ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
 African Development Forum 1999
Globalization and the Information Age: Role of the African
Information Society Initiative |
adf October, 1999
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION *
2. THE AFRICAN INFORMATION SOCIETY INITIATIVE *
2.1 The vision *
2.2 The themes *
2.3 The implementation *
2.4 The stakeholders *
3. AISI IMPLEMENTATION *
3.1 The first three years *
3.1.1. Sensitization *
3.1.2. National strategies *
3.1.3. Connectivity *
3.1.4. Sectoral applications *
3.1.5. Content development *
3.1.6. Partnerships *
3.2 What remains to be done *
3.3 ADF’s role in the process *
4. FUTURE DIRECTIONS *
4.1 Themes *
4.2 Partnerships *
4.3 Measuring the impact of AISI *
5. CONCLUSION *
6. REFERENCES *
INTRODUCTION
For some time now, Africa has been intensifying its
efforts to address its economic and human development problems and to take up the related
challenges. This has become an even more crucial issue as Africa approaches the 21st
century when globalization is becoming a fact of life and the advent of the information
society appears to be changing the points of reference and to be speeding up the time
dimension.
While it is true that many of the African development indicators are
rising and the trends overall are sufficiently positive to allow a degree of hope as to
the future, there nevertheless remains much to be done before the war can be won against
poverty, illiteracy and the precarious conditions of health whose prospects are dimming
with the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
As we approach the new millennium, hopes are high that
Africa can emerge from the stagnation and crises that have characterized much of its
post-independence era. The emerging vision of a future Africa is of a continent that
stands proudly alongside its global trading partners and sustains economic growth, a
continent where access to health care is a given, where education is universal, where
economic stability is a human right, and where poverty in all its manifestations is
sharply reduced within the coming three decades. This vision of an African renaissance is
not a mirage.
K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa
ECA and Africa, accelerating the Continent’s Development |
Much has already been said about the information
technology revolution, the information society and the central and primary role that
information and communication technologies (ICTs) will play in development generally, not
to mention the historic opportunities they present to Africa. This paper will not address
these questions, three years after the adoption of the African Information Society
Initiative (AISI). It is the conviction of the author that the pursuit of national,
subregional and regional strategies for making judicious use of ICTs provides a unique
opportunity for Africa to face the third millennium with the conviction that it can make
up for having lagged behind in the 20th century and use its assets to speed up its march
towards a better future.
1. THE AFRICAN
INFORMATION SOCIETY INITIATIVE
Adopted a little more than three years ago by the ECA Conference
of Ministers of Economic Planning and Development, the African Information Society
Initiative (AISI) is a framework for building Africa’s information and
communication infrastructure. AISI was designed over a period of one year by a high level
working group set up in 1995 by the Conference of Ministers3. It was adopted
after a lengthy process of gestation whose details can be found in the annex.
AISI4 is first of all a global vision - a specific vision of
Africa in which the continent takes its place in the global context. AISI is also a set of
themes around which the African information society should be built. It is yet again a
commitment to translate that vision from mere rhetoric into concrete action proposals to
be considered by all the stakeholders. Finally, AISI is the widest possible partnership
instituted among those stakeholders and this partnership is expected to grow substantially
in the near future in order to pursue the objectives to a successful conclusion.
"To move into the Information Society, Africa
must be clear on what it wants and make its desires clear to others. If we are clear, if
we have a compelling vision for ourselves, then it is likely that our choices will turn
into our own reality. If we are not then we will either be perpetual observers of the
information highway or find ourselves on a road not fit for our needs." K.Y.
Amoako, from "Information and Communications for Development—Keynote Address
before the Luncheon Forum, Conference on the Information Society and Development",
Midrand, South Africa, 14 May 1996 |
1.1 The vision
The AISI document argues that Africa should build, by the year
2010, an information society in which every man, woman, child, village, public and private
sector office has secure access to information and knowledge through the use of computers
and the communication media. The objective is to provide every African with the
possibility of using the communication and data processing services available everywhere
else, just like any other citizen of the world. The emphasis is placed on addressing the
specific needs of Africans and the realities of the environment in which they live. This
vision reflects a certain idea of African development and encourages African countries to
use the information revolution to reduce the gap, if not actually make good on having
lagged behind, and thereby be able to offer their citizens the resources for entering the
coming century with hope.
