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Community-Centered Connectivity Initiatives (CCCIs)
Client: The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) -Local Networks (LocNet), FCDO
Dates + Status: 2025 – Ongoing
Location(s): Kenya (national focus with field research in secondary towns
Scope of Work: Research, Design Research, Policy & Model Development
To support LocNet’s mission of advancing inclusive and sustainable digital access, KUNGU LABS was commissioned to design and test pathways for Community-Centered Connectivity Initiatives (CCCIs) — community networks, cooperatives, and social enterprises that blend local ownership with innovative governance and financing models.
Challenge
Kenya has made significant progress toward universal connectivity, yet digital inequality persists in rural and peri-urban areas, especially among women, youth, and low-income groups. Traditional donor-funded community networks face mounting sustainability pressures, while large telecom operators often overlook marginalized communities.
Emerging micro-social enterprises, nonprofits in transition, and cooperatives are experimenting with new approaches to financing and governance — but their models remain under-documented, under-supported, and disconnected from national policy frameworks.
The challenge is to understand what works, what scales, and how these community-centered models can be sustained and mainstreamed into Kenya’s digital ecosystem.
Solution/Process
The SCoPS Project (Scope–Co-Design–Pilot–Scale) adopts a participatory research and design approach grounded in radical experimentation — treating each community initiative as a “living lab” for testing new forms of connectivity, ownership, and inclusion.
The project has four interlinked phases:
Scoping and Mapping : Identify emerging CCCIs across Kenya, documenting their governance, financing, and operational models.
Design Research: Conduct in-depth ethnographic and participatory studies of three typologies: social enterprises, nonprofits in transition, and cooperatives.
Synthesis and Framework Development: Co-develop a Design Framework for piloting scalable and sustainable connectivity models.
Validation and Policy Engagement: Share findings with stakeholders through a validation workshop in Nairobi, building consensus around actionable policy and financing pathways.
The project frames these pilots as experiments in just digital transitions, creating protected spaces where communities can test, refine, and institutionalize alternative models of digital access and ownership.
Expected Outcomes and Impact
Evidence Base: Comprehensive mapping and documentation of Kenya’s community-centered connectivity ecosystem.
Design Framework: Actionable model for piloting inclusive, community-owned connectivity initiatives.
Policy Uptake: Recommendations for LocNet and government actors to integrate CCCIs into broadband and telecom strategies.
Equity and Inclusion: Greater visibility and participation of women, youth, and local enterprises in shaping Kenya’s digital future.
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