Digital Archiving Experts urge stakeholders to priorities local domain because it’s secure

Digital Archiving Experts say more data should be stored within the country to avoid losses and ensure its security.

Since 2012; Rwanda has strived to ensure that critical data is stored on servers in the country's Digital Archives Center and officials at the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) say impressive progress has been made. 

Josephine Nyiranzeyimana, Government Chief Information Officer at RISA said; "People should have confidence in the process because our digital archives are secure; using the latest technology on an international standard. As for service delivery, that can see improvement."

Digital Archiving Experts are emphasizing that critical data must be stored within the country.

Andrew Kayongo, a digital archive expert said; "You must have information pertaining to your own country within its borders, that is not something you can give to others to store for you because then it is vulnerable and you never know how it is going to be used. From a  business perspective, it also makes when you consider just how expensive web hoisting abroad can be, up to $200 per month. That sort of money should be here in Rwanda and the Revenue Authority should be able to tax it." 

However, there are still complaints that web hosting in Rwanda can be quite expensive, with some preferring that their servers are located in places like the US where they say it is a lot cheaper and they say they have a lot more storage for their data.

There is also the perception that websites that end in .rw do not reach as many people globally which officials at RICTA (Rwanda Internet community) have dismissed as a problem of mindsets because .rw is just as effective as .com

Officials at Rwanda Information Society Authority have also confirmed that while the cost of web hosting in Rwanda is not the highest compared to many other countries, efforts are underway to reduce it, factoring in this like the fact that Rwanda is landlocked and getting fiber optic cables from the ocean is not cheap.

The country has a National Data Revolution Policy and laws are being updated to further secure data stored here in Rwanda.

In 2017; 54% of websites using .rw were storing their data in North America; with 18% using .co.rw storing it on servers here in Rwanda; while others stored it abroad.

Rwanda currently has 5 data storage facilities; with another 2 under construction and expected to help reduce local web hosting costs when they are complete and fully operational.

Serge Ntore reports..