1.2 The themes
There is no counting the number of areas in which ICTs could
have an actual or potential impact and it would be foolhardy to attempt a comprehensive
identification of all those areas. Indeed, with the dizzying speed at which multimedia
technologies are evolving and the regularity with which new services and applications are
emerging, human imagination is the only limit to the development of new applications.
None the less, with a view to serving as a framework which genuinely
leads to practical projects, the Initiative suggests a number of areas that member States
might consider when formulating national strategies. These areas are suggested because of
their relationship to Africa’s socio-economic development and the immediate
opportunities they present.
Among the themes suggested for practical projects are:
1.3 The
implementation
In concert with its partners, ECA decided that AISI should be
implemented around the seven following areas of focus:
The promotion of activities to impress upon people what Africa stands
to gain from the information society so that a solid ICT culture can be built and both
decision-makers and users made aware of what the information society is bringing and what
they can benefit from it.
The formulation of national information plans and policies which
integrate all sectors, are ambitious but realistically sequenced, are suited to national
development priorities and are designed to provide a better life for all citizens.
The extension of electronic connectivity to satisfactory levels of
access and service quality in accordance with the principle of universal access.
The institution of training and capacity building programmes which
address emerging needs in terms of exigencies created by the new information age.
The democratization of access to include people from all walks of
life and to contain social inequalities while avoiding further marginalization.
The identification of sectoral applications which will set the
guidelines for national policy and which can be used to define implementation priorities.
The promotion of informational content development to address user
needs and realities in the African countries and to eventually achieve and consolidate a
genuine knowledge society.
1.4 The
stakeholders
As mandated by the 1996 Conference of Ministers, ECA serves as
the secretariat for the implementation of AISI but it would be out of the question for the
Commission to the sole implementer of AISI, not only because of its role but also because
of the scope, complexity and multiplicity of activities involved. Essentially, ECA’s
role is essentially one of integration and facilitation.
From its inception, AISI identified the following groups of partners:
the articulation of a global and overarching national vision, an
information society policy implementation strategy and the creation of an environment
which promotes the translation of such a policy into practical action and projects;
coordination with counterpart national bodies in other African
countries and with regional and international organizations in such a way as to achieve
better integration and improved coordination at the regional level;
the development of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks with
particular emphasis on addressing constraints to the introduction of new technology. These
include issues of cost; universality of access not only to basic telephone services but
also to the entire spectrum of multimedia communication services; and the taking account
of this advantage for marginalized communities;
the institution of appropriate training programmes to provide
specific training for a critical mass of information technology specialists at such levels
as planning, design, development and technical expertise;
the judicious development and updating of communications facilities
to keep abreast with technological advances and, more specifically, to address user needs
and provide avenues for simple, speedy and inexpensive connection to international
telecommunications networks, particularly those in the same subregion;
Both the local and foreign private sector can and should
participate directly in building the African information society. In addition to
participating in the articulation of market-friendly national strategies, the private
sector can also stimulate growth in the ICT sector by making strategic investments in
appropriate areas. Finally, the private sector should organize itself to promote the
development of a sound local information and knowledge industry.
The role of civil society and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) is to sharpen needs analysis in the matter of sectoral
applications by bringing to bear their field experience based on proximity to the intended
users of the new services. They can articulate the perspectives of the various user
communities, particularly those deprived of primary access to information and knowledge
resources, namely women, certain categories of the youth, the illiterate, rural dwellers,
the disabled and the displaced.
Both in the pre- and post-implementation phase, the representatives
of the media have room to intervene. On the one hand, they can work to promote AISI
and impress upon people the importance of thoughtful and concerted action in building the
information society by helping to educate policy makers and explaining the various
concepts of the Initiative to the widest possible audience. On the other hand, they will
be propagating the results of the implementation of national strategies and assessing what
progress has been achieved in translating AISI objectives into practical projects as well
as their impact on development.
