The Internet Service Providers’ Association

www.ispa.org.za

The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) is an Industry Representative Body, in terms of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act. It was formed on 6 June 1996 and currently represents in excess of 175 Internet service providers with a diverse range of services and target markets. Members include non-profit providers and educational networks, as well as commercial service providers.

Since its launch, ISPA has played an important role in the development of South Africa’s communications and Internet policy. ISPA has participated in policy discussions, made numerous presentations to policy makers on key legislative processes and produces regular advisories for its members on regulatory issues. All members are bound to a Code of Conduct, which ensures good practice in the industry, by requiring all members to meet certain standards in terms of privacy, consumer protection, spam and protection of minors.

ISPA has operated the Johannesburg Internet exchange (JINX) since 1996. This exchange point serves as a means to keep South African traffic within the country’s borders. This reduces the traffic on international Internet links and provides consumers with improved access to South African networks. In 2009 ISPA re-launched the Cape Town Internet Exchange (CINX) allowing Cape Town-based ISPs to economically peer traffic in this region as well.

In partnership with UniForum SA, ISPA operates a computer skills training program for educators from underprivileged schools. Since inception, approximately 1818 teachers have been successfully trained. Every year the SuperTeacher award ceremony takes place during iWeek. The award recognises teachers who have participated in the training project and successfully imparted their newly-acquired knowledge to their local communities.

ISPA holds general meetings once every quarter, and runs a number of workshops (e.g. IPv6, spam, licensing for ISPs and compliance with various regulations) during the year to deal with issues and concerns either raised by the members or of relevance to the industry.

UniForum South Africa

www.coza.net.za

Uniforum SA is a non-profit organisation tasked with the administration of the CO.ZA domain name space. With over 630 000 registrations, the majority of South African domain names can be found in CO.ZA. These names represent 95% of the total number of registrations in .ZA and a large percentage of African ccTLD registrations for the entire African continent.

Funds resulting from UniForum’s domain registration activities are applied to education in South Africa. Education is a common passion amongst the CO.ZA community, as a sound education results in a more competitive economy and ultimately a better life for all the citizens of this country.

Through its participation in the Mindset Grades 10 to 12 IT Curriculum project, NetDay “School of the Month” project and the ISPA Teacher Training initiative, the organisation attempts to address learner education, educator development and the provision of the ICT infrastructure in under-resourced schools.

UniForum has also recently, in partnership with ISPA and ISOC-ZA, established an Enterprise Development initiative to assist black-owned businesses in the Internet sector. The initiative, known as the EDEV project, will identify suitable candidates to receive assistance and will seek to better coordinate enterprise development initiatives with existing socio-economic development projects. The ultimate goal is to provide a more robust and effective Corporate Social Investment (CSI) platform for the Internet industry.

UniForum’s CSI programme falls under the CO.ZA Cares banner, honouring those parties who have registered CO.ZA domain names, thereby keeping our country ahead on the road to a better education.