INTERNET SOCIETY GHANA CHAPTER MARKS ONE WEB DAY

Accra, Ghana – On September 22, the World will mark OneWeb Day.  OneWebDay is an annual global celebration of the collaborative, participatory nature of the web.  The idea behind OneWebDay is to focus attention on a key Internet value, and this year, the theme for the Day is, ‘Online Participation in Democracy.’  The Day also focuses attention on local Internet concerns, such as connectivity, censorship, individual skills, and creating a global constituency that cares about protecting and defending the Internet and creates a platform for people to educate and activate others about important issues for the Internet's future.

To commerate the Day, the Internet Society (ISOC) Ghana Chapter will organise a press conference at the International Press Centre at 10.00 a.m.  During the Press Conference, various issues, including the challenges that impede the optimisation of the Internet in Ghana will be discussed, alongside goodwill and solidarity messages from stakeholders.

The celebrations will be culminated with the Nii Quaynor Inaugural Lecture at 1.00 p.m. by Prof Nii Narku Quaynor at the British Council.  The theme for this Lecture event is, Internet Governance.  The Nii Quaynor Lectures will be held annually with scholars from other Africa countries delivering the Lectures.

 Prof. Nii Narku Quaynor was the honoree of the Jon Postel Service Award for 2007 for his of the award and the first African to win the award.  He is Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cape Coast and Chairman of Ghana.Com, the first Internet Service provider in West Africa.  He was the first African to sit on the Board of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the global Internet governance body.  Through Ghana.Com (Network Computer Systems Ltd.), Prof. Quaynor contributed significantly to development of Internet Access infrastructure in several West African countries including Gambia, Liberia, Togo, and Nigeria to through capacity building programs.  He was instrumental in the formation of AfNOG, (Africa Network Operators Group) which has trained several ICT leaders in Africa through its annual workshops and forum meetings.  He was also instrumental in the establishment of AfriNIC, the African Numbers (IP) organization, AfREN, the Africa research and Education Network forum and AFTLD (Africa Top level Domain) the Africa (domain) names organization.