UN Online freedom resolution passes despite opposition from Russia, China et al

The United Nations officially condemned the practice of countries shutting down access to the internet at a meeting of the Human Rights Council on Friday. A resolution [PDF] entitled The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet effectively extends human rights held offline to the internet. It was passed by consensus, but …

Carnegie Mellon University and MasterCard Foundation Partner to Educate African Tech Leaders

Carnegie Mellon University’s commitment to educating Africa’s next generation of technology leaders and entrepreneurs received a boost recently with a $10.8 million commitment from The MasterCard Foundation. “We are excited to partner with Carnegie Mellon University in Rwanda, an exceptional institution committed to training the next generation of African engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs to meet …

More internet investment needed to sustain Africa’s economic growth

LONDON, May 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ There remains considerable activity and investment in Africa’s national and international broadband infrastructure. Many countries have a range of government programs in place aimed at increasing bandwidth availability, and at extending networks deeper into non-urban areas. Submarine cables now provide 20-times more international bandwidth than was the case in 2010: …

Ukraine is in turmoil, but it’s still online. Here’s why

After months of domestic unrest, Ukraine now has Russian troops and a potential international crisis brewing in Crimea. On Friday, reports surfaced that Ukrtelecom, the country’s largest telecom provider, had suffered a major outage in Crimea — with UPI reporting the company alleged phone and Internet services were almost entirely down in the region after …