At a time when globalization is becoming a fact of life and most
strategies have to be rethought within a more global context, nothing is more important
than the contribution that regional organizations can make to AISI implementation.
Such organizations should monitor and coordinate country activities with a view to
achieving the highest degree of accountability while not forgetting that, by their very
nature, ICTs require harmonization and standardization and cannot be developed in
isolation.
2. AISI
IMPLEMENTATION
2.1 The first
three years
Only three years after its adoption, it is still legitimate to
look at the AISI track record even though such evaluations are generally conducted at the
end of about five years. It would be wise, three years into the implementation of AISI to
conduct a preliminary evaluation given the nature of the field under consideration, the
speed at which ICTs are being developed and, more particularly, the exigencies of
development thrust upon Africa, not to mention the time constraint. This is also justified
by the commitment of ECA, especially since its programme reformulation and restructuring
exercise, to build its capacity to measure the impact of its programmes and their
effectiveness while maintaining a sustained dialogue with member States. Those states are
encouraged to continue to express their needs as a feed back to on-going activities and as
a way of recommending future activities.
2.1.1. Sensitization
A quick overview of country achievements in ICT development5
shows that Africa is building the capacities it needs to integrate itself in the global
information economy. Indeed, Africa has come a long way from the alarming situation
discerned at the 1995 Regional Conference on Telematics when only five African countries
had Internet connectivity. Not only do virtually all African countries offer their
citizens more or less sophisticated access to the world wide web, but also, many current
or planned projects demonstrate that Africa is well advanced in its preparations to build
the information society.
Training and briefing workshops and seminars have been organized by ECA
itself, by its partners or jointly. Initially, they were targeted at telecommunications or
information science specialists and subsequently extended to participants from other
disciplines. Similarly, interest is increasingly being demonstrated by policy makers and
no longer by the experts alone. Some workshops organized in late 1998 and in 1999 were
opened by very high level officials. This demonstrates that the awareness of national
policy makers is growing stronger and that they are now convinced that ICTs can have a
genuine impact on national development.
2.1.2. National
strategies
The main recommendations of AISI include the preparation of
national information and communications infrastructure (NICI) plans6 which are
at the core of the implementation of the Initiative.
Many countries have begun, particularly over the past two years, to
organize themselves and are at various stages in their preparation of NICI plans7.
The responsibility for coordinating emerging or adopted national plans varies from country
to country.
2.1.3. Connectivity
As a vital element of the information society, basic
connectivity is one of the major challenges to be taken up by Africa which has less than
one per cent of the world’s available telephone lines to share among 10 per cent of
the world’s people. For nearly two decades, this issue has been central to the debate
in Africa both at the national level and at the regional level (with specific reference to
the first and second United Nations Transport and Communications Decade in Africa). It is
still topical within the context of ICT activities and regional projects like RASCOM,
African Connection and Africa One which are progressing more or less speedily.
Much is being done by international development partners of AISI and
bilateral cooperation agencies to improve physical access to communication services. In
this connection, most of the projects implemented in recent years by UNDP (the Sustainable
Development Network and Internet Initiative for Africa), IDRC (the Acacia project), USAID
(the Leland Initiative), and UNESCO (Rinaf project) have a connectivity component for
linking up with the Internet and have largely contributed to advancing progress in this
area of activity. This comes in addition to ITU projects on basic telephony as well as new
communication and data transmission services.
Furthermore, a premier Regional Conference was organized on the theme
of Global Connectivity for Africa. This Conference brought together more than 400
participants including over 30 communications Ministers and high officials who discussed
the improvement of access to national networks, the lowering of prices for international
communication and the expansion of access to information.
The Conference was held from 2 to 4 June 1998 in Addis Ababa under the
sponsorship of ECA and the World Bank Group and with support from ITU, ADB and the
Netherlands. It also received private sector support with contributions from WorldSpace
Corporation, Siemens, Teledesic, RASCOM and IRIDIUM.
