A tiny dot on the beach

Michael Ilishebo is a Law Enforcement Officer at the Zambia National Police. For the last six years he has been working under the Information and Communication Technology Department. He did his Information Technology studies at the Copperbelt University and was also a 2013 Cyber Security and IT Policy Scholar at the United States Telecommunication Training Institute (USTTI) in Washington, DC,USA. He also studied with World Intellectual Property Organisation Academy (WIPO) and the International Intellectual Property Crime Investigators College (IIPCIC) under INTERPOL. Currently, he is in his final year at Cavendish University pursuing a B.Sc Computer Science.

“What has Internet Governance got to do with Law Enforcement?, that was the question I could not escape from my fellow delegates.

Paragraph 34 of the Tunis Agenda provides a working definition of Internet governance as “the development and application by governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet”.

During the practicum Plenary 1, I deliberately chose the Government Stakeholder team. Our group advisor, Dr. Chango Mawaki did a good job and pushed us to the limit. I could sense how confused at first the group was, but Madam Chipo Kanjo added flavour and all of a sudden, we all started moving on the same tide. The group rapporteur Arif Abdeljalil was a wise choice we made. He had the energy and enthusiasm and did justice to the task ahead.

Leadership came in the form of Ms. Dora Mawutor who came to the rescue of the Civil Society Stakeholder team when the group rapporteur couldn’t express himself clearly. She rose to the occasion and showed us what we should expect when “Women are in Control”. I called her The Iron Lady, amidst her protest.

After the practicum exercise, the term ‘Multistakeholderism’ seemed to have answered many whom I could not satisfy with my earlier answers on the first day of the school.  Above all, the practicum exercise opened doors to many people’s minds in regards to Internet Governance and all underlying issues. The school experience actually

In the midst of the terms “Transparency”, “Responsibility” and “Legitimacy”, was the word ‘Tamassa’ which most of us couldn’t decode. To those who managed to get the meaning on time, they surely lived to the word after all school activities were done…..it was time to hit the beach sand…..

Meanwhile, ICANN 52 February, 2015 meeting in Singapore is awaits me and my AfriSIG 2014 knowledge will surely not make me look  like a complete stranger in the midst of technocrats and other stakeholders… AfriSIG has planted good seeds in me.