Internet Society Extends Multi-Year Partnership with Meta and Announces Connectivity Co-Funding Initiative
The initiative aims to scale up efforts to expand affordable, reliable, and sustainable Internet access globally, with both the Internet Society and Internet Society Foundation committing a $30 million investment through 2030. Meta has joined as the first co-funding partner as the Internet Society calls for additional partners to support the vision of a more equitable, connected world.
Across the globe, 2.6 billion people lack access to the Internet, excluding them from vital opportunities in education, healthcare, economic growth, and civic participation. Through the new Co-Funding Initiative, the Internet Society is leveraging its decades of expertise, global network, proven grant-making systems, and advocacy to help enable policies to address these issues.
Meta is the first company to join the Co-Funding following a successful partnership (https://apo-opa.co/41EXmWn) with the Internet Society. Since 2018, the two organizations have collaborated to develop Internet Exchange Point (IXP) infrastructure, train technical communities, and measure Internet resilience in countries around the world.
Specifically, the Co-Funding focuses on investing in community-centered infrastructure development, addressing market gaps and advocacy, and providing training to build technical capacity. It aims to:
Increase Funding and Advocacy: Fund infrastructure deployment and empower communities to manage their networks.
Address Market Gaps: Address market failures where commercial providers see no viable business case.
Enhance Training: Scale training programs to build technical capacity, empower marginalized groups, and develop the next generation of Internet leaders.
Improve Community-Centered Solutions: Build and strengthen last-mile community-centered solutions for people, businesses, schools and health facilities in underserved areas.
Build Sustainable Networks: Support locally owned, scalable, and sustainable networks that create jobs and foster entrepreneurship, retain value within communities, and promote self-reliance.
Mobilize Advocates: Increase global impact by working with the Internet Society's 130 local chapters and 133,000 members worldwide.
'Over the past several years, our partnership with Meta has resulted in 56 IXPs in 45 countries, giving millions of people faster, more affordable, and reliable Internet access,' said Sally Wentworth, President and CEO of the Internet Society. 'This new Connectivity Co-Funding initiative, supported by Meta, is a prime example of collective action that will help provide meaningful access to more than 2 billion people across the world with insufficient or no Internet. It is our hope that this fund plays a pivotal role in reducing this gap and creating a more equitable digital society.'
"Meta is proud to extend our collaboration with the Internet Society, reinforcing our commitment to bridging the digital divide. Together, we aim to empower communities worldwide with sustainable and equitable Internet access, fostering innovation and connectivity for all, said Aaron Russell, Director of Edge Network Infrastructure. This partnership complements our existing infrastructure investments, including subsea cables, which help make the Internet ecosystem more reliable and lower the overall cost of providing access.'
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Internet Society.
Press Contact:
Allesandra deSantillana
Internet Society
desantillana@isocfoundation.org
Press@meta.com
About the Internet Society:
Founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society (ISOC) is a global charitable organization dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet. Through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a wide range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the Internet safe and secure and advocates for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
About Meta:
Meta is building the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Campaign ME
a day ago
- Campaign ME
Bayut: Why we stopped playing by the rules
If you've been around long enough in the real estate game, you'll know that agents are always chasing leads. Buyer leads, seller leads and landlord leads – whatever brings in the next transaction and that all important commission. But for those of us working in marketing, one truth becomes clear over time: the strategies that deliver the most meaningful outcomes rarely come from following the crowd. Real impact lies in identifying what truly works – and for whom – and, then, executing with intent. At Bayut, we've spent years exploring how to better connect property owners with trusted professionals. What emerged was not just a campaign or a product – it was a shift in mindset. Rather than casting a wide net through generic marketing, we focused on individuals who had already earned their community's trust through consistent performance. This led to the development of TruBroker – a recognition system that highlighted agents who demonstrated real service, integrity and expertise. But the initiative didn't end online. Instead of limiting visibility to digital rankings or platform performance, we brought these agents into the real world. Strategically designed OOH Rather than throwing money at generic out-of-home (OOH) campaigns and crossing our fingers, hoping that sellers would come knocking, we focused on something a bit bolder: empowering the agents who deserve the attention. We did this through prominent billboard placements across the city, top-tier leaderboard visibility and exposure designed to align with their professional