During the three days of the Conference, participants reviewed a wide
range of cable and satellite communication projects and, because of the growing diversity
of available technologies, requested that a systematic analysis of current communication
policies and regulations should be conducted to make it possible for Africa to take full
advantage of developments. The need for forging effective partnerships in the region was
reemphasized .
Recommendations called on governments to regularly review sector
policies and regulatory arrangements to optimize the benefits available from the increased
choice of technology. In the light of the affordability barrier to ICT access, regulatory
intervention was also deemed necessary to ensure that consumers benefit from the reduced
cost of international access. It was felt that connectivity projects should be undertaken
primarily by the private sector, and that opportunities should be created to allow local
financial participation, including micro-credit facilities in rural areas.
Ministers were asked to introduce policies to address the Year 2000
(Y2K) computer malfunctioning problem, also known as the "Millennium Bug". As
part of its follow-up of the conference, ECA produced a briefing paper on the Y2K problem
for African policy makers. The briefing paper outlines the problem itself, details major
aspects that will affect Africa, offers practical solutions, and includes best practices
in dealing with the problem in Africa. In addition, it provides an extensive set of
electronic and hard copy information resources on the Y2K problem.
3.1.4. Sectoral
applications
For those countries where the sensitization efforts are
beginning to yield results, projects have been formulated with particular focus on sectors
which most of the countries consider their priority such as tele-medicine, distance
education and electronic commerce. Other initiatives are emerging in tourism, culture,
agriculture and other areas.
Some of these projects were initiated by Governments and others by
research Centers or academic institutions. Many of them are still at the pilot stage but
plans have been made to develop them further in the medium to long term. The first part of
the comparative study on the status of ICT development in the various African countries
gives some idea of the initial progress made within the context of sectoral applications.
The choice of focus areas generally depends on the sectoral development priorities of each
country.
3.1.5. Content
development
The knowledge society assumes its full meaning from the wealth
of information content that it can circulate and provide to users. It is necessary for
information to be reliable, up-to-date and available and relevant to the greatest number
and to address the real needs of Africans. The more this is the case, the more the
information age will develop and serve the cause of development.
Demand is not the same in every society. The industrialized countries
have focused many of their activities around electronic commerce or leisure and
entertainment services which already account for a substantial share of electronic
commerce-generated revenue. These may not be the areas in which the governments themselves
are investing as a matter of priority but they do happen to hold the greatest prospects
for growth in the digital services market.
For obvious reasons of African development priorities, access should
initially emphasize those applications which directly serve the national agenda. However,
other aspects should not be excluded should the opportunity arise. Therefore, even though
content development is not confined exclusively to information on the web, preliminary
work on the development of African websites has been undertaken8 with a view to
analyzing the nature of the existing information content.
The objective of the study is, first of all, to collect as much
information as possible on the most interesting websites developed in Africa or about
Africa. ECA instigated this initiative and collected the initial data but it is neither a
mandate of the Commission nor is it feasible given ECA’s resource constraints, to
continue this work. It should be done elsewhere with the participation of African
universities and the African private sector.
Once a critical mass of information has been collected , the more
substantive work of analyzing and utilizing such information will begin in order to
provide a better idea of informational content development in Africa. The analysis itself
would focus, among other things, on addressing issues such as:
The type of information available on African websites
Other information needed for a larger public
Identification of web masters
The relevance of accessible information
Whether the information available covers every need and meets all
expectations
How easy it is to access such sites
And so on
It will then become possible to identify those sectors adequately
covered and those which need more coverage and on which sensitization and development
assistance efforts should be concentrated. ECA for instance will be able to move on from
generally encouraging content development, even with concrete illustrations, to making
more specific recommendations.
3.1.6. Partnerships
The first implementation partnership organized was the PICTA
network 9 which provides a clearinghouse for sharing information on the status
of ICT projects in Africa and coordinating AISI activities. Among the AISI partners are
multilateral and bilateral institutions, NGOs, private concerns and foundations. On the
one hand, PICTA members share information on current projects and, on the other, formulate
and implement a common work programme using synergies that multiply the impact of the
efforts being made to implement the Initiative. It should be stressed that, by its nature,
PICTA is more of a process than an organization. PICTA has contributed to the
implementation of joint projects, particularly over the past two years. However, the
degree of cooperation could have been wider and more effective with systematic follow-up
instead of the currently ad hoc nature of joint activities. The contribution of PICTA
members to country implementation of NICIs would most certainly be enhanced if mechanisms
could be better defined, while still remaining flexible.
