Connecting indigenous and mountain communities is a theme at the jamboree of the digital world
Guwahati: Come November-end, India’s Northeast will be hosting an international event offering opportunities for digital solutions to connect rural communities with last-mile internet connectivity.
The 7th Community Network Xchange (CNX) is an international event to be held for the first time in the Northeast, along with the 8th eNorth East 2023 (digital tech for society) event on November 24–25. The event will be held at the Royal Global University campus here.
CNX Asia Pacific was first organized in 2017, with a focus on bringing together community network practitioners and enthusiasts of community-driven Internet connectivity to exchange ideas and serve as catalysts for the grassroots connectivity movement. This year’s CNX is a collaborative effort by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), the Internet Society (ISOC), and the Council for Social and Digital Development in partnership with the Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP) and the Art and Collective for Digital Empowerment (A-CODE), along with several communities of practice.
The CNX theme this year, centered on the Asia Pacific region, is “Connecting Indigenous and Mountain Communities.”
The two-day event will see the sharing of stories of dedicated network builders on the ground. It will emphasize how their unwavering commitment and passion play a pivotal role in extending Internet access to their respective communities, according to the CNX website.
The 8th eNorth East 2023 event is about technology for society, with deliberations and exchanges on good practices in the use of digital technology in communities. The CNX, on the other hand, discusses, shares, and demonstrates innovative models and practices on how to connect remote communities digitally.
Since 2010, the eNorth East Award has sought to identify, scout, recognize, promote, and publish innovative digital solutions for sustainable development in the North East Region of India.
“More than 200 such digital innovations have been identified, recognized, documented, and published. The innovations have been across education, health, education, livelihood, entrepreneurship, women empowerment, and good governance,” saidthe enortheast website while opening for nominations.
Convener of the event, Syed S. Kazitold Business North East: “The platform was initiated to provide a regional platform for inter-regional alignment, communication, and engagement amongst the nascent ICT and digital for society stakeholders in the region, with its unique challenges and needs to avail digital means and opportunities."
Since 2010, the eNorth East event has been a platform that seeks to connect stakeholders working on issues critical to inclusive, last-mile, sustainable, and meaningful information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet usage for development in the North East Region (NER) of India.
Kazi said they have been able to engage stakeholders from the government, industry, civil society, academia, and other practitioners in the digital space and involve them through discussions, advocacy, research, and actions in emerging digital issues and opportunities affecting the indigenous tribal groups and communities.
“This includes how and why artificial intelligence (AI) is relevant and contextual to the region,” said Kazi.
He said that the initiative has also been able to identify, document, promote, and create a repository of digital innovations and projects that have created social, economic, and sustainable development impact for the region.
Development came late to the north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. For a long time, the availability of electricity—a supporting infrastructure for the internet and ICT—had been an issue. Regardless, there has been a steady development of an ecosystem supportive of meaningful usage of the internet and ICTs and of homegrown entrepreneurs from the region who have sought to capacitate the people to make above-average use of their access to the internet and ICTs.
The mega event will have 14 technical sessions, such as sustainable last mile connectivity and internet reach; opportunities and challenges of digital technology; safety and security; digital rights and freedom; innovations and solutions.
The key objectives of the event are to call for innovative practices, case studies, and experiences in digital inclusion and innovations, select, recognize, and felicitate such digital innovations for sustainable development in the region. It aims to provide a common plan for digital stakeholders here to deliberate and network on technology for sustainable development. That would encompass wider ‘North East Internet Governance’ (NEIG) issues, including the scope of responsible and sustainable digital inclusion, ICT, Internet technology, and access, connectivity, information, services, and citizen entitlements.
The event will explore areas of convergence, partnerships, and agreements among stakeholders. It hopes to emerge with a consultation framework with policy and program inputs and recommendations for a sustainable digital approach and strategies for development in the North Eastern States.
This year’s event will have two main components: the eNortheast Awards and NEIG.
NEIG aims to engage stakeholder groups and individuals in, of, and for the region in discussions on Internet-related public policy issues in Northeast on an equal footing. NEIG seeks to educate and motivate individuals in charge of developing policy in both the public and corporate sectors, even when there is no agreed-upon outcome.
The eNorth East Award seeks to identify, recognize, document, publish, and promote ICT solutions and digital innovations addressing key sustainable development and governance challenges in North East India.
The award summit is an annual multi-stakeholder dialogue and consultative platform in the field of information and communication technology, the Internet for Development, and governance in North-East India. The thrust is on the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and best practices; demonstrating examples; and sharing experiences from mainstream India and from the region for better learning and replication in the region.
The 2023 event will also showcase the annual digital festival focusing on the best ICT and digital practices for development, including innovations and solutions that have been implemented in the region or have the potential to be implemented with desired results. The festival is an exhibition of solutions that can facilitate overcoming existing challenges in service delivery, e-infrastructure, content and services, and networking with security. In the two events, the festival will have finalists from the public, private, civil society, and academic sectors who will demonstrate their innovative deployment of solutions and practices.
The event will see the participation of stakeholders and representatives from public, private, civil society, and academia. The state governments will have a large presence and participation through their key functionaries and departments.
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