“Food for Thought”: Civic Tech Breakfast Event — #DataMustFall?
Join us at our next breakfast session which will focus on #DataMustFall
You are invited to our next Civic Tech Innovation Food for Thought Breakfast event to discuss the new Competition Commission Report on #datamustfall, and how other players are approaching the issue of data costs in South Africa.
The South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says data must fall, but what should the government do to make it happen? The Competition Commission recently produced a roadmap to bring down the costs of data. The commission found that the latest benchmarking data from Research ICT Africa also shows that South Africa performs unfavourably against other African countries.
We have invited the following panelists to discuss the impact of this report, what different organisations are doing to achieve cheaper data and how South Africa can achieve universal internet access and free public access.
Our Panel :
Izak Minnaar, an independent consultant:
He recently presented a “seven steps to achieving universal internet access and free public access in South Africa” at the Forum for Internet Freedom hosted in Ethiopia in September.
Minnaar is working with the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF), the Interactive Advertising Bureau South Africa (IABSA) and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), with the support of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), to make a call for universal internet access and free public access.
“All South Africans — and especially those who cannot afford it and other vulnerable groups — need a daily first tranche of free internet access to exercise their basic human rights such as access to government services, participating in the digital economy, looking for jobs, online communication and for learners and students to access online educational resources. This is the only way to achieve universal access to information and digital equality amongst our citizens, including the rural poor who have access to mobile phones,” says Minnaar.
Koketso Moeti, Founding Executive Director of Amandla.mobi:
Amandla.mobi has previously made submissions to both ICASA and the Competition Commission which were respectively supported by more than 30,000 people. She will share the latest updates about what Amandla.mobi is doing on #DataMustFall
Tim Genders, COO of Project Isizwe
He has been with Project Isizwe for the last 3 years taking responsibility for the management of one of the largest free Wi-Fi projects in Africa.
Genders will discuss “5G and the challenge of connecting Africa”. The manufacturers of 5G equipment have told us it is critical for Africa to be part of the 4th Industrial revolution. Is this true? Will 5G bring down the price of data?
Event Details:
When: Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Time: 08:00–10:00
Where: Tshimologong Precinct, 41 Juta Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
To reserve your seat, please click here. If you receive an error during the registration process, please email civictech@journalism.co.za to confirm your attendance.