In the same way that the PICTA members work to promote ICT development
in Africa, the members of GKP10 have set themselves the goal of intensifying
their cooperation in order to help disseminate knowledge globally. GKP was established in
the aftermath of the Global Knowledge Conference organized in Toronto jointly by the World
Bank and the Government of Canada and in association with more than 15 international and
regional organizations. GKP is now focusing its work on three main themes, namely:
infrastructure (not only physical), governance and the democratization of access to secure
wider participation in the building of the information society11. As a member
of GKP, ECA considers itself not only as an articulator of Africa’s needs and
interests in the concert of nations but also assumes responsibility for effectively
defending Africa’s position in the globalization debate which the advent of the
information society involves.
ECA participates regularly in the annual meetings of the Internet
Society (ISOC), particularly in the workshop for developing countries so as to achieve
greater coordination among the officials responsible for the African national chapters.
The initiative of creating National Information Services for Africa (Afrinic) will be
discussed at ADF 99.
2.2 What
remains to be done
Although interesting progress has been made in Africa, much
remains to be done to make the information society come alive for all the citizens of
Africa. Building the information society is a complex and lengthy process which has no
blueprint. The proof of this is what has been happening in the developed world where the
issue has become more topical than ever. Activities began in the early 1990s and, on
average, the planning cycle is five to ten years.
With regard to Africa, given the close relationship between building
the information society and the fact that unfortunately, much remains to be done in this
area, it is reasonable to expect that the coming years will see the consolidation of sound
national strategies.
The following paragraphs are in no way a comprehensive review of areas
needing special effort. They reflect ECA’s vision of what should be the priorities
and are designed to institute a dialogue with the various players in order to improve the
focus of future national and regional programmes and plans. The idea is not to reinvent
AISI but to define, within the context of the widest possible partnership with all ICT
players the guidelines which should govern the implementation of AISI.
2.3 ADF’s
role in the process
ADF is a new ECA initiative which has the major goal of
instituting a dialogue among all players directly or indirectly involved in Africa’s
development. ADF themes will be selected on the basis of what the partners consider to be
of priority and strategic importance12. The first ADF is devoted to the theme
of "The Challenge to Africa of Globalization
and the Information Age".
ADF should mark an important stage in the implementation of AISI. In
addition
to providing an opportunity for intensifying the dialogue the various
players, ADF should lead to:
Draft (or where they already exist, more finely tuned) national
action programmes that demonstrate different approaches to creating national information
and communication infrastructure plans and policies and include concrete proposals to
address sectoral development problems in areas of national priority. This will increase
the number of African countries pursuing a genuine national strategy in this area and
could produce recommendations regarding future AISI development directions. It will take
into account sectoral needs as perceived by participants, and the institution of
implementation machinery suited to local reality and responsive to the exigencies of
globalization.
Consolidating synergy among various national and regional players by
positive reinforcement of those already involved in the process and defining what
potential new players could bring to the effort. In this context, particular importance
will be attached to:
analysis of the types of projects and policy mechanisms needed to
incorporate women and young people into decision-making processes on the application of
ICTs;
proposals from the African diaspora as to how best they can work with
national consultative machinery and participate in the implementation of selected
projects;
the role of the private sector in supporting the development of
policies needed to stimulate the ICT industry in the region and to increase investment
from outside the region;
Revisiting the commitment of partners to lending support to AISI
project implementation and working in concert so as to leverage their aid programmes. In
this context, it would be wise to advance proposals on how best to articulate the needs of
Africa and enhance the results achieved under development programmes. Proposals will
accordingly have to be generated on the most effective ways of establishing more effective
forms of partnership.
