[gaia] Re: For discussion: Operational Practices for Digital Sovereignty and Meaningful Connectivity through Circular Management of User and Network Devices

[Leandro Navarro Moldes <[e-mail]>]

Thanks, some inline comments ...

> On 29 Mar 2026, at 10:28, Benson Muite <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
…

>>  Community/organizational 
>> procurement practices can help too to include these considerations. For 
>> instance, I was involved in the development of ITU-T L.1061 that 
>> relates to that 
>> <https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Environment/Pages/Toolbox/Circular-and-Sustainable-Public-Procurement-for-ICTs.aspx>.
> 
> This is an interesting report.  There is a worry about recommending software
> as a service, if open standards are not used, it can lead to lock in.  It is good
> that recycling is an important consideration in some procurement practices.

That page contains two separate documents, one is a standard/recommendation from ITU, the other is an ITU “informative” document, developed by a contractor, as an informative complement about the same topic, supported by and probably recommending the GovStack open-source initiative. At least from the experts in the recommendation we tried to avoid unnecessary prescriptions.


> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> Network infrastructure may also be used for local activities where
>>> informtaion does not need to be exchanged with people outside the
>>> community network, this would be very useful in school and university
>>> settings where one could provision electronic books for example.
>>> Security cameras and IoT uses are other examples of connnectivity that
>>> could be mentioned.
>> 
>> Yes, but how it relates to these operational practices? It however 
>> relates to the meaningful connectivity concept. 
> 
> If it is possible to add some information about how the network infrastructure
> is used to the draft, this would be informative.  Do people create any content? 
> Are there any locally deployed services? Are people mostly streaming videos
> and interacting on social media, if so what platforms and why?  What cyber
> security threats are they concerned with?

Yes, good observation. It helps to clarify the “meaningful” part of the connectivity. I’ll work with the co-authors to get more details. In general all initiatives are related to aspects of access to education or community services for inclusion: 

EKOA: https://ekoa.unlp.edu.ar/que-hacemos/ Your PC for Studying: a scholarship scheme aimed at UNLP students to provide them with access to computers to help them complete their studies. 
Tau: https://www.apc.org/en/blog/bringing-digital-tools-popular-sectors-argentina-past-30-years
…

Best, Leandro.

> 
> Regards,
> Benson
> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> Ability to repair and modify is also greatly enhanced by open standards.
>>> The IETF is extremely helpful in this regard, though there maybe
>>> language barriers for those who do not use English.  Open hardware would
>>> also help, but tends not to be the norm.
>> 
>> I agree, lack of open standards and public information limits agency 
>> and community autonomy.
>> 
>> Best, Leandro.
>> 
>>> 
>>> Benson
>>> 
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>> 
>> --
>> Leandro Navarro
>> http://people.ac.upc.edu/leandro	 http://dsg.ac.upc.edu

--
Leandro Navarro
http://people.ac.upc.edu/leandro	 http://dsg.ac.upc.edu