The continent of Africa has the lowest penetration of Internet users in the world, and registered the lowest numerical number of voters for the At-Large election. However, the number of voters was of similar proportion to total users as in other regions, and so can be considered to have been a success from this perspective.
We studied the election process and its result by means of:
This report is further informed by the observations and experiences of its authors, who actively participated in the election through outreach, as voters, and (in one case) as a candidate .
The e-mail survey mentioned above received a response from 99 people. 87% of these respondents were South Africans, which roughly correlates with the distribution of Internet usage on the Continent. We feel that, since there were 130 African voters in the election, of which 26 were respondents to the survey, the results of the survey are significant. All of those who responded appropriately addressed all the questions, and from this point of view, the information gathered is of high quality and has been taken to be representative of the target audience of the exercise.
It should be recognized that, due to the method of dissemination, the survey was inevitably biased towards people with some professional involvement in the information and communications technology industry. Such individuals are more likely to have an interest and knowledge of "how the Internet works" than would "everyday" users, and are more likely to be members of e-mail discussion lists and have regular access to the Internet and, by extension, such surveys.
| 2.1.6 Conclusions | 2.2.1.1.1 Internet use |
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