The foregoing illustrate what ECA expects but it is most important to
bear in mind that:
ADF ‘99 will be discussing strategy and generating concrete
proposals
The discussions should elicit the contribution of all those players
who may be already in the system or who need to be drawn in
The action proposals should address the national, subregional and
regional dimensions
3. FUTURE
DIRECTIONS
3.1 Themes
To achieve greater effectiveness, it is crucial to concentrate
on a limited number of areas and to come up with specific areas of focus for the future.
From ECA’s reading of the situation of Africa and its needs, and from the input of a
number of experts in this area13 there appear to be four areas on which
discussion should focus over the next three years. Those areas are the four selected ADF
sub-themes, namely:
what will be (if not what has been) the impact of the global
information society on national economies
the transition to a knowledge-based economy
the creation of the basic elements of an information and knowledge
industry
the national, sub-regional and regional requirements for promoting
the growth of the information economy in Africa. This theme should identify economic areas
amenable to job creation in Africa and consider what it would take for Africa to enter the
information economy successfully. In addition, particular importance will be attached to
the development of electronic commerce. The social impact, both before and after the
transition to the information economy, must be addressed.
Strengthening Africa’s information infrastructure. Any
discourse on the information society, whether in Africa or elsewhere, begins with the
caution that developing basic infrastructure is not an end in itself. While this may be
so, it is equally true that any initiative would be fruitless if physical connections
remain in their current state and people had so much difficulty in obtaining a telephone
line as is the case in many of the countries. The goal of this theme is to highlight the
various ways of strengthening the communications infrastructure. It should include an
analysis of regional projects such as RASCOM, Africa One and the African Connection
Initiative and make them better known to decision makers, planners and other forum
participants who are not communications experts. The discussion on this theme should focus
on subjects like rural communication development, the use of new cable and wireless
technologies for greater connectivity, the creation of an enabling environment to speed up
infrastructural development, the development of human resources and the development of an
appropriate institutional and regulatory framework .
ICTs for improved governance. ICTs have great potential for
improved governance and for involving civil society in political debate. For the first,
time there is an open channel over which all citizens (including those living abroad) can
express their views. ICTs also bring the possibilities for governments to reach their
citizens living in remote locations and serve them in the same way as those living in
capital cities. The role of the media in using new technologies for improved governance
will be stressed. The discussions should make it possible to set priorities for the use of
ICT applications within the context of governance.
Democratising access to the information society. Equity
concerns figure prominently in discussions of the introduction of ICTs in Africa. The
worst possible scenario surrounding the introduction of ICTs in Africa is the creation of
an information elite and the exacerbation of gaps between social classes. Indeed,
one of the greatest advantages of ICTs is that they virtually abolish time and space and
have the capacity to reach people hitherto marginalized from information circuits. Many
tools are currently available for democratizing access and are being used in ICT projects
for telemedicine, community telecenters and distance learning. Particular attention will
have to be paid to the needs of women and youth. This sub-theme will similarly look at the
use of the more traditional audiovisual and print-media to disseminate knowledge and
information with the major concern of addressing social equity.
3.2 Partnerships
As was seen earlier, partnerships have already been instituted
nationally (in which countries beginning to develop NICIs have made serious efforts to
involve all local partners in national consultations) and internationally (among
bilateral, regional and funding agencies). The key question now is how to make such
partnerships viable and sustainable. It should be possible, in the coming years, to work
out the modalities for AISI cooperation in Africa without making such arrangements so
rigid and constraining as to scare off potential partners.
The second priority would be to work out the details of sustaining and
consolidating the role of the private sector. Indeed, there is general agreement that the
private sector should become the main driving force behind the implementation of AISI.
Both in the initial recommendations of AISI and those of the Global Connectivity
Conference, the point was made but not translated into achievements on the ground. This is
the area where emphasis must be placed to devise mechanisms which could help the private
sector to identify needs and translate them into action programmes.
Apart from the players already described, mention must be made of two
major communities whose role is far from being negligible and whose contribution should be
further encouraged. Mechanisms will have to be devised to make their contribution
sustainable and predictable, unlike the ad hoc situation which is often the case today.
