A total of 600 delegates from various countries across the world have converged in Nairobi for the 10th Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF23) that kicked off on Thursday.

The panel at the three-day DRIF23 conference was united in calling for sustainable internet and balanced regulation across the continent.

Key speakers included Namibia Deputy Minister for Information Communication & Technology (ICT) Emma Inamutila Theofelus; KICTANET CEO & Convenor Grace Githaiga; Paradigm Initiative Executive Director ‘Gbenga Sesan and Derechos Digitales Advocacy Director Vladimir Garay.

Theofelus called for government and political goodwill in Namibia to increase internet penetration and reduce the huge cost involved in developing the necessary infrastructure.

“Rolling out infrastructure is difficult and very expensive. We have put in place the conditions for licensing and investment from the government. There has been some political will. This includes the Universal Service Fund. We also have one of the most liberated media on the continent,” Theofelus said.

Githaiga urged for multi-sectoral collaboration to boost internet access in Kenya and Africa.

“As KICTANet, we have held joint convenings focusing on cybersecurity, data protection and the broadband report. The Kenya Internet Governance Forum is our flagship program. Through the forum we discuss and see how to fit issues into our local context,” she said.

Vladimir noted that increased access to the internet will play a significant role in the promotion of human rights on the continent.

“People want high quality, affordable and secure internet connectivity. The Internet is expensive and limited. We need to acknowledge and address internet connectivity gaps,”he said.

On his part, ‘Gbenga urged stakeholders to collaborate more to increase internet access.

“If all stakeholders don’t get their hands dirty, we will come back here 10 years later to discuss the same issues,” added ‘Gbenga.

Paradigm Initiative is hosting the Pan-African bilingual event together with Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) and Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) created under Strathmore University.

The conference has been sponsored by The Netherlands, Ford Foundation, Wikimedia Foundation, Google, Open Technology Fund and the Global Network Initiative (GNI).

Leading Pan-African Digital Rights and Inclusion organization, PIN, has convened DRIF since 2013 with this year’s theme being “Building A Sustainable Internet For All.”

The forum brings together representatives from government, NGOs, UN, academia, media, funding partners, the technical community, and private sector within the digital ecosystem.

The forum hosting 70 sessions with partners from 48 countries tackles internet shutdowns, Universal Service Fund use, data protection, content moderation as well as censorship.