Bendjedid Rachad Sanoussi | DWeb Fellow 2024
About Bendjedid:
Bendjedid Rachad Sanoussi is a telecom engineer with a contagious enthusiasm for environmental protection. He has been working to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to socio-economic and environmental challenges. Currently, Rachad is pursuing a PhD in digital and artificial intelligence for management.
Rachad is the Technical Lead at Digital Grassroots , a youth-led organization working to increase digital citizenship at the local level. Their Digital Rights Monopoly project has been selected for C/Change's 2nd Creative Research & Development Lab. They developed a virtual platform modeling decentralized power distribution and amplifying marginalized youth voices.
Indeed, Rachad has been interested in internet-related issues since 2016. His journey in this field began with a membership of the Internet Society Benin, where he currently serves as Secretary-General and has contributed to several projects.
At Digital Grassroots, Rachad curated the Community Leaders Program for Internet Advocacy which focuses on using the Internet for democratic participation. He coordinated the working group on universal access and meaningful connectivity for the Project Youth Summit. As an Open Internet Leader, he also collaborated with the AU-EU Digital for Development Hub (D4D Hub) to bring youth voices to the 17th Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Rachad previously served as an ICT Engineering Support at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where he assisted in deploying digital solutions worldwide. He worked as a communication intern at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). For four years, as a laboratory technician at the University of Abomey-Calavi, he taught and facilitated practical work for students in telecommunications engineering.
Moreover, Rachad is one of the recipients of the Youth Digital Champion (YDC) awards . He also earned the Inaugural Paul Muchene Fellow Award, a tribute to Paul Muchene, an ICANN staff member who dedicated his time and technical expertise to support local and regional projects aimed at enhancing the Internet’s resilience.
Rachad strives to advocate for the inclusion of youth perspectives in environmental and digital policies. He aspires to become a policy analyst. He does agriculture, tourism, and plays football as hobbies.
Learn more about Bendjedid’s work:
___