The Sierra Leone Internet Provider Association (short SLIPA) is an association aiming to represent the internet provides of Sierra Leone. Its goal is to facilitate exchange of information (know how) among its members, to actively shape the future of the internet in Sierra Leone.
The SLIPA Community is an informal group of people who are concerned with engineering and operation of the Internet in Sierra Leone. Membership in SLIPA is not mandatory to participate in the SLIPA Community. The SLIPA Community is free and open to everyone. The focus is on technical challenges and on effects on society and public discussions around internet technologies. It is analogue to NANOG in the US, DENOG in Germany, Swinog in Switzerland and many other network operators group around the world.
SLIPA Community exists to enhance the quality of Internet services available in Sierra Leone. It does this by fostering the free exchange of technical ideas and information between different companies and organizations. SLIPA Community's main communication medium is a mailing list and public gatherings from time to time.The SLIPA-IX is the Internet Exchange(s) being constructed under the umbrella of SLIPA. Any entity with a AS number and presence in Sierra Leone can participate. SLIPA-IX is currently free to join due to donations by members but generally should operate at cost. This means membership fees for participation might occur in the future. The goal of the SLIPA-IX is to keep traffic in Sierra Leone local instead of loading expensive submarine links with local traffic. This offloads international links, increases resilience and keeps traffic as local as possible.