Category News and events

The ECOWAS Ministers of ICT have approved a revised Supplementary Act on Universal Access and Service, which will update the Act to reflect current good practices and digital access goals in the region.

How can policymakers develop policy that enables increased internet access, affordability, and use among women?

What progress has been made over the last six months toward bridging the digital gender gap? A new report from the Broadband Commission's Working Group on the Digital Gender Divide takes a look, and highlights recent and ongoing work from A4AI and the Web Foundation.

How does women’s use of the mobile internet compare with men’s in Kenya? Our new case study Mobile Data Plans in Kenya: Quantifying women’s access to the digital world looks at the types of mobile data plans that Kenyans are purchasing, and how women in Kenya are accessing and using the internet compared with their male counterparts.

Achieving the ambitious goals laid out in Bangladesh's "Vision 2021" depends, in large part, on achieving a Digital Bangladesh. We look at why affordable internet is key to realising this vision, and at the work the A4AI-Bangladesh Coalition will be tackling in order to make it a reality.

We're excited to welcome Bangladesh as the newest member country of A4AI. The Alliance will work together with the Government of Bangladesh (via its Access to Information (a2i) programme) and a wide range of local stakeholders to work toward making internet in the country more affordable for all.

As public WiFi networks increase in popularity as a way to enable wider access, there are potential concerns regarding user privacy, safety and security that need to be addressed. What are the safeguards we — and governments — must take to ensure public WiFi works for users?

As the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) looks to develop an industry code of practice in support of an open internet, the A4AI-Nigeria Coalition and the Web Foundation encouraged the NCC to protect and support a free, open and affordable internet that can benefit and empower all.

Guatemala has become the newest country - and first country in Central America - to join A4AI. An official Memorandum of Understanding was signed yesterday in Guatemala City at the country's first A4AI multi-stakeholder forum.

In this guest post, Paul Rowney, A4AI Advisory Council member and Technical Director of My DigitalBridge Foundation in Namibia, looks at the future of TV White Space technology for expanding access in Malawi.

Read more about progress toward affordability in Latin America & the Caribbean by reading the latest in our series of Affordability Report Regional Snapshots.

Universal Service and Access Funds (USAFs) can be used to help close the digital divide — and the growing digital gender gap — by supporting public access initiatives, device subsidies, and digital skills training for women and other marginalised populations. Are these funds being used effectively to do so? Our new research aims to find out.