PTC'25 | How local communities can shape global connectivity

At PTC'25, Sally Wentworth, President and CEO of the Internet Society and the Internet Society Foundation, shared insights into the organisation’s efforts to expand access, enhance security, and build sustainable digital infrastructure worldwide.
As the Internet becomes an essential tool for economic and social progress, the Internet Society is working to ensure that no community is left behind.
"Our vision of connectivity is one that's grounded in the idea that we want to empower local communities to connect themselves to the internet," Wentworth says.
"What we want to see is that communities, rather than groups coming in from the outside, have both the expertise, the training, the capacity, the financial support to deploy networks and infrastructure that they can maintain and develop into the future"
With a global network of 133,000 members across 129 chapters, the Internet Society operates through grant-making initiatives and local partnerships to drive connectivity in underserved regions.
For example, over the past five years, the organisation has helped deploy more than 60 Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), improving Internet resilience in developing markets.
Wentworth outlined the Internet Society’s next five-year strategy, focusing on two key objectives: ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable internet and fostering a safe, secure online experience for users.
The conversation also highlighted the critical role of local technical communities in maintaining infrastructure resilience.
Wentworth cited recent disruptions, such as West African cable cuts, where strong regional expertise allowed for alternative routing solutions to keep users connected.
Find out more about the Internet Society and its mission in this exclusive interview.
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