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Annotated Provisional Agenda
I. SESSION I: OPENING
1. Welcoming remarks and contextualising the workshop
Ms Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of the Development Information Services Division (DISD) will welcome the participants and open the meeting. DISD’s Director will brief participants on the African Information Society Initiative’s vision in building a sustainable Information Society as well as ECA’s expectations with respect to the African Academia in general and in promoting ICTs for development in particular. The Director will also will set the scene by giving background information on the WSIS Academia Research Network, launched by the Economic Commission for Africa with the support of the Ford Foundation during the first phase of the World Summit on Information Society in December 2003. The presentation will focus on the rationale that guided the creation of such a network and will give elements for the African Academia to reflect upon their role in the Information Society.
Documentation: The Visioning Retreat report, First brainstorming workshop of the WSIS Academia Research Network: an issue paper.
2. Introduction of participants
Participants will be given the opportunity to briefly introduce themselves, their institutions and the research activities in which they are involved. They will also be requested to briefly share their expectations from the workshop.
Documentation: Draft Annotated Provisional Agenda, Information for participants
SESSION II: Establishing the Information Society Framework for Africa
3. ECA work programme: African Information Society Initiative (AISI)
Ms Aida Opoku Mensah, Team leader, Promoting ICTs for Development in DISD will present the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) – an ICT led socio-economic development framework adopted in 1996 to create effective digital opportunities to be developed by Africans and their partners. African countries to speed their entry into the information and knowledge global economy have since, used this action plan. ECA’s work programme in “Harnessing Information for Development” is based on the AISI. The presentation will look at achievements, lessons learnt and activities planned for the way forward and will set the context in which the ARN will be acting.
Documentation: The African Information Society Initiative, Africa Speaks! Perspectives on the Information Society, Policies and plans on the Information society: Status and Impact. Information on AISI is available at http://www.uneca.org/aisi/
4. Examining the Regional Dimension to the Information Society
This session will look at regional ICT policies and strategies needed for the development of information and communication infrastructure that can facilitate regional economic integration goals of the African continent. The presentation will look at challenges and opportunities in formulating and implementing Regional Information and Communication Infrastructure Plans (RICIs) and their different components in terms of policy and regulatory integration, infrastructure development and economic policies. The regional dimension of the information society is of particular importance, as this brainstorming session will look at creating regional networks.
Documentation: E- Strategies: national, sectoral and regional ICT policies, plans and strategies
5. Role of Stakeholders in the Information Society: the case of Academia
Recognising the role of universities and the importance of the information age for Africa’s education system, ECA created the Africa Learning Network (ALN) to facilitate the improvement of ICTs in the learning and teaching process as well as to support R&D processes through African educational institutions and other societal actors. The VarsityNet, one of three pillars of the ALN, aims at establishing connectivity at universities and related institutions of higher learning and research, and stimulating the development of content production and information sharing within this environment.
Although the active and effective participation of all stakeholders is recognized as critical in advancing knowledge and promoting the implementation of an inclusive information society in Africa, so far the role of Africa’s academic communities in actively developing and shaping the Information Society has been limited, particularly compared to other parts of the world. The presentation will look at opportunities and challenges facing African academic communities in setting and sustaining networking and partnerships mechanisms. ICT innovations, R&D promotion, knowledge and capacity building, ICT high skill development, localization and lifelong learning will be some of the issues to be considered.
6. WSIS Action Plan and implications for African Academia
This session will review the WSIS preparatory process, namely the African Regional Preparatory Conference organised by ECA and the Government of Mali. The conference was attended by all African stakeholders, leading to the Bamako Declaration that served as Africa’s input towards the first phase of the Summit held in Geneva 2003. Focus will be on an evaluation of Africa’s participation during the first phase. Whereas the Summit has created an important momentum for African countries to consider information society related issues in their national socio economic agenda, a lot still remains to be done in terms of advancing Africa’s priority needs in ICT related international fora. It is expected from this session that participants will make concrete recommendations on how they see a more proactive role of the African Academia during the second phase of the WSIS to be held in Tunis in 2005.
Documentation: WSIS Declaration of Principles, WSIS action Plan, Bamako 2002 Declaration
SESSION III: What needs to be done
7. Identifying areas for research: Brainstorming Session
Based on background information and exchange of ideas and views made during earlier sessions, participants will identify the main research agenda for Africa based on AISI themes and the WSIS Action Plan for further brainstorming. A preliminary list of these themes for brainstorming is as follows:
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Capacity building for the information society in Africa
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Creating the enabling environment
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African languages and content development in the cyberspace
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Measuring the impact of the Information Society
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Multi-stakeholder partnership in building the information society
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The industrialization of ICTs in Africa
Documents: First brainstorming workshop of the WSIS Academia Research Network: an issue paper
8. Working Groups on research agenda and report back from the working groups
Different working groups will brainstorm, reflect and make recommendations on the research topics identified earlier. Participants will convene at the Plenary to wrap up.
9. TOR for creating sub-regional research networks
On the basis of a proposal submitted by ECA, participants will discuss objectives, modalities and mechanisms for the creation of the research networks including the organisational and functional frameworks that will guide their operationalization.
SESSION IV: Creating Sub-regional Networks on Information Society issues
10. Working Groups: on modalities for creation of sub-regional networks
There will be group discussions on modalities and mechanisms for the establishment of sub-regional networks of the ARN, linked to the recommendations made during the thematic working groups. Participants will be invited to propose concrete actions in their respective regions for developing the networks, as well as begin to identify potential members of these regional networks, and the modus operandi (whether there will be a sub-regional meeting for member, how communication will take place after the meeting, possible research topics, timeframe, deadlines, etc.
11. Report back from Working Groups
Back in a plenary session, participants will exchange views and recommendations made during the working groups and will wrap up for final conclusions.
12. Way Forward: how to fit the research agenda into WSIS Action Plan / AISI
In the framework of the AISI and the WSIS Action Plan and in line with the discussions and core set of actions defined during the two-day brainstorming session, participants will agree on a short, mid and long term action plan and conclude on the way forward.
13. Any Other Business
Participants will submit to the Secretariat their evaluation of the workshop and may raise any other issues.
Documentation: Workshop evaluation forms
14. Closing
The Chief of the Development Information Services Division (DISD) of the Economic Commission for Africa will make closing remarks and adjourn the meeting.
[Workshop Home]
Annotated Agenda
Issue/Background Paper
Documents
List of Participants
Academia Online Discussion List
Academia Retreat, June 2003
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