The first-ever Asia Community-Centred Connectivity Bootcamp in the Philippines took place from 6 to 10 August 2026 in Quezon City. A total of 72 participants across 17 countries shared five days of collaborative learning, knowledge exchange and capacity building to strengthen community-centred connectivity initiatives (CCCIs) and help bridge the digital divide in the region.
Convened by the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA), Internet Society, Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Rhizomatica, as constituents of the Local Networks initiative (LocNet), the bootcamp was a milestone in the region to advance digital inclusion, community empowerment and sustainable connectivity. The occasion brought together practitioners and connectivity centre operators, participants from the government and civil society organisations, researchers and advocates who generously shared their knowledge, experiences and insights to help strengthen community-centred connectivity across the Asia-Pacific region, covering six of its sub-regions: Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste), South Asia (India, Nepal, Pakistan), Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan), East Asia (China), West Asia (Armenia) and Oceania (New Zealand). There were attendees from Spain and Mexico too.
Sessions were designed to be interactive and engaging with plenary discussions, technical workshops, practical demonstrations, group exercises and reflection. They focused on deepening the understanding of the digital divide in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in remote, rural, unserved and underserved areas and among marginalised and Indigenous communities. Although internet use in the region significantly increased to 77% in 2025, there remains 23% of the population who are offline, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Several challenges remain in achieving an affordable, meaningful and inclusive internet for all. The widening digital divide further highlights the need for a stronger regional movement of CCCIs in Asia-Pacific.
Followed by the Social Enterprise Advocacy and Leveraging (SEAL) Conference two days later, the bootcamp also opened up broader topics and audience for social enterprise as well as its intersection with connectivity and digital inclusion. This was the 5th edition of the Conference.
Sharing knowledge, building capacities
To ensure a common understanding of community-centred connectivity, the bootcamp kicked off with a panel discussion of what CCCIs are and how they serve as complementary solutions to bridge the digital divide. The panel featured Carlos Rey-Moreno, LocNet co-lead as part of APC, and Naveed Haq, senior director for infrastructure and connectivity in the Internet Society, and was moderated by Dr. Marie Lisa Dacanay, ISEA’s director. This session was enriched by the speakers’ experiences working with CCCIs in the region, capturing common concerns around sustainability, infrastructure, policy and community needs.
“CCCIs are not about connectivity, but all about the community.” — Participant
The bootcamp also addressed the policy and regulatory environment of the Philippines in supporting CCCIs or “community-based networks” as mentioned in the Konektadong Pinoy (KP) Act – a bill approved last year to expand connectivity, addressing the needs of underserved communities in the country.
Winthrop Yu from the Philippines Chapter of the Internet Society, presented Better Internet PH from Grace Mirandilla-Santos. She shared how collaboration is crucial in implementing policy advocacy efforts to push the Konektadong Pinoy (KP) Act. Atty. Krystal Uy, undersecretary of the Department of Finance, spoke on the policy landscape of the country before and after the KP Act, highlighting that the act was only the beginning of a journey to see more digitally connected Filipinos. Michael Gorospe of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) presented the KP Act provisions, centring on how the act can impact CCCIs and other smaller connectivity providers. In response, Jeffrey Llanto, executive director of the Central Visayas Information Sharing Network (CVISNET) Foundation, shared the possibilities of the act in opening up more opportunities for small players, and how it can fully support them as a CCCI registering as a Data Transmission Industry Participant (DTIP) in the country.
Technical and operational sustainability were the topics at the plenary overview led by Akhmat Safrudin, regional capacity-building coordinator, and Carlos Baca, global learning and mentorship lead, both as part of the LocNet initiative. Two parallel sessions followed: a technical one on networking fundamentals facilitated by Kenneth Santiañez of CVISNET, which included a Starlink demonstration, and a regional session, Movement-Building CCCIs in Asia-Pacific, facilitated by Carlos Baca. The first session provided hands-on experience to participants to set up a network, while the second focused on reflections on CCCI challenges and aspirations in the coming years.
Parallel events featured technical sessions on network fundamentals and practical community connectivity, network design and deployment, network management and solar energy for community connectivity conducted by Philip Martinez of the Department of Science and Technology – Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), Michael Meneses of Nexlogic, Jonathan Brewer of Telco2, and Marilen Adriano from RA Omega/Access Network.
Simultaneously, sessions on CCCIs in APAC were devoted to identifying aspirations, challenges and capacity building, networks and support ecosystem, looking into 2027 and beyond.
“I learned a lot, from the technical, during the hands-on configuration of MikroTik, to the sharing sessions: how one dream, aspiration or vision can mirror the rest of the movement.” – Participant
Another full day was dedicated to engaging participants in designing their own technical network by completing a Village Network Challenge. A lively discussion on technologies for disaster and emergency communications was moderated by Benjz Gerard Sevilla of unconnected.org, with speakers from Athea Peñaloza of the Asia-Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Philippines (A-PAD PH), Gustaff Iskandar from Common Room Indonesia, and Kenneth Santiañez of CVISNET Foundation.
Strengthening gender integration in CCCIs was also a key focus of the bootcamp. Facilitated by Carla Santos of Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), the session presented best practices and gender tools used by social enterprises and CCCIs by Catherine Tiongson, gender regional coordinator of LocNet in Asia from ISEA, Santarpana Choudhury of BAIF Development Foundation, Biatriz Jami Luise Villanueva of the Federation of People's Sustainable Development Cooperative, and Tisha Anwar of Common Room Indonesia. This session provided space for participants to reflect on their personal biases and perspectives on gender and care concepts while sharing initiatives and challenges of their organisations on gender integration.
The bootcamp devoted time and space for introducing financial sustainability and business models to participants. Jonathan Brewer presented the Community Network Builder application, a tool to assess demand, supply, economic impact and financial sustainability of CCCIs, and best suited for planning and designing CCCIs in communities.
Furthermore, the subsequent sessions on developing business model canvas presented by Gomer Padong, Asia policy coordinator from LocNet and ISEA, and networking and elevator pitch by Kristine Gyonjan of Community Networks Development Foundation (CNDF) equipped participants with preparation and partnership development strategies before establishing CCCIs. The bootcamp hosted the presentation of Naveed Haq of the grant programmes available in the Internet Society.
On the closing day, Dr. Marie Lisa Dacanay shared two approaches for measuring the social impact and cost-effectiveness of CCCIs: Development Indexing and Social Return on Investment (SROI) showcasing the result of the study developed with Common Room Foundation in their intervention in Kasepuhan Cipetagelar and BAIF in Pathardi.
The bootcamp provided space to participants to pilot the Development Indexing (DI) scorecard on their own initiatives at a workshop facilitated by Tess Perfecto and Catherine Tiongson. As the tool is still under development, their feedback and recommendations were sought to improve it. The last was a peer-learning session facilitated by Carlos Baca, in which participants consolidated their learnings and recommendations for future bootcamps, before receiving their certificates.
“CCCIs can be done with the right tools and the right partners. I hope I can help deploy a CCCI soon!” – Participant
The bootcamp may have come to an end, but the work of strengthening community-led approaches to connectivity continues.
Cindy Falcutila is a Program Associate at the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA). She is actively supporting LocNet's initiatives and work mainly in the Philippines.
Akhmat Safrudin is ISEA’s Asia regional capacity-building coordinator for LocNet. He also works with Common Room, an Indonesian-based organisation and APC member.
Catherine Tiongson is a supervising program and development cooperation specialist at the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia (ISEA), a member of APC Network. She is also concurrently ISEA’s Asia regional gender coordinator for the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative, a joint initiative of APC and Rhizomatica.