Session
Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The onsite moderator will explain the discussion topic and introduce speakers and subject matter experts, who will then engage in a roundtable conversation. We are inviting a diverse group of speakers from different geographies and different stakeholder groups.
The session will be divided in two parts, and after each part the moderators (onsite and online) will open the discussion for the audience, and facilitate the conversation. At the end, each speaker will be given an opportunity to summarize major takeaways from the discussion.
This session will explore the role of cybersecurity in community networks, an often overlooked yet critical aspect of providing safe communications to vulnerable communities, and protecting the “commons” type of infrastructure.
The session will be the occasion to launch the 2024 DC3 Outcome report dedicated to “Cybersecurity in Community Networks: Securing the Commons” which will be released as open access.
Participants will discuss different challenges and perceptions of cybersecurity, and how to integrate those in the wider policy discussions. This includes the importance of resilience of infrastructure and of access as a whole. While security is often overlooked, this session will demonstrate that ensuring that community networks are stable, reliable, and secure is paramount.
Participants will provide concrete examples from the field, and provide guidance for community network practitioners on how to strengthen various dimensions of their cybersecurity efforts - both in terms of protecting the individuals, and protecting the infrastructure. The aim is to collect good practices on information security, infrastructure security, and cybersecurity capacity building from and for community networks.
In addition, the session will address the importance of meaningful connectivity in the context of digital health and remote access to health information. The focus on security is highly relevant: there are many security and misinformation issues in the field of health technologies.
The IGF 2024 session of the Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity (DC3) will focus on exploring the connection between community networks and cybersecurity. Session participants will provide their standpoints and share experiences and good practices to be consolidated into an exploratory paper on Cybersecurity in Community Networks, with a particular focus on securing the commons, elaborated as a 2024 DC3 Outcome.
Luca Belli, FGV-CTS, civil society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Senka Hadzic, Research ICT Africa, civil society, African group
Amali de Silva-Mitchell, North America
Renata Santoyo, ANATEL Brazil - government, Latin America and Caribbean (onsite)
Leandro Navarro, guifi.net Spain - technical community, WEOG (online)
Talant Sultanov, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP) - civil society, Asia-Pacific (onsite)
Osama Manzar, Digital Empowerment Foundation, India - civil society, Asia-Pacific (onsite)
Josephine Miliza, APC, Kenya - civil society, Africa (onsite)
Houda Chihi, Telecom Tunisia - private sector, MENA region (online)
Amado Espinosa, DC-DDHT - civil society, Latin America (online)
Luca Belli
Amali de Silva-Mitchell and Jorn Erbguth
Senka Hadzic
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
9.1
9.a
Targets: Community networks provide sustainable and resilient infrastructure with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all (SDG 9).
Report
1) Stakeholders agreed upon the existence of multiple cybersecurity risks in community networks. 2) Participants stressed the need for a multistakeholder approach to tackle cybersecurity challenges in community networks. 3) Need for cybersecurity support for digital health end users (who can be patients or small entities such as doctor practices, pharmacies, testers etc.).
DC3 call to action: - Participants called for strong cybersecurity policies to be adopted by community networks. - Participants called for increased cybersecurity capacity building efforts in community networks. DCDDHT call to action: - Investment in infrastructure at all levels. - Opportunity to bundle services together to reduce costs.
Osama Manzar pointed out that the Internet operates globally, but community networks serve hyper-local needs, particularly for those underserved by traditional telecom providers. Cyber safety, security, and data protection should not rely solely on top-down approaches but also on grassroots, socially driven, and behavior-based capacity building, which is often overlooked in planning. Communities are addressing this through initiatives such as empowering women to manage local information flow responsibly, creating hyper-local information trustees to act as fact-checkers, and engaging in role-play activities like street plays and oral content in local languages to promote cybersafety awareness.
According to Renata Santoyo, Anatel has become more actively involved in supporting community networks, teaching underserved communities how to build their own networks and navigate regulatory frameworks. Public consultations have been established to gather input from CSO. Proposed initiatives include leveraging the USF for community network projects, addressing potential conflicts between spectrum allocation and community network applications. Cybersecurity regulations have been updated to include community networks, with requirements for telecom providers to report incidents to the national data protection authority. To enhance accessibility, a simplified guide was developed, covering data protection, account management, and secure usage practices.
Leandro Navarro spoke about decentralized identifiers which enable individuals to manage multiple identities, allowing organizations to verify specific information about them. To empower community networks and similar groups, efforts are underway to develop open-source software enabling these communities to provide such services independently, including a wallet to store data structures and credentials.
Talant Sultanov highlighted the success of community networks in Kyrgyzstan, connecting people to the Internet for the first time. Recognizing the trust users place in the Internet and their role in enabling access, the initiative felt a responsibility to equip users with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the digital space safely. This led to the parallel launch of the Technology for Society project: Key initiatives include help desks providing advice on cybersecurity issues, cyber hygiene training where traditional storytellers convey cybersecurity concepts in simple terms, making them accessible to rural communities.
Amali da Silva-Mitchell pointed out that when dealing with health data, it is important to have secure communications. Jorn Erbguth highlighted that privacy is a major concern in health technologies, and when data is used for commercial purposes, it should be based on informed consent. Houda Chichi gave a presentation on the paradox of digitalization: while healthcare services improve, many threats arise. Emerging tech is being increasingly deployed in health: AI/ML, blockchain, cloud, IoT - hence it is important to build the capacity of health experts.
Highlights from Q&A and discussion:
- Microsoft reports that over 90% of cyber incidents happen because of phishing. Through education and capacity building the individual becomes the strong link (instead of the weak link), especially in community networks.
- It is important for regulators to have sensitivity and not impose the same regulation for enormous telecom operators and small ISPs.