African and Global Interest in iWeek 2018 Hots Up

20 June 2018

News that the Internet Society (ISOC) and African IXP Association (AFIX) are set to hold the 9th annual Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) during iWeek in August has seen increased interest in South Africa’s leading Internet industry conference.

That’s the word from iWeek founder, South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), which says the 2018 line-up for the conference (first held in 2001) and exhibition — is looking particularly interesting.

“Our newly-minted ISOC and AFIX partnership is helping to take iWeek to a whole new level and a whole new audience. From Angola Cables to Google, ISPA members will this year have the opportunity to interact with the most diverse group of ICT influencers, opinion makers, technies and others we’ve ever seen at iWeek,” said Malcolm Siegel, spokesperson for iWeek’s organising committee.

The complete list of companies currently set to have a presence at iWeek 2018 in Cape Town is as follows: Akamai, Angola Cables, China Telecom, Dark Fibre Africa, De-CIX, DNS Africa Ltd, Fibreco, Epsidon Technology Distribution, Flexoptics, Google, Host1Plus, LINX, Liquid Telecom, MaineOne, NEC-XON, Netnod, Netflix, Oath, PAIX, SEACOM and Teraco. Most of the iWeek conference sessions that are slated to take place from 20 to 24 August 2018 at The Westin Hotel on the city’s Foreshore are open to the public and attendance is free to pre-registered delegates.

The change in timing this year is to accommodate iWeek’s new ISOC and AFIX partners who will hold the 9th annual Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) at iWeek.

Good news for additional firms interested in iWeek’s unique blend of an African and global audience is that sponsorship opportunities are still available, according to Ms Zinn. “Internet opportunities are opening up on this continent of one billion people and many of the people doing the opening up will be at iWeek in August. It would be pity for any expanding ICT firm to miss out on this awesome opportunity,” she concludes. Interested parties can contact Ms Zinn at elaine@iweek.org.za.

AfPIF is an annual event that serves as a platform to expand and develop the African Internet. It connects infrastructure, service, and content providers with policymakers in order to identify and discuss ways to improve network interconnection, lower the cost of connectivity, and increase the number of users in the region. Over 200 participants attended last year’s AfPIF in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire including providers of international, regional, and sub-regional transport, transit, and content as well as more than 20 IXPs from Africa and beyond.

“The first AfPIF was held in 2010 by the Internet Society from the realization that most of African Internet traffic is exchanged outside the continent, and the region could save costs by exchanging the Internet traffic locally. The target is to have at least 80% of the Internet traffic consumed in Africa being locally accessible, and only 20% sourced outside the continent by the year 2020. We are getting closer to that target every year thanks to AfPIF and many activities that promote interconnection and hosting in Africa”, says Dawit Bekele, Regional Bureau Director for Africa at Internet Society.

Internet Peering is a business relationship whereby two network operators agree to provide access to each other’s network at no cost. Internet users throughout Africa benefit from Peering as it enables faster, more affordable, and more reliable access to content.

About the Internet Society

Founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet. Working through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a broad range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the Internet safe and secure, and advocates for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).  For more information visit www.internetsociety.org.

About AF-IX

The African IXP Association (AFIX) is a group of Internet exchange point operators from across Africa, brought together by a shared need to coordinate and exchange knowledge. It aims to foster an enabling environment for IXP operators, improve connectivity within the continent, and increase the Internet’s value for all. AFIX was established in 2012, joined the Internet eXchange Federation (IX-F) in 2014, and now organizes the annual African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF).

About ISPA

ISPA NPC is a non-profit company, and a recognized industry body which has represented the interests of ISPs since 1996.  ISPA has co-hosted the annual iWeek industry conference since 2001, bringing together business, government, civil society and members of the public to debate technical, policy and business matters relating to the Internet sector in South Africa. ISPA works with many different partners to ensure that iWeek includes fresh and relevant content each year and is thrilled to be hosting AfPIF during iWeek this year.

About INX-ZA

INX-ZA currently operates the only community-run, public Internet exchanges in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. SA’s first INX, JINX, began as a project of the Internet Service Providers’ Association of SA (ISPA) in 1996 and is now independently managed by INX-ZA.

About NAP Africa

Ranked in the top 15 Internet eXchange Points (IXP) by membership globally, with over 300 unique members, NAPAfrica is a neutral, layer 2 IXP and is located within each of the Teraco vendor neutral data centre facilities in South Africa.

For more on ISPA visit www.ispa.org.za

Media contacts:
Betel Hailu
Internet Society
hailu@isoc.org

Malcolm Siegel
ISPA
malcolm@ispa.org.za