BOSCO Uganda: Connecting People, Preserving Culture
BOSCO Uganda, a non-profit organization founded in 2006, aims to end social isolation by providing ICT services in various districts of Uganda. With a focus on governance, technical operations, sustainability, and legal aspects, the organization empowers communities through technology and culture preservation.
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BOSCO UGANDA Connecting People, Preserving Culture Topics: Governance, Technical Operations, Sustainability, Legal, Areas for Improvement Presenter: Benson Olobo / BOSCO-Uganda /ISOC - Uganda Chapter Email: bolobo@boscouganda.com / benson.olobo@gmail.com URL: www.boscouganda.com
1.0 HISTORY: *BOSCO Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach, we power all of our equipment using Solar Electricity, and we believe that technology is not complete without the people to use it . *Initiated in 2006 and started operation in 2007, its registered as a Non for Profit organization under the trusteeship of the Archiodiosces of Gulu. started in 6 IDP camps in the District of Gulu and Amuru (2 - Districts), providing VOIP / internet/Intranet for the connected camps with the main aim of ending the severe isolation being experienced by the people living in the camps. *BOSCO has been expanding and now has centers in the districts of (Gulu, Amuru, Nyoya, Pader, Argago, Kitgum, Lamwo, Oyam, Omoro, Lira, Adjumani, Yumbe, Arua) (13 Districts). *Number of ICT centers constructed (34 old sites + 12 New centers in the refugee settlements/UNICEF/Nethope (Pagirinya, Maaji, Bidibidi, RhinoCamp, Nvempi, OmugoII) (Total ICT centers = 46) *Services at the centers include, VoIP, Internet, ICT training and services to the community, Entrepreneurship skill trainings, offline content/training material(intranet/worpress site, Kolibri )
1.1 GOVERNANCE: *BOSCO consists of BOAD of Directors and Staff Members *BOAD of Directors /Uganda and USA:, are made of volunteers who consult with BOSCO Staff and Aid in (FundRaising, Technology research, Capacity building, building Partnerships and Public Relation. - BOSCO Staff and Administration Members on the ground are involved in the day to day running of activities, - Maintenance and expansion of the Network and ICT centers, - Developing of new contents with focus on education, entrepreneurship, peace building on the BOSCO intranet and Kolibri , - Develop new proposals for expansion of BOSCO Uganda Network, Managing of all youth ICT centers - Managing communications between local, regional and international stakeholders
1.2 TECHNICAL OPERATIONS: *BOSCO Network is build using the unlicensed wifi spectrum IEEE 802.11(b,g,a,n,ac) (2.4Ghz & 5Ghz). *Infrastructure sharing (FM radio station towers, Buildings) *Powering equipment in the field is by a Solar System, most is purely DC (Direct Current) without the use of AC inverters. *Equipment currently being used are (Ubiquiti Networks, Mikrotik RouterBoards, Inveneo , Aleutia servers, Meccer convertible classmates, ECS/LivaX) . *Equipment hardware selection is dependent on (Power consumption/ performance / Capability to serve in the environment possibility of high temperatures) *Software being used at BOSCO is mostly Opensource, Examples ( Linux, wordpress/Drupal, Cacti, nagios) *BOSCO has a technical department that is directly in charge of Technical operations and maintenance ( staff members and student interns from universities)
1.3 OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY: *- Community empowerment through ownership of ICT centers, trainings on ICT and Solar systems using TOTs model, Entrepreneurship trainings, . *-Income generating activities at the ICT centers (photocopying , document printing, photography, Document Lamination, Village Savings and Loans - VSLA) *- Agreements with Infrastructure owners (Towers, Buildings) *- Partners relationship, funding the expansion of the network, construction of youth ICT centers, staff salaries, internet bandwidth.(Horizont3000, UNICEF, ISOC/FireGrant, local radio-FM Stations, University of Notre- Dame), *- Corporate Internet Clients ( NGOs, Church Parishes ) , subscribe to the internet service. *-Youth centers Access the internet through a captive portal to enable registration and also a contribution towards payment of the internet bandwidth. *-Interested NGOs/Churches who need connections donate equipment/costs and will take care of own power at their premises. *-BOSCO through its CE3(Connectivity, Education Entrepreneurship and Electricity) Project, it has established large energy systems (6KW, 30KW) installed in secondary schools and collects payments from the schools and surrounding communities depending on usage of the electricity.
1.4 LEGAL AND REGULATORY: *-BOSCO is legally registered as a Non-for Profit NGO under the umbrella of the Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu. *- BOSCO Uganda is also registered with Uganda Communication Commission as using the 802.11 unlicensed spectrum for its operations to reach communities. *- BOSCO Uganda has in its structure the legal and advisory board, whose role is to advise its operations regarding legal matters. *- BOSCO Uganda involves the government (local authorities at the community, district level, Ministry level) in all its activities and intentions.
12 Towers (3 Owned by BOSCO , 9 owned by Community FM radio Stations)
1.5 IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES: *- 11496 youths (8525 Male , 2972 Female), Through the youth ICT centers built by BOSCO. *- 27 Internet connections to (Local government Offices, Schools, FM-Radio Stations, Church Parishes, Guest Houses )
1.6 AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: - Use of other spectrum like TV-White Space to improve coverage /Client Access in areas with a lot of obstacles /trees - Negotiations with UCC through the rural communication development fund to have the per MB internet bundle price reduced to be affordable for the community network. - Advocate for Infrastructure (tower) sharing policy that favors community networks through the communication commission. - Equipment Security, We are continually improving on techniques to secure solar panels and equipment boxes at the tower sites to reduce theft. -Building partnerships with equipment manufacturers and other key organizations/ bodies to lower the cost of acquisition of equipment used for building and maintenance of CNs /community ICT centers. - Internship program funding/partnership, to facilitate field/community engagement of the interns.
END THANK YOU
