Keynote Address: Capricious Connections and the Politics of the African Internet

This year’s keynote speaker is Prof. Jess Auerbach. She is an anthropologist studying the politics of information infrastructure and the history of the internet in Africa, with a particular focus on the development of fibre optic cables connecting the continent to the rest of the world. 

Themes her research explores are use of the internet as a political tool, the impact of connectivity on social development and the disparities between the minority northern hemisphere and the majority south viewed through the lens of access to the internet. Prof. Auerbach will be talking about Capricious Connections and the Politics of the African Internet.