UGANDA ONLINE DISCUSSION

REPORT By Daniel Nanghaka

Ignite Africa/ISOC Uganda Chapter

Email: daniel.nanghaka@isoc.ug

dndannang@gmail.com

Tel: +256772898298

On the first day of the Online discussions, the main discussion was on Access - cost/affordability of internet and infrastructure development. The discussions where guided by the following question

What have we achieved so far?

Is internet more affordable now than 5 years back?

What are the current internet usage numbers in Uganda?

Are we doing enough to utilize the existing infrastructure?

If yes, how and if not what more needs to be done?

Any success stories from the UIXP and what are its benefits to Internet development in Uganda?

ACCESSIBILITY

Internet Cafes Dongles and modems

USAGE

Internet in Uganda is growing very fast and

the costs are reducing due to the multiple

stakeholders and ISPs who have joined the

sector

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

Po

pu

lati

on

Years

Users

Note: Per Capita GDP in US dollars, source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

UCC is applauded for doing a great job but needs

to be complimented by other stakeholders; which

is termed as concerted effort. They're the

regulators and protectors of consumer rights but

in many ways may be handicapped to do

everything.

INTERNET PENETRATION RATE

Internet Penetration is at 17% as of 31st

December 2012 from 9.6% in 2010 from the

(Internet World Stats).

Reduced costs in Internet Devices due to the rise

in technology for instance 5yrs ago an EDGE or

GPRS enabled phone (handset) was exceptional

but now it is okay to have a 3G enable handset

http://whiteafrican.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Mobile-Infographic-Uganda-Kenyan-Equivalent.png

RURAL CHALLENGE OF CONNECTIVITY

The biggest challenge which needs to be checked

is rural Access to ICT

Developments have been basically happening in

the Urban centers/towns leaving our rural areas

ISP COST STRUCTURE

1 MB costs between 500 - 700 USD. Most ISP do

not have infrastructure in place. Major players

tier 1 are: Orange and Infocom. The majority of

the ISP hire data bundles from these ISP making

costs go high. The government has not played its

role to develop the infrastructure.

BANDWIDTH COSTS

Smaller providers in Uganda can buy an STM-1

(155Mbps) for approximately $35,000/mo. This

roughly equates to $225/Mbps. The larger

providers can (presumably) get it for even less.

This has been the situation for a few

years.

It is noted that the service providers still charge

three times this amount for access.

“ …Many companies have shifted from

Microwave to optic fibre because of it's enormous

advantages and the reduced cost. Although, it

has to be noted that the nature of our citizens

and people in the works department, have kind of

deterred the popularity of optic fibre as means of

delivering Internet …”

CHALLENGES FACED

When ISPs sell services, connectivity for that

matter, they use complicated terminologies to

usher consumers into ignorance with a view of

ripping them off.

Current regime of smart phones is inundated by

counterfeits, which have their limitations

Rural Access to ICT

RECOMMENDATIONS

A lot has been achieved but more still needs to be

done which include

improving access mainly in urban areas

reduce cost of accessing infrastructure especially

among ISPs

work more towards achieving rural access

Existence of counterfeits especially with the

prevalence of smart phones,

Need for awareness creation from UCC in regard to

pricing and existence of counterfeits.

Critical mass needs to be mobilized through

awareness activities of any kind to empower users

with knowledge of the Internet

DAY 2: PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET, DATA

PROTECTION, SURVEILLANCE AND

CENSORSHIP.

In the wake of increased government online

surveillance, how can internet users protect

themselves while using the internet? Are the

laws adequate or do they seem to deter privacy?

CHALLENGE

Ignorance of the Law

The Regulation of Interception of

Communications Act 2010 is related to this in

anyway - Laws have to be harmonized

accordingly but shouldn't be politically

motivated.

HOW CAN INTERNET USERS

PROTECT THEMSELVES WHILE

USING THE INTERNET?

Secure Socket Layers for Web based Systems

Password Security and changing weekly or monthly

Encryption is considered to be weak or strong based on its algorithm and the number of characters in the encryption key.

A cracker is a person who uses his knowledge of computers and programming to gain unauthorized access to a computer for the purpose of stealing or altering data.

Keys that are 128 bits long are called strong keys.

SECURITY

To implement a good security scheme, need to identify

the risk, determine how to protect the affected asset,

and calculate the cost of the resources you can allocate

to protect the asset.

Computer security can be classified into SIN

Secrecy

Integrity

Necessity

SECURITY OVERVIEW Secrecy prevents unauthorized data disclosure and ensures the

authenticity of the data’s source (Confidentiality)

Integrity prevents unauthorized data modification.

Necessity prevents data delays (slowing down the transmission of data) or denials (preventing data from getting to its destinations (Availability)

Need appropriate countermeasures for these 3 categories to protect themselves (users, businesses) and the computers used to connect to the Internet.

SOCIAL NETWORK PRIVACY

Social networks do not offer much of a private life

to any user.

“…Yes you do have options of privacy setting this

and that but it really does not guarantee any

serious privacy. So basically, when we decide to

"hook onto" that social network, you have given

out some privacy…”

Social Networks and Security is paramount

despite a lot of private information on private

Networks

LIMITATION OF SOLVING CYBER CRIME

Cybercrime has no geopolitical barriers, it is

difficult for law enforcement agencies to catch

criminals.

ORIGIN OF INTERNET CRIME

Privacy, data protection, surveillance and

censorship has been a very challenging issue in

reference to cyber crime and internet usage

RECOMMENDATION

Legal surveillance

One cannot know how the information collected

"legally" is going to be used, which calls for data

protection.

Purposive Data Collection

This is where a legislation on Data Protection

would be ideal to implore the data collectors to

collect on the necessary information/data and

should also let the owner the data know the

purpose of collecting this data.

DAY 3

WHAT IS BIG DATA

Big Data is mostly about telling stories with

data, which is very important in many aspects.

DATA ACCESSIBILITY

Access to Information Act (2005) in Uganda.

Resources should be geared towards the

implementation and working well to achieve its

objectives.

Need to call upon government and stake holders

to implement the act as the beginning of an Open

Data Initiative by government. The World Bank

report study on the implementation and its

challenges can be accessed at

http://elmot.ug/index.php/blog/148-time-to-

change-lessons-from-obama-to-museveni

CHALLENGE

Depending on what data is being collected and

question of who has accessibility to this

information is a big concern

INDIVIDUAL INTERNET PRIVACY

Internet privacy involves the right or mandate of

personal privacy concerning the storing,

repurposing, provision to third-parties, and

displaying of information pertaining to oneself

via the Internet. And privacy is either in form of

PII (Personally Identifying Information) or a non-

PII and non-PII would be monitoring of site

visitor's behaviour on a website for suspicious

activities that in most cases will relate to

government security.

USE OF BIG DATA

Research purposes - This would go a long way in

helping government work out modals in poverty

eradication as it will encourage decisions on

equal resource allocation and distribution chain.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Public demand for openness and information

sharing which would especially be of great help to

the peasants deep in the villages and especially

the farmers who have no idea of global prices of

their products on the international and even

possibly on the local market.

“ … Big Data sourcing will always go back to the

laws and policies available in Uganda. As far as I

know it, Uganda has no freedom of information

law and these needs to be put in place…”

ANY QUESTIONS