Edem Kobla Nunekpeku

Edem Kobla NUNEKPEKU is an Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Engineer who graduated from the University Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar and is also a computer literate in Software Engineering from the National Institute of Information Technology NIIT in Dakar since 2015.

With more than ten years of work experience in Information Technology (IT), she joined ISOC SN Chapter in 2009 and become the Technical Lead of the Next Generation Team (ISOC SN_NG) in 2010 where I performed as the technical lead of the One Laptop Per Child Universal Primary Education Project in Senegal where one hundred (100) XO laptops have been distributed to the secondary school pupils on a remote island on the Senegalese coast. In that role, working with ISOC Senegal Chapter’ skills and local partners have enabled the school to be connected for the first time to the Internet. Also, five (5) teachers have been trained on the creation of teaching resources and their publications on the XO server so that students can access them.

June 2006-December 2011, In Country IT Project Coordinator for ECOWAS Regional Information Exchange System sponsored by the United States Africa Command AFRICOM, where I established a collaborative platform/network initiative to enhance Crisis Management (CM), Disaster Response (DR), and Humanitarian Assistance (HA). I implemented an efficient, timely, and reliable information exchange system between ECOWAS thirteen states (Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cap-Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo) and the international community via satellite communication. I also initiated the first step in developing a regional framework for enhanced political, military, and international cooperation for joint multilateral crisis management activities such as disaster response, humanitarian assistance, and peacekeeping through military exercises.

In 2013, an active member of ISOC Senegal Chapter and officially represented ISOC SN at the Chapters’ Workshop in Durban during ICANN N.47 in South Africa.

October 2013, actively participated in the IPv6 training organized by AfriNIC at the AUF in Dakar Senegal.

Actively participated in the Internet Governance Forums organized by ISOC SN respectively in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

May 2015, graduated from the USTTI, United States Telecommunications Training Institute in Cybersecurity and ICT Policy Sequence in Washington DC, USA.

September 2015, actively participated in the Regional Symposium and the Web Defacement Incident Handling Process training organized by AfricaCERT and FIRST in Accra, Ghana.

February 2017 to October 2018, joined the Steering Committee (Board Directors) of ISOC SN Senegal where I am performing as the chapter’s Financial Officer.

Africa Internet Summit (AIS): Workshop & Meetings 9th – 21st June 2019 https://2019.internetsummit.africa/en/

From June 9 to 21: participated in AfricaCERT 5 day Workshop & Tutorial on CERT in Kampala, Uganda. AfricaCERT is the African forum of computer incident response teams and aims to propose solutions to Challenges for better health in the Af* Internet Ecosystem.

The objectives of AfricaCERT include, but are not restricted to :

   Assisting African countries in establishing CSIRTs;
   Strengthening the relationships among CSIRTs in Africa and with other stakeholders all over the World;
   Fostering and supporting education and outreach programs in ICT Security;
   Encouraging information sharing in ICT Security;
   Promoting good practices and experience sharing among members to develop a comprehensive framework for cybersecurity including better addressing of legal and regulatory issues;
   Assisting African CSIRTS in improving Cyber readiness and enhancing the resilience of ICT Infrastructure;
   Promoting Collaborative Technology Research, Development and Innovation in the ICT security field.

During the AIS participated in AfNOG 20 Tutorials on Setting Up IoT Networks. https://www.afnog.org/afnog2019/

28-30 November 2018 in Dakar, participated in the First Senegal Multi-stakeholder Process on Enhancing IoT Security Meeting (The Internet of Things (IoT) could provide Africa with an opportunity to build a brighter economic future. But while new capabilities are added each day, new security weaknesses are being discovered, too. Understanding the growing impact that IoT security has on the Internet and its users is critical for safeguarding the future of the Internet) https://www.iotsecurity.sn/

30 November to 30 December 2018: Securing the Internet of Things (IoT) in Senegal

This meeting, organized and coordinated in partnership with the Internet Society Senegal Chapter, aimed to instigate dialogue on Internet of Things preparedness and priorities in Senegal. The meeting collected views and inputs from various stakeholders on the key issues and activities that could be used to frame the Senegal IoT security project.

The workshop discussed the following:

   IoT security – The state of IoT in Senegal
   IoT developments in Senegal and priorities
   Potential threats and challenges
   Research Focus issues and way forward

The meeting was followed by the workshop on the multi-stakeholder model from 30 November to 1 December 2018.

These workshops aimed to develop and improve knowledge, skills and collaboration within the Internet community in Senegal.

October 2018 to December 2019, as the Deputy Financial Officer of ISOC Senegal Chapter.

22-23 October 2019: participated in 2 a Day National Internet Governance Forum on the theme "Development of the Internet of Things in Senegal: Challenges and Prospects" where as part of the panel, spoke on the Best practices for connected objects.

25 November 2019: Internet Society, in conjunction with the Internet Society Foundation, has awarded the Senegal Chapter the Beyond the Net Small Grants Program to build the IoT Security Best Practices Online Platform that I am the Focal Point for.

27 December 2019: became the Vice President of ISOC Senegal Chapter.

06 April 2020 to now, I am the President of the ISOC Senegal Chapter.

Internet Society