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News Archive 2003 |
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Japan
extends commitment to ECA ICT4D activities
The
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) signed a memorandum of
understanding with the Government of Japan (GOJ) that stipulates
a financial agreement of up to $US 203,430, towards the work
of the Information Technology Centre for Africa (ITCA). Gracing
the signing ceremony were various high-level representatives
from ECA and the Japan Embassy in Ethiopia, including the
Japanese Ambassador H.E. Mr. Kenjiro Izumi and ECA’s
Deputy Executive Secretary, Ms. Lalla Ben Barka.
More
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New
ECA ICT Publications!
[ECA @ WSIS]
http://www.uneca.org/aisi/wsis2003/news.htm
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African
Media and ICT4D: Documentary Evidence
The
report is a baseline study on the state of media reporting
on ICT and information society issues in Africa. This
publication was launched by OSIWA and ECA during WSIS
on Thursday 11th December
More
>> |
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Africa
Speaks: Perspectives on Africa’s Road toward the
Information Society The
collection of views presented in this document is culled
from several electronic discussion groups established
by the ECA in the past 5 - 6 years
More:
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Policies
and Plans on the Information Society : Status
and Impact |
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SCAN-ICT :
Indicators of Information and Communications Technologies
(ICT) - The Impact of Information and Communications Technology
at the country level |
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E-Strategies:
National, Sectoral and Regional ICT Policies, Plans and
Strategies [PDF]
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| [ECA
Press Release on WSIS]
ECA
Exhibition Stands at WSIS
AISI and ITCA have set up exhibition stands to showcase
activities and distribute ECA publications. Both stands
are on Policy Street, ICT4D Platform, stand numbers
721 and 822 respectively.
Africa Speaks! Perspectives on the Information
Society
This new publication captures the voices of Africans
on their views and perceptions of the Information Society,
based on several electronic discussions facilitated
by ECA in the last few years. These lists include members
from civil society, academia, the Diaspora, public and
private sectors, and the media,. The publication will
be available on the AISI and ITCA stands during WSIS.
Panel Discussion on “National Strategies
for the Information Society and the Role of Regional
and Global Organizations”
http://www.uneca.org/aisi/wsis2003/workshop.htm
This
parallel event will take place on 11 December. It is
jointly organized by the UN Regional Commissions (ECA,
ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA), UNCTAD, UNDP, UN ICT Task
Force and the World Bank. There will be four panels
during this event.
ECA and the UN ICT Task Force are leading Panel 4, entitled
Regional and Subregional Strategies for the Information
Society, chaired by the ECA Executive Secretary, Mr
K Y Amoako. Speakers include:
- Ms Paula Lehtomäki, Finland’s
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development;
- Jean Louis Cardahi – Lebanon’s
Minister for Telecommunication;
- Mr. Orlando Jorge Mera, President
INDOTEL, Dominican Republic; and
- Mamdou Diop, Minister for Information
and Pan-African Cooperation on ICTs, Senegal.
Launch
of African Academia Research Network by ECA and the
Ford Foundation
The
network will be launched on 10 December at the ICT4D
Platform/AISI exhibition area. The objectives of this
Network include building research capacity of Academia
on key policy issues with respect to African needs and
strengthening scholarship in various areas that are
of significant importance to countries.
Launch
of African Media and ICT4D: Documentary Evidence. by
ECA and OSIWA
This baseline study on the state of media reporting
on ICT and information society issues in Africa was
undertaken in 9 African countries: Cameroon, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda,
Senegal. The launch will take place during WSIS on Thursday
11th December, 9.30am, WSIS Press Room, ICT4D Platform,
Palexpo. More: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/docs/mediastudy.pdf
Launch of the Global ePolicy Resource Network
(ePol-NET), 11 December 2003 (17:00-19:00),
Main Press Conference Room (ICT4D Platform)
ePol-NET
is designed to marshal global efforts in support of
national e-strategies for development. The Global ePol-Net
will be launched jointly by the government of Ireland
(ePol-NET Secretariat), the government of Canada and
ECA. The Africa Regional Node of ePol-NET was launched
in May 2003 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. More: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/epolnet.htm.
WSIS Daily coverage
ECA will be providing special coverage of the WSIS.
The coverage will include perspectives and African positions
on WSIS issues and themes as well as interviews with
national delegates and partners. There will also be
radio and video webcasting at the following URL (http://www.uneca.org/aisi/wsis2003),
which will allow users to record and broadcast events.