strengths. Interestingly, this approach challenged prevailing assumptions in marketing. We're often told that traditional channels, including outdoor advertising, have lost their relevance in a digital-first landscape. But our experience proved otherwise: a well-placed, strategically timed billboard can still foster trust, drive action and result in direct seller enquiries. Marketing with tangible impact Agents who were featured on billboards on major roads such as Sheikh Zayed Road, Hessa Street and Umm Suqeim Street reported increased contact from property owners who remembered seeing their face – not just from a search result, but from a moment in traffic. As one consultant described it, the visibility became a catalyst – not only to generate leads, but also to build credibility. We spoke to property consultant Rey Sadhwani at White & Co., who explained that ever since she attained the TruBroker status, her experience has completely transformed. She said that it has not only helped her build trust with sellers through authentic listings but has also significantly increased her exposure and supported her lead generation. It's worth pausing to consider what this tells us about trust in today's property market. Securing a listing is rarely just about being available; it's about being visible in the right way. Sellers are not only looking for an agent – they are looking for signals of reliability, consistency and local insight, who can get them what they want as soon as possible. And that's exactly what the TruBroker badge represents. Parmida Azizi, a senior property consultant at Ax Capital Real Estate reiterated this when she told us why becoming a TruBroker has been a game-changer for her career, explaining that it has significantly increased her leads and attracted sellers who want to list with her. This wasn't an accidental outcome. It was built on performance data, agent reputation and ongoing engagement with our platform. While the benefits for agents are clear – more quality leads, higher visibility and stronger personal brands – the wider impact on the industry is equally valuable. By spotlighting excellence, we help raise the standard for all. This isn't simply a Bayut story, nor a one-off campaign success. It's a case study of how backing the right people – those already delivering real value – can shift behaviours across the market. In an industry where awards can be bought, and recognition can be associated with tacky campaigns that show nothing but exchange of money, and where everyone is searching for the next lead generator, perhaps the more important question is: How do we support those who truly deserve the leads in the first place? The results speak volumes. And, more importantly, they offer a glimpse of a real estate future that's guided by trust, transparency and 'earned' recognition. By Sahar Khan, Vice President of Marketing, Bayut.
TECHx
2 days ago
- TECHx
5 Common Mistakes In Identity Security, And How To Fix Them
Home » Expert opinion » 5 Common Mistakes In Identity Security, And How To Fix Them Identity security is more vital than ever. Morey J. Haber reveals key oversights companies make and offers solutions to reduce risks and prevent breaches. A modern organization carries with it so much IT complexity that cyber-threat actors no longer favor traditional hacking; they prefer to log in. This makes identities the primary attack vector for our digital adversaries, which means we must give the protection of credentials and secrets equal priority to that of vulnerabilities and patch management. A report from June 2024 claimed 99% of UAE-based organizations experienced 'two or more identity-related breaches' in the preceding year. Organizations can no longer ignore the need for identity security in the face of an increasingly sophisticated threat landscape. A risk-management approach to identity and access-management solutions will be critical if enterprises are to take control of the entire life-cycle of identity tools and their cross-vendor integration. This methodology can uncover flaws buried within workflows and solutions that have been in production for years. If these legacy problems persist in the current threat climate, it may only be a matter of time before a breach occurs. We now have to consider identity security as a part of our everyday operations. In establishing stronger identity security and management, it is advisable to account for the most common errors first. Consider the top five of them: 1. Ownership Identity in the digital realm can apply to either a human or a machine, each of which has an account through which they own that identity. Humans may have multiple accounts, but when dealing with machine identities, a human should always be assigned as the owner. Machine identities include all associated accounts that are used for integrations, service accounts, and other machine to machine communication. Any operation or session that requires authentication should be covered by identity management. A common mistake is the failure to include the ownership of machine accounts as something to be monitored and managed. In many cases the owners of service accounts, cloud-based secrets, or integration credentials are not documented, and therefore the business is simply not aware of them. Unmanaged and unmonitored, these accounts can be associated with delays in response when events occur. This is a risk that can be mitigated by recording an owner for every machine identity, and by regularly reviewing these records for accuracy. This is especially true for dynamic environments that may have regular changes in personnel and technology. 