AFRINIC identified four main areas of research, which include:
- Internet Technical Infrastructure
- Internet Access
- Internet Policy and Governance
- Internet Resilience
- Internet Standards and Protocols
For each of the four core research areas, one lead programme or project is designed to shape the profile of an area and further research initiatives are developed through this programme. Internet Consumption, as well as Coordination and Decision-Making, are two overarching research themes that are relevant to all four research areas.
These two research themes not only overlap and link the various research projects together but also stimulate interdisciplinary research that contributes to the strength of the AFRINIC research capabilities.
The research themes also form the important building blocks for the evolving profile of AFRINIC research within the emerging global network of Internet research institutes.
As our research programme evolves, we expect to develop more cross-cutting topics and concepts in the field of Internet research.
On Going
Measuring Internet Resilience in Africa (MIRA)
The MIRA project is a joint initiative between African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC) and the Internet Society. The project will use Internet measurements gathered by specially provisioned measurement devices (called MIRA pods) located in different African countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of reliable Internet connectivity. However, not all African countries have Internet infrastructure that is stable enough to provide an acceptable level of service to consumers. In Africa, Internet resilience has not been sufficiently measured to date and it is currently unknown how well some African countries would cope with Internet outages or disruptions. The MIRA project will therefore evaluate the capability of a country to provide continuous, stable, and reliable Internet connectivity.
Objectives
The key objectives are to:
- Collect and analyse empirical data to determine current levels of Internet resilience in African countries.
- Improve Internet measurement infrastructure in Africa by increasing the number of measurement vantage points that are active in Africa.
- Present the data for users at all levels (policymakers, engineers, network operators, decision-makers, Internet users, etc.).
- Learn more about the Internet Society's Measuring the Internet project and the AFRINIC Internet Measurement program.
- Start Date: Q2 2020
Funding sources: AFRINIC & Internet Society
Collaborators
- Amreesh Phokeer - Internet Society
- Kevin Chege - Internet Society
- Josiah Chavula - University of Cape Town
- Assane Gueye - CMU Rwanda
- Ahmed Elmokashfi - Simula Research Lab
More information
- MIRA Wiki (Github)
- Measuring Internet Resilience in Africa
- The Internet Society and AFRINIC Launch Africa Internet Measurements Collaboration
Presentations
- Measuring Internet Resilience | A perspective from RIPE Atlas and RIPE RIS – Emile Aben
- Internet Measurement@AFRINIC – Amreesh Phokeer
- Measurement Lab – Lai Yi Ohlsen
- Measuring Africa’s Internet Resilience – Kevin Chege