This article was first published on the Internet Society Blog
For many in the African region, Internet interruptions or service degradations occur frequently, which results in a disjointed Internet experience. In order to help improve this experience, we need to track and measure various Internet characteristics through network telemetry. This data can help to identify infrastructure and traffic issues and can provide key information to help decision makers decide where infrastructure investment and policy change might need to be made.
However, as shown by a survey carried out by AFRINIC, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa, in 2019, Internet measurement is not a common practice in the African region. This is largely due to a scarcity of deployed measurement tools, platforms and equipment, a lack of awareness in the subject, and the lack of relevant skills to carry out the measurement tasks. The shortage of measurement equipment in African countries makes it very challenging to accurately determine the problem areas that need to be addressed in order to improve Internet reliability and resilience in Africa.
Collaborative Measurements
Assessing the resilience of the Internet is a key component of the Internet Society’s work on Measuring the Internet. To help identify the causes of Internet interruptions and service degradations, we need to increase the number of measurement vantage points or points from where data measurements can be initiated across the continent…read more.