By supporting the active participation of African journalists
to provide this news service, ECA hopes to strengthen
reporting on the Information Society. To receive this
daily news during the summit, please complete the online
form at:http://www.uneca.org/aisi/wsis2003/regform.htm
More
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| AISI
Workshop on Media Training Module for Editors and Journalists
to be held in Maputo, Mozambique from 17 to 20 December
2003 ECA
in collaboration with Communication Assistance Foundation
of Netherlands has developed a draft ICT training module
for journalists and editors. The module is based on
the goals and objectives of AISI. The review workshop
will result in comments on usability and other aspects
relevant to ICT media training in Africa.
More
>> |
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| Subregional
workshop on Strategy for Acquisition, Effective management
and Dissemination of Intellectual Property Information
Organised
by WIPO and the ECA, the workshop will take place from
November 12 to 14, 2003 at the United Nations Conference
Center in Addis Ababa - Ethiopia.
More
>> |
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| WSIS
2003 and the African Media - Register for Daily News Update
ECA
will be providing special coverage of the first phase
of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
to be held from 10 - 12 December 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland,
with the aim of providing input to the African Media.
Registration
and more info >> |
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Gambia
e-Government Strategy
The
National Consultative Workshop on Draft e-Government
Strategy for The Gambia that took place in Banjul from
20 to 21 October 2003, came up with activities, target
dates and related policy recommendations which will
guide the development of the e-Government strategy for
the country.
Workshop
Declaration >>
Workshop
Report >> |
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Declaration
by the Youth of Ghana
The
National Youth Information Campaign in Ghana tagged
“New Academic Year ICT School", organized
by African Youth Initiative under the auspices of the
WSIS youth caucus in partnership with Ministry of Communication
and Technology, took place on the 24th , 25th October
2003. The Campaign attracted over one hundred and twenty
young people, and resulted in a Declaration.
More
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African
Engineers Day, October 14
African
Engineers Day: Contribution of African Engineers to
the Information Society took place on
October 14, 2003 during the World Engineering Congress,
Tunis, Tunisia. The ECA in collaboration with the World
Federation of Engineering Organisations – Committee
on Information and Communication, has organised this
special event during the World Engineering Congress
to discuss the roles that can be played by African engineers
in addressing the challenges and opportunities to Africa
of the information society, and their participation
in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
process.
AED
Declaration, and more >>
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WCDD
Medal awarded to Ms. Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane
The
Medal of the World Congress on Digital Divide was awarded
to Ms Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of the Development
Information Services Division (DISD) by the World Federation
of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) during the World
Congress on the Digital Divide, held from 14-16 October
in Tunis, Tunisia...more
>> |
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ECA
Receives Euro 2.48 Million for Africa's Information
and Communication Technologies Development
Addis Ababa, September 16 2003: A Euro 2.48 million
($US 2.6 million) partnership deal between the Development
Information Services Division (DISD) of the Economic
Commission for Africa and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
of Finland was sealed at a signing ceremony on Monday,
October 20 2003.
More
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Engineers
meet on the Information Society
ECA
Press Release
The World Federation of Engineering Organizations Committee
on Information and Communication will deliberate their
contributions to the Information Society during the
World Congress on the Digital Divide (WCCD), which is
scheduled to take place from 14-16 October 2003, in
Tunisia's capital, Tunis.
More
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PICTA
Bulletin, Number 23, September 2003 !
PICTA
Bulletin is a monthly publication that provides information
on activities of members in the partnership, as well
as offers news on ICT-related activities in Africa.
More
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Annual
PICTA Meeting to take place in Tunis
The
annual meeting of PICTA will take place from 16 to 17
October 2003 in Tunis, Tunisia in conjunction with the
World Congress on "Engineering and Digital Divide"
scheduled from 12 to 19 October 2003.
More
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AISI
and e-Government
In
the AISI framework, the African Ministers of Finance,
Planning and Economic Development identified the use
of ICTs in central Government and in local Administration
as one of the priority sectors for the entry of Africa
into the information era, and as a means to support
government’s administration and decentralization
process. In
this connection, the Republic of The Gambia was selected
to serve as an AISI e-government model.
More
>> |
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The
2004 AISI Media Awards programme announced! - Call for
Applications
The
AISI Media Awards is aimed at individual journalists
and media institutions based in Africa that are “promoting
journalism which contributes to a better understanding
of the information society in Africa".
More
>>
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ECA
and Ford Foundation Pilot Research and Development (R&D)
for the Information Society
A
methodology and planning workshop for the ECA/Ford Foundation
project to promote R& D took place from 28 to 29
August 2003 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with participants
from the Addis Ababa University (AAU) and the Inter-University
Council for Eastern Africa (IUCEA) based in Kampala,
Uganda. The project is part of the Africa Learning Network
(ALN) that includes SchoolNet Africa, Out-of-School
Youth Network (OOSYNET) and African Universities Network
(VarsityNet). AAU and the IUCEA are selected for the
pilot phase. The workshop was to harmonize methodologies
for the operationalization of the project and set targets
and milestones.
