Building a new generation of informed, inclusive, and rights-based Internet governance leaders in Uganda

The Uganda School on Internet Governance and Digital Rights 2026 (USIGDR 2026) is a national learning and dialogue initiative organized by the Rural Smiles Foundation to strengthen understanding of Internet governance, digital rights, and inclusive digital participation in Uganda.

The school is designed to equip a diverse group of participants with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to engage meaningfully in national, regional, and global Internet governance processes. It will bring together civil society actors, youth leaders, journalists, technologists, policymakers, academia, and community-based advocates to explore how Internet governance decisions affect freedom of expression, access to information, online safety, innovation, digital inclusion, and democratic participation.

As Uganda continues to experience rapid digital transformation, growing reliance on online platforms, and increasing concerns around surveillance, online harms, digital exclusion, and restrictions on civic space, there is an urgent need to build a stronger ecosystem of local actors who understand how the Internet is governed and how to shape it in ways that are open, secure, inclusive, and rights-respecting. The School responds to that need by creating a practical, accessible, and multi-stakeholder platform for learning, exchange, and leadership development.

The initiative builds on the Rural Smiles Foundation’s work to promote digital rights and internet freedom, social inclusion and civic space, and community-driven technology innovation, including the development of SPACEUG, a civic technology platform that supports digital participation, information sharing, and protection mechanisms for civic actors in Uganda.

Purpose of the School

The purpose of the Uganda School on Internet Governance and Digital Rights is to develop a new cohort of informed and engaged actors who can contribute meaningfully to Internet governance conversations and processes at local, national, regional, and global levels.

The School seeks to bridge the gap between technical Internet governance discussions and the lived realities of communities, civil society organizations, youth, journalists, and grassroots actors whose rights, participation, and opportunities are increasingly shaped by digital policy and infrastructure. It will provide a strong foundation in Internet governance concepts while making these discussions practical, relevant, and grounded in the Ugandan context.

The School also aims to encourage a more inclusive Internet governance ecosystem by ensuring that participants from different stakeholder groups can engage, collaborate, and better understand one another’s roles in shaping the future of the Internet.

Objectives

The School has five main objectives:

1. Strengthen knowledge of Internet governance
Participants will gain a practical understanding of the Internet governance ecosystem, including key institutions, actors, principles, and policy processes at the national, regional, and global levels.

2. Build capacity on digital rights and online freedoms
The School will explore how Internet governance intersects with human rights, civic space, media freedom, privacy, inclusion, and access to information.

3. Support meaningful multi-stakeholder participation
Participants will deepen their understanding of the roles of governments, civil society, the private sector, academia, technical communities, and end users in Internet governance and digital policy decision-making.

4. Promote inclusive and safe digital spaces
The program will examine barriers to equitable participation online, including gendered digital exclusion, online harassment, misinformation, accessibility gaps, and digital safety threats facing civic actors.

5. Develop future Internet governance leaders in Uganda
The School will help participants build the confidence, networks, and practical skills needed to contribute to digital policy discussions, civic technology initiatives, advocacy platforms, and Internet governance forums.

Why This School Matters

The Internet is no longer only a technical space. It shapes access to education, health information, public debate, business opportunities, community organizing, emergency response, media, elections, and civic participation. Decisions about how the Internet is governed have direct consequences for people’s rights, safety, dignity, and opportunities.

In Uganda, these issues are especially important. Many communities still face significant challenges related to affordability, infrastructure gaps, digital literacy, online safety, and meaningful participation in digital policy processes. At the same time, civic actors, journalists, youth leaders, and human rights defenders increasingly rely on digital platforms for communication, advocacy, reporting, and organizing. This creates both opportunities and risks.

The Uganda School on Internet Governance and Digital Rights is therefore intended to create space for informed, inclusive, and practical learning on how Internet governance frameworks can support a more open, secure, accessible, and rights-based digital future.

Who the School Is For

The School is open to applicants from across Uganda who are interested in understanding and shaping the future of the Internet. We strongly encourage applications from individuals working across different stakeholder groups.

