Mr Ernest Mafuta is the current chair of Affordable Internet Access SIG championing affordability of internet Access solutions and connectivity worldwide. Previously he served as Head Technical Development commission for the internet society Youth Special Interest Group representing a diverse coalition of youth voices in Internet Governance and ICT Policy around the world.
Mr Mafuta is a Strategic ICT Leader with more than 9 years’ experience in Standardization, Telecommunications Regulation, Broadband internet access, Digital Inclusion and quality of service. He possesses extensive training and experience in equipment conformity assessments, Homologation of ICT Products in over 180 countries globally as a consultant in his home country Zambia.
On an international level, he is a global member of the Internet Society, Universal Acceptance Steering Group on Technology (UASG) as well as an active participant in the International Telecommunication Union, ITU-T Focus Group on Testbeds Federations for IMT-2020 and beyond. He is also an avid technical volunteer for the United Nations' Internet Governance Forum (IGF), Under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
At the national level he is an expert member of the Zambia ICT Regulatory Authority’s Quality of Service and Quality of Experience Standardization Committee (Technical Committee 3) which is responsible for reviewing and adopting standards of telecommunication systems in Zambia. Ernest has a professional and academic background in Telecommunication and information technology, Future Broadband Internet Access, strategic aspect of Internet Governance and Innovation, and public management and governance.