Academia. Academia have played a key role in the development of
the information society. First in the United States of America and subsequently in Europe,
it was through research networks and university use of electronic mail that the Internet
has grown to reach the wider public. This usage exploded into the seemingly unlimited
services provided by the world wide web and multimedia to business and the entertainment
industry. Africa has followed the same logic because the importance of ICT was first
realized in African universities, documentation and research centers. These played a
pioneering role and blazed the trail for other users. Members of the network set up by
ECA’s Pan African Documentation and Information System (PADIS) constitute an
excellent illustration of this. With the passing years, however, and the paucity of
resources at the disposal of academic institutions, their achievements have been middling
in spite of the fact that the degree of awareness and interest in ICTs has not waned.
It is urgent to restore the primary of academia and to involve academic
institutions more closely in national strategy formulation. In this regard it is essential
to take advantage of Africa’s major asset - youth enthusiasm. With more than 50 per
cent of its population aged less than 20,15 an inestimable driving force,
capable of imparting a new dynamism is there to be used. In many cases, the ICT sector
should be properly developed and take strength from suitable training programmes that do
not necessarily call for heavy investment.
The role of academia may take several forms:
its traditional role of training enhancement may target policy
makers, officials and experts who are involved in designing and building the information
society at the national level, given the considerable expansion of needs which will come
with the formulation of national strategies. It should be pointed out, however, that
training for and through ICTs should not be limited to the university level but should,
eventually, be extended to the secondary and primary educational levels using age-specific
curricula.
A technology watch through which developments in ICT can be monitored
with a view to improving need anticipation, readjusting training programmes and guiding
research.
Helping to contain unemployment and the brain drain by an optimum
balance between training programmes and the needs of the local job market so that young
graduates can speedily find a job with the skills they have acquired.
The African diaspora. Africa has suffered heavily for more than
half a century from the brain drain. While the intention of this study is not to address
this thorny issue, the tremendous intellectual potential of all those Africans
living and working abroad could be brought to bear in pursuing activities related to the
building of the information society. One of the many ways in which this can be done is by
making judicial use of ICTs which enable the adverse factors of geography and time to be
overcome.
3.3 Measuring
the impact of AISI
One essential area that remains to be covered and which will
become a priority in the coming month is the institution of strategies and mechanisms for
measuring the impact of AISI. The track record for the first three years has shown that
the main objective of AISI has been one of understanding of the concept, ownership of the
Initiative and its national scope and impact.
For the coming three years, the main objective will be to project the
global framework of AISI to each country level and to move from the global vision to
national programming and the corresponding implementation modalities, including the
resources needed for evaluation.
As mentioned earlier, the NICIs are at the center of the AISI
implementation process and constitute the surest, if not the only means, of achieving
effective and monitorable progress at the country level. While three years may be too
short a time frame to conduct an objective and meaningful evaluation, it has been enough
to identify best practices and success stories and to share such experiences.
Mechanisms and indicators to measure project impact are needed to move
beyond mere stock-taking; the existing indicators will not suffice; others will have to be
evolved. Under the four sub-themes and in the special interest groups, ADF 99 will be
discussing these issues.
4. CONCLUSION
Much could still be said about a subject as vast as The
Challenges to Africa of Globalization and the Information Age. The main concern of this
paper was to summarize the current situation to be assessed in ADF 99 and the set of
working documents17 which will serve to initiate the various discussions and
provide a basis for follow-up programme proposals.
This exercise is intended to elicit comments and reactions and not to
provide a comprehensive description of achievements to date. Indeed, so dynamic is the ICT
sector that it cannot be captured in a still motion picture. Periodic reviews which should
be designed with sufficient latitude to accommodate rapid development.
Three major concerns should guide future activities: the development of
national strategies through the institution of NICI plans, the identification of sectoral
applications that will focus on projects to be implemented in the short and medium terms
and the institution of appropriate, integrating, pro-active and innovative partnership
schemes which will help to speed up the implementation of national, sub-regional and
regional action plans. For all this to be truly effective, the exercise should be
accompanied by modalities that enable the impact to be measured as the programmes
themselves are implemented. For that reason, much is expected of ADF 99 by way of the
identification and formulation of appropriate indicators.