Eligible participants include:

• Civil society and community-based organization representatives
• Youth leaders and youth advocates
• Journalists and media practitioners
• Human rights defenders and digital rights activists
• Public policy actors and government representatives
• ICT professionals and technologists
• Researchers, academics, and students
• Social innovators and civic-tech practitioners
• Representatives of underserved or excluded communities

The School is designed to be inclusive and multi-stakeholder. It is not intended for one narrow professional or demographic group only. Selection will seek to ensure diversity across stakeholder backgrounds, gender, age, geography, and lived experience.

What Participants Will Learn

The School will cover a range of foundational and emerging issues related to Internet governance and digital rights. These may include:

• Introduction to Internet governance: concepts, principles, and actors
• The global Internet governance ecosystem and key institutions
• National and regional Internet governance processes
• The role of the multistakeholder model
• Digital rights, online freedoms, and civic space
• Access, affordability, and digital inclusion
• Cybersecurity, trust, and digital safety
• Privacy, data governance, and online protection
• Content governance, misinformation, and platform accountability
• Gender, accessibility, and inclusive participation online
• Civic technology, digital participation, and community innovation
• Pathways for engagement in Internet governance forums and processes

Sessions will be designed to balance theory, practice, and peer learning. The School will combine presentations, moderated discussions, case studies, interactive exercises, and collaborative reflection.

School Format

The School will take place over three days in Hoima, Uganda.

The format will include:

• Expert-led learning sessions
• Multi-stakeholder panel discussions
• Case studies from Uganda and the region
• Group work and participant interaction
• Practical reflection on digital rights and Internet governance challenges
• Networking and peer exchange opportunities

The School will prioritize an accessible and participatory learning environment that encourages contributions from both experienced and emerging actors.

Expected Outcomes

By the end of the School, participants are expected to:

• Have stronger understanding of the Internet governance ecosystem
• Be better equipped to engage in Internet governance and digital policy discussions
• Better understand how Internet governance affects rights, access, safety, and participation
• Develop stronger cross-sector relationships with other stakeholders
• Identify practical opportunities for follow-on action, advocacy, research, education, or community engagement
• Join a growing network of Ugandan actors committed to a more open, inclusive, and rights-respecting Internet

History and Background of the School

The Uganda School on Internet Governance and Digital Rights was developed in response to a growing need for structured, locally relevant, and inclusive learning spaces on Internet governance in Uganda.

The idea for the School emerged from the Rural Smiles Foundation’s work at the intersection of digital rights, civic space, and community-centered innovation. Through our engagement with grassroots communities, journalists, youth advocates, civil society organizations, and digital rights actors, we have seen the need for stronger public understanding of how digital systems are governed and how communities can influence policies that affect them.

The School is being launched as a national initiative to help address this gap. Its long-term vision is to become a recurring platform for developing informed, collaborative, and locally grounded Internet governance leadership in Uganda.

Connection to the Broader Internet Governance Ecosystem

The Uganda School on Internet Governance and Digital Rights is intended to contribute to the wider Internet governance ecosystem by strengthening awareness, participation, and local leadership. The School is rooted in the principles of openness, inclusion, dialogue, and multistakeholder participation that underpin Internet governance processes globally.

It will create opportunities for participants to better understand how national realities connect to broader regional and global conversations on Internet governance, digital rights, trust and safety, access, and the future of digital public life.

The School also aims to encourage future engagement in national, regional, and international Internet governance platforms and policy processes.

Through community empowerment, advocacy, technology innovation, research, and service delivery, the Foundation supports vulnerable and underserved communities to access information, strengthen participation, and improve resilience in a rapidly changing social and digital environment.

In the digital space, the Foundation has developed and supported initiatives that strengthen online civic participation, digital safety, and protection for civic actors, including SPACEUG, a collaborative digital platform designed to support civil society connectivity, information sharing, and protection mechanisms.

Registration and Application Information

Applications to participate in the Uganda School on Internet Governance and Digital Rights 2026 are now open.

Because participation is limited, applicants will be selected through a review process that considers interest, relevance, diversity, stakeholder representation, and potential to contribute to and benefit from the School.

Be among the first cohort fellows Apply