2. Privilege Every account associated with an identity is granted entitlements that can range from email, to storage, and Internet access all the way up to administrators, which are the custodians of the organization's most sensitive information. It is not uncommon to find the highest level privileges assigned, for convenience only, to those who do not need them, which expands the risk surface substantially. Many breaches start with the targeting of junior employees. For threat actors, lateral movement is easier if they find the privileges they need without the need to find a vehicle for privileged escalation. The principle of least privilege calls for IT administrators to assign only the required privileges necessary for an account's owner to perform assigned functions. This eliminates overprivileged accounts and shrinks the risk surface by ensuring threat actors are less likely to be assigned high-level credentials on the first account they hijack. 3. Secrets Any information not widely disclosed that provides authentication is known as a secret. These can be everything from a password to an API key. Their storage, reference, and retrieval must be highly secure to prevent threat actors from compromising them. Common errors in secret storage include using unencrypted spreadsheets or text files, or even browser-based password managers. All these methods have their weaknesses and should be avoided. It is recommended to use a secure password or secrets-storage solution, and strictly manage access to it. Additionally, it is recommended that the storage solution itself be periodically tested for vulnerabilities. 4. MFA To complement secrets, extra confidence in the identity-account relationship can be provided through multifactor authentication. While it is important for organizations to remember that many MFA solutions are flawed (SMS attacks, MFA fatigue, etc.). it is also true that any multifactor authentication is better than none. All human identities should have multifactor authentication implemented for each account they own, and it should also be in place for all access requests including any escalation of privilege requests. 5. Remoting Many UAE organizations have established flexible working practices that allow employees to access corporate systems remotely. This access commonly extends to contractors, vendors and other user types, regardless of geolocation. The range of cloud services available through remote access is expanding every day, which presents a challenge to those tasked with providing enterprise-wide identity security. This is because each of these services requires some level of access to sensitive data, which means an associated identity must be managed. Organizations must make sure they secure all remote access channels using industry best practices. They must also avoid using remote access technologies like RDP, SSH and FTP. RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) and SSH (Secure Shell) do not adequately guard against simple brute-force attacks or credential stuffing and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) lacks encryption, leaving it open to eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks. While these solutions can be used more securely with careful configuration, a more secure approach is to implement dedicated technology that is designed around the prevention of identity-based attacks. The right controls Perimeter security has become almost obsolete. Firewalls and other intrusion prevention systems are being replaced by solutions that mitigate modern attack vectors – identities. We live much of our lives in and around our digital identity and each of us has several accounts tied to it. Meanwhile, machine identities need ownership to allow their usage and maintenance to be appropriately monitored. But both human and machine identities, while indispensable, represent points of weakness if the right identity security controls are not in place. Part of the maturity of any security model should be the mitigation of the common errors discussed here. The world has become irreversibly connected and our digital identities are part of that fabric. To protect them is to protect ourselves, our businesses, and our economies. By Morey J. Haber, Chief Security Advisor, BeyondTrust
Zawya
2 days ago
- Zawya
Ninja closes $250mln funding, plans IPO on Tadawul by 2027
Riyadh - Saudi q-commerce startup Ninja has raised $250 million in a funding round led by Riyad Capital, reaching a $ 1.50 billion valuation. The fundraising transaction anchors the platform's status as the Kingdom's latest tech unicorn, according to a press release. Ninja will use the new capital to expand operations, scale its logistics capabilities, and prepare for a public listing on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) by 2027. The company joins a growing list of Gulf tech firms considering initial public offerings (IPOs) as the region seeks to establish a deeper and more dynamic capital market ecosystem. Saudi digital fuel and fleet management platform PetroApp also unveiled IPO plans on Tadawul. The funding round also highlights Riyad Capital's role as a leading institutional backer of MENA startups and Saudi Arabia's rising stature as a venture capital hub. Established in 2022 by Saud Al Qahtani and Canberk Donmez, Ninja delivers groceries and daily essentials across Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait. In January 2023, Ninja raised a pre-seed round led by Bunat Ventures, along with several venture capital (VC) firms from the region, the US, and family offices in Saudi Arabia. All Rights Reserved - Mubasher Info © 2005 - 2022 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