Briefly put, the combination of an ambitious but realistic global
vision and comprehensive consultation with potential partners at the national, regional
and international level should make it possible, working with a set of detailed action
plans, to address the priorities and exigencies of economic and social development in each
country and to place ICTs at their service. With adequate preparation before and after
this transition, Africa can successfully enter the information society and face the coming
century with greater hope.
5. REFERENCES
African Information Society Initiative – framework for
building the information and communication infrastructure (ECA publication 1996)
ECA and Africa: Accelerating a Continent’s Development (ECA, June
1999)
African Country Profiles: National Information and Communication
Infrastructure (ECA document E/ECA/ADF 99/1)
Africa on the Internet: An Annotated Guide to African Websites
(E/ECA/ADF 99/2)
A place for Africa in the Information Society? : Major Issues in the
Proportion of Information and Communication Technologies for Africa. (Karima Bounemra Ben
Soltane and Nancy J. Hafkin)
Democratizing access to the Information Society (Doc. E/ECA/ADF99/4)
Policies and Strategies for Speeding up the Development of Information
Infrastructure in Africa (Doc. E/ECA/ADF99/5)
Using ICTs to achieve Good Governance (Doc. E/ECA/ADF99/6)
Globalization and the Information Economy: Challenges and Prospects for
Africa (Doc. E/ECA./ADF99/7)
ANNEX 1
Genesis of the Africa Information
Society Initiative
The Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI) was conceived as
an action framework to leapfrog Africa into the information age. It was formulated in 1996
by a High-Level Working Group of African experts assembled by the Commission, and endorsed
by ECA’s Conference of Ministers, African Communications Ministers, the Organization
of African Unity and the Summit of the Eight in Denver in 1997. The ECA’s Development
Information Services Division (DISD) is the focal point for coordinating and implementing
AISI, in coordination with United Nations and other agency partners and institutions.
AISI is a forerunner to the "Harnessing Information Technology for
Development" priority cluster of the UN System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa,
which aims to help build the necessary infrastructure for construction of the African
information society. AISI is also in line with the regional integration goals of the
Treaty establishing the Africa Economic Community, which foresaw the need for information
networks and regional databases, information sources, and skills. As the coordinating body
for AISI, ECA is supporting ICT activities designed to accelerate socio-economic
development across the African region.
During 1997, ECA established the African Technical Advisory Committee
(ATAC) to the AISI, which provides Africa-wide visionary guidance to ECA’s
information and communication programmes. ATAC is made up of six experts representing the
public sector, private sector, universities, research institutions, and NGOs, and includes
one content adviser. The Commission has also established an informal group of development
partners.
ANNEX 2
Partnership in Information and
Communication Technology in Africa (PICTA)
The AISI is being implemented by the ECA and a working group called
Partnership in Information and Communication Technology in Africa (PICTA). The first PICTA
meeting, which set the terms of reference, took place in Rabat, Morocco, in April 1997.
The second, held in October 1997 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopted a work programme for
1998 and 1999, and agreed on cooperation in policy, training and capacity building,
telecentres, content development, and local knowledge. The third meeting, which took place
in Tunis in October 1998, emphasized the number of successes PICTA had registered to date,
including the burst of energy around telecentre development in Africa and the funding
generated by it. The June 1998 Addis Ababa Global Connectivity for Africa Conference was
also cited as a PICTA working group effort.
Members of PICTA
The number of past and present partners working to implement AISI within the
context of the partnership is growing and includes:
ACCT
ACDI, Canada
World Bank
ADB
Bellanet
British Council
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Centre for Information Society
Development in Africa
UNCTAD
Comnet-IT
Consortium of African Schools of Information Science
IDRC
Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission
FAO
Global Information Infrastructure Commission
WTO
WHO
OAU
PACT
UNDP
Rockefeller Foundation
Sangonet
TFA
SIDA
ITU
UNESCO
UNHCR
UNIDO
UNITAR
Universities of Ethiopia, Mozambique
CIDCM
US Department of State
USAID
WK Kelogg Foundation
World Space
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