[kictanet] Employment Opportunity: Head of Policy, African Internet Service Providers Association

[Brian Longwe]

Job Description: Head of Policy
Based in Nairobi, Kenya, the Head of Policy for AfrISPA secretariat is a new
position and is yet to be filled. This is a full time employee position.
He/She reports to the General Manager and with his support monitors, manages
and evaluates AfrISPA's policy agenda. He/She plays a key role in developing
the AfrISPA community by enhancing the policy function, expanding the scope
and range of policy actions and providing focused and sustained engagement
with policy-makers, regulators and key stakeholders at national, regional
and continental level.
Under the supervision of the General Manager, the Head of Policy is
responsible for;

   - Raising the profile of AfrISPA as a significant influence on policy and
   regulation for the Internet in Africa
   - Working strategically with members of the Board, management and
   development teams to create, shape and disseminate the association's
   policy positions and key messages
   - Developing the association's policy function
   - Representing the association at a senior level, engaging with
   appropriate stakeholders to maintain the quality and relevance of our work
   and to increase the association's impact on the development of public
   policy
   - Leading the policy function, managing the policy team
   - Leading the development and delivery of policy projects to meet
   strategic objectives
   - Identifying and disseminating the implications for the Internet and
   Internet stakeholders of changes in government, AU and international
   policy and regulation
   - Maintaining an overview and identifying gaps and new areas for
policywork and making appropriate recommendations to the senior
management team
   - Managing projects to improve the evidence base of our policy positions
   - Providing other members of the team with appropriate briefings, papers
   and presentations
   - Providing policy input to the association's interdisciplinary projects
   - Writing policy content for the website and other communications
   activities
   - Contributing to the planning and management of annual work programmes
   - Seeking out, developing and managing opportunities for grant funding
   and commissioned work
   - Taking part in corporate communications activities, development and
   fundraising efforts as required


Interested candidates should email their CV and full contacts to
brian at afrispa.org

*AfrISPA Policy Advocacy*
The next phase of AfrISPA's work requires enhanced capacity on the policy
and regulatory front. To this end the secretariat will be  expanded to
include a "Head of Policy" position. This role would design, organise and
implement policy advocacy actions across the entire spectrum of issues that
affect Internet markets in Africa. This will follow AfrISPA Policy
Development Strategic Canvas as follows:

Policy Development:
Strategic Canvas

   - Provide industry perspective on policy as it relates to the Internet
   industry and act as an interface between government bodies and the wider
   public
   - Develop policies in the best interest of the members and protect and
   promote these interests in regional and international fora
   - Provide and promote educational opportunities that will enhance and
   empower technical and policy understanding of the Internet
   - Develop policies that will guide members into active participation in
   the development of a free and open telecommunications market in their
   respective markets
   - Mobilise ISPAs to deal with legal issues such as child pornography and
   cyber crime as a real threat to the growth of the Internet as a business
   tool and enabler
   - Encourage the development and use of local content, particularly
   e-Government and online news services
   - Value addition through assistance in setting up standards and
   guidelines for web development and promoting the setting up of server farms
   - Develop policies to protect Internet user's privacy and rights of
   freedom of expression. Comment constructively on draft Bills in African
   countries relating to these issues.

Activities

   - Create a new position within the AfrISPA secretariat for a Head of
   Policy.
   - Identify key issues currently affecting Africa's Internet industry at
   national, regional and continental levels and design, develop and deliver
   suitable policy interventions.



*About AfrISPA*
The African Internet Services Providers Association, AfrISPA, is the
Pan-African association of Internet Services Providers Associations of the
countries in Africa. AfrISPA was founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in
August 2001 when a gathering of ISP and ISPA representatives from various
countries in Africa met to discuss and deliberate ways of addressing common
issues and concerns that affect the growth and stability of the Internet in
Africa.

By engaging donors for funding and through the commitment of pioneer members
AfrISPA
has implemented a number of activities that include:-
• Establishment of Internet Exchange Points: AfrISPA has directly and
indirectly contributed to the
establishment of IXPs in 22 countries.
• Establishment of ISP Associations
• High-level representations: AfrISPA has gained recognition as a key
African
institution that is passionate about the role of the Internet as a vital
underpinning
for national, regional and continental growth and development.  On this
basis,
AfrISPA engages together in thought leadership, policy development and
strategic planning through representation in various key local, regional and

international fora. Key organisational affiliations include membership of
the
ITU through the ITU-D, a close working relationship with EuroISPA,
involvement in the ICANN process, partnerships with various key African
institutions such as AfriNIC, AfNOG, AfTLD, the ATU and platforms at key
events.
• Position Papers: A vital instrument in AfrISPA's advocacy activities is
position
papers that are developed around crucial issues that affect the development
and
growth of the Internet in the region. These have included areas such as:
Infrastructure development, Content, Voice over IP, Spam and Regional
Integration among others. In collaboration with others, AfrISPA has
contributed
towards the awareness and adoption of the Open Access framework for major
communications infrastructure. It is worth noting that most of the currently

ongoing submarine fibre optic projects as well as many of the terrestrial
backbone projects have recognised the principles of Open Access and
structured
their funding and business models along those lines.
• Regulatory reports: Regulatory regimes that provide an environment
conducive
to healthy growth of the ICT sector are essential for Africa's development.
To
this end, AfrISPA conducts periodic assessments of various countries'
regulatory environments and provides these reports to members to facilitate
local advocacy through benchmarking and to contribute towards smoother
regulatory harmonisation across the region. These reports provide an
important
evidence base to justify local actions aimed at positive policy and
regulatory
reform.
• Workshops and training: Capacity building is one of AfrISPA's primary
objectives. AfrISPA is well positioned to identify needs in this area and
respond
through the development of appropriate materials which are delivered through

workshops and training sessions.



-- 
Brian Munyao Longwe
e-mail: blongwe at gmail.com
cell:  + 254 722 518 744
blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com
meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
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