Cabling Africa: digital connectivity, subsea data cables and their protection
Digital infrastructure is vital for today’s economies and for sustainable development, but must be better protected.
Subsea data cables provide essential connections for the digital interactions that anchor everyday communications from trade, to education, personal relations and diplomatic and military interactions. This event focuses on the strategic importance of these cables and the vulnerabilities and dependencies they imply for Africa.
Experts will discuss the roles of regional organisations, governments, industry and civil society, and how to reduce risks through information sharing, surveillance and monitoring, regional cooperation, cable diplomacy and capacity building.
This event is co-hosted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), SafeSeas, the Atlantic Center, Cardiff University, the University of Copenhagen, University of Cape Town and the EU’s Cyber4Dev Initiative.
Moderator: Timothy Walker, Maritime Project Leader and Senior Researcher, ISS Pretoria
Panellists:
Towela Nyirenda Jere, Head, Economic Integration, AUDA-NEPAD
Alison Gillwald, Executive Director, Research ICT Africa (TBC)
Jess Auerbach, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town
Raj Mohabeer, Officer in Charge, General Secretariat, Indian Ocean Commission
Moliehi Makumane, Researcher, Security and Technology Programme, UNIDIR
