[afripv6-discuss] Community involvement (was: AF6TF report for 2012)

[Mukom Akong T.]

On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 7:39 PM, SM <sm at resistor.net> wrote:

> The above has also been a problem for other Internet-related issues.  Here
> are some of the subject lines for 2012:
>
>  - IPv6 In South Africa
>  - IPv6 news - weekly summary
>  - IPv6 Webinar for African operators
>  - Successful Conclusion of AFRINIC Training Workshop
>  - AFRINIC training programme achieves IPv6 Forum Gold Certification
>  - WEEKLY BGP REPORT FOR AfriNIC v6 PREFIXES
>  - What are the benefits of IPv6 over IPv4
>
> The only country which had some community involvement IPv6-wise is South
> Africa.  There was some involvement for discussions about IPv6 over IPv4.
> There wasn't any involvement on the mailing list about the Webinars.

What kind of mailing list involvement were you expecting? AFAIK, some
of these messages are just information to the community. Engagement
for something like the webinar is better evidenced by the number who
attended and their feedback.

Only two of the topics listed above are discussion topics ... so
there's nothing amiss there.


> Overall, community involvement is a problem.  As the report indicates there
> aren't "enough participants to increase the momentum".  My guess is that
> there isn't any incentive for people to participate.

I agree on the need for more community involvement. As to the reason
for the lack of more of it, I suppose we'll all have to find and share
information about topics that could spur discussion .... things like

(a) Ask help with some kind of v6 problem you are encountering
(b) Share perspectives on how to go about something
(c) Blog posts, product reviews etc

>
> A few days ago someone told me that the Internet in Africa is not relevant.

First of all, that's one person's opinion .... a ridiculously narrow
minded one at that 'The Internet in Africa is not Relevant' and would
make a good piece for arm-chair journalist and Africa-analysts. Not
really different from from the traditional western narrative about
Africa.

> That's the view from outside the region.  It's discouraging to hear that and
> it is even more discouraging to see a lack of willingness to change that.
>

I'd be interested to see your evidence of 'Lack of willingness' to
change the status quo. New technology adoption is a complex problem
(complex is a systemic way) in that there are several actors, with
sometimes conflicting incentives to act/not act and different levels
of priorities.

And while some elements of the system will take more time to 'come
around', those who know better can keep doing their part - educating,
sharing, encouraging.

And so I'd like to ask you --- what do you suggest as an effective
strategy to 'change the status quo'?

--

Mukom Akong T.

http://about.me/perfexcellence |  twitter: @perfexcellent
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