connectivity and future national networks in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Pascal Renaud from ORSTOM, a French scientific research institute, described the success that his organization has had in implementing UUCP connections (both X25 and dial-up) in Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. Throughout these six days, Africa's electronic networking practitioners seized the opportunity to huddle with their colleagues and donor representatives to explore exciting new ideas for developing future project initiatives. Special thanks to Lishan Adam, Mark Bennett, Mike Jensen, Mike Lawrie, and Pascal Renaud for their assistance in writing this article. * Baobob Communications