Martha Chilongoshi is a Zambian Freelance Journalist with special interest in issues of governance, development, human rights and gender equality. Following her professional training, she has worked for two organizations in Zambia; first as a Publicity and Training Consultant and as a Program Officer for Governance and Development.
Recognizing the advent of the Internet and related high technology that enables community advocates to visualize greater opportunities for Africa’s increasingly tech-savvy youths, Martha uses the internet and social media platforms to drive conversation and enhance access to information.
Her most recent project was that of being the Online Media Team Lead for the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) funded project, called the Zambia Elections Information Centre (ZEIC) a multi-stakeholder election monitoring and observation platform whose main objective was to connect citizens of Zambia to governance institutions and processes through sharing information in real time so that corrective measures would be implemented in order to enhance credibility and transparency.
Driven by a passion to help her community develop through information sharing, Martha has recently established a Website called Revolt Media, a creative Multi Media and ICTs for development and proactive advocacy Initiative focused on influencing the functioning of society through dissemination of information on leadership, governance, development, human rights, entrepreneurship, business and lifestyle with a special focus on women and young girls in Zambia and across the African Continent.
Nashilongo Gervasius – Senior Broadcast Journalist, Namibia Broadcasting Corporation
Nashilongo is a senior broadcast Journalist in Namibia with the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation where she is currently serves in an Assistant Executive Producer/Assistant Editor of the Television Current Affairs Department. In addition to serving on the Curriculum Board of the Namibia University of Science and Technology’s department of Media and Technology. This department is one of UNESCO’s 20 Schools of Excellence in Journalism in Africa, championing and mainstreaming Gender in their curricula.
She is passionate about issues of Governance, ICT, Development, HIV, Media and Women. As such, these are fields that she currently researches with International Research Organisations such as the Global Integrity and Transparency International, and previously the Web Index.
She graduated with an Honours Degree in Journalism in Communication Technology in 2009 from NUST and boasts a number of academic scholarships/fellowships awards from institutions, as well as recognition from Media Institute of Southern Africa. Nashilongo is in the final stretch of her Master’s in Leadership Development in ICT in the Knowledge Society with the University of Mauritius. She is also a wife and mother.
Akua Gyekye – Public Policy Manager for Africa, Facebook
Akua Gyekye is Facebook’s Public Policy Manager for Africa, where she focuses on issues relating privacy, safety and security, freedom of expression, the impact of the Internet on economic growth, and new opportunities for democratic engagement across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Before joining Facebook, Akua was working as a project finance lawyer, qualified to practice in NY and the UK, at Clifford Chance. Akua previously worked in Nigeria and Liberia as a legal adviser and rule of law specialist at the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation and as an anti-corruption lawyer at USAID. Akua also has government experience (the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development), NGO experience (the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, Lawyers Without Borders) and experience working for international think tanks (American Society for International Law, the European Institute, the Brookings Institute).
Akua holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and Society, International Relations and Spanish from American University, a Law Degree from Cambridge University in England and a Masters of Laws in International and Comparative Law from the George Washington University Law School.
Wisdom Donkor – IT Manager, Ghana National Information Technology Agency
Wisdom works with the Ghana National Information Technology Agency (NITA), and specializes in E-government and infrastructure, Internet Governance and Open Government Data initiative and policies. He holds the position of IT Manager and is the Technical Lead person for Ghana Open Data Initiative Project. He was the past Vice General Secretary of the Internet Society Ghana Chapter and currently the National Secretariat Manager of the Information Technology Association of Ghana (ITAG). He is currently a member of the UN IGF Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (IGF MAG), and a Member of the Ghana IGF Planning Committee.
In addition, Wisdom has been associated with ICANN as Fellow and coach (mentor) since ICANN 49 (Singapore) and remains active through contributing to the ICANN New gtLD working group and the ICANN Cross Community working group (CCWG). Additional community working groups he contributes to entail issues of internet governance and Open Government Data at both local and global level including the NCSG, Open Government Data, IGF MAG working groups, World Bank Open Data Working Group, Internet Society (ISOC), Diplo Foundation, Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN), Ghana IGF Steering Committee, Linux Accra User Group.
Arthur Gwagwa – Fellow, Strathmore University
Arthur is a dually qualified lawyer in Zimbabwe where he is registered as an advocate of the Supreme Court, and as a solicitor in England and Wales.
He is currently an “Information Controls” fellow with the Open Technology Fund, working from Strathmore University in Kenya. His project aims to document, and compare information controls and impacts across countries and regions, with a focus on Djibouti, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Swaziland. It also examines the aspect of norms and technological diffusion from major authoritarian states such as Iran, China and Russia to the countries of study.
Arthur also has a strong background in human rights and refugee law. Over the past four years, he has worked to inform and shape policy reforms of states laws and practices relating to internet governance, but also issues in which the Internet is central like cybersecurity, Internet governance, privacy, and surveillance.