For
further information, contact Aida Opoku-Mensah
(aopoku-mensah@uneca.org)
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Ethiopian
parliamentarians graduate on e-strategies
Over
100 Ethiopian Members of Parliament graduated on Thursday,
27th August after a 2-month ECA and Government of Japan-sponsored
intensive training on ICTs with specific reference to
e-strategies for development. The training was offered
to the MPs as an effort to build the capacity of African
stakeholders, which is one of the key missions underscored
by the outreach programme of ECA’s African Information
Society Initiative (AISI). Held at the Information Technology
Center for Africa (ITCA), the training comprised of
a series of lectures and workshops on ICT policy issues
and hands-on approaches to using ICT applications to
enhance their work as legislators. The MPs also engaged
in in-depth discussions on how to formulate national
e-strategies, with examples derived from ongoing experiences
by governments in a number of African countries.
More
>>
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AITEC/ECA
African e-Government Forum (27 August 2003). This
is a forum organised by the ECA in collaboration with
AITEC in the framework of ACT 2003 that will take place
from 26 to 28 August 2003 in Abuja, Nigeria.
More
>>
Link
to ACT 2003 >>
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World
Summit Award (WSA) for eContent and Creativity: The
World Summit Award (WSA) is a three year global project,
held within the framework and in cooperation with the
WSIS. It aims to go beyond the general issues of infrastructure
development or network access and to recognize, select
and promote the world’s best e-content and innovative
applications.
More
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The
Tunisian Government is organizing a meeting of the Bamako
Bureau from 1 to 3 September 2003 in Tunis, Tunisia.
More
>>
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iConnect
Africa, Volume 1, No.5 (July 2003) is out!
More
>>
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Declaration
of the Africa Forum on the Information Society and Local
Authorities, Nouakchott 2003: ANISA constituted!
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Considering that the Nouakchott Forum constitutes a
decisive stage in the preparations of the World Summit
on the Information Society;
- Recognizing the necessity for Africa’s contribution
to this society;
- Considering the Action Plan established to this effect;
- Considering the success and failure factors of local
authorities’ participation in this process;
- Recognizing the necessity of sharing and disseminating
the success and the lessons learned from the experiences
presented at Nouakchott;
- Considering that networking and training of territorial
resource persons and the African Diaspora play a determining
role in the success of all partnerships, the concretization
and the up-dating of actions towards the realization
of Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005, as well as those of the
New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and
the African Information Society Initiative (AISI);
The Africa Forum on the Information Society and Local
Authorities decides:
1. The Constitution of the African Network of
Information Society Actors (ANISA);
2. That the country representatives meeting in Nouakchott
constitute the core of this network and mandates the
Government of Mauritania to define, within a period
of three (3) months, the organs, the modalities, and
the functioning of ANISA.
Nouakchott, July 10, 2003
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iConnect
Africa, Volume 1, No.5 (July 2003) is out!
More
>> |
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| Declaration
of the Africa Forum on the Information Society and Local
Authorities, Nouakchott 2003: ANISA constituted!
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Considering that the Nouakchott Forum constitutes a
decisive stage in the preparations of the World Summit
on the Information Society;
- Recognizing the necessity for Africa’s contribution
to this society;
- Considering the Action Plan established to this effect;
- Considering the success and failure factors of local
authorities’ participation in this process;
- Recognizing the necessity of sharing and disseminating
the success and the lessons learned from the experiences
presented at Nouakchott;
- Considering that networking and training of territorial
resource persons and the African Diaspora play a determining
role in the success of all partnerships, the concretization
and the up-dating of actions towards the realization
of Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005, as well as those of the
New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and
the African Information Society Initiative (AISI);
The Africa Forum on the Information Society and Local
Authorities decides:
1. The Constitution of the African Network of
Information Society Actors (ANISA);
2. That the country representatives meeting in Nouakchott
constitute the core of this network and mandates the
Government of Mauritania to define, within a period
of three (3) months, the organs, the modalities, and
the functioning of ANISA.
Nouakchott, July 10, 2003
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Call
for Applications: The ICT Entrepreneurs4D Fund ...
... finances
* small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs
* from developing and transition countries
... to showcase their concepts, services and products in the
Exhibition at the ICT4D Platform (Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) for Development (4D) Platform) in Geneva
in December 2003 during the UN World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS).
The ICT Entrepreneurs4D Fund is sponsored by the Swiss Government,
represented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC). It is administered by Otto Frei AG, the Project Team
of the ICT4D Platform.
The
application dead-line is 20 August 2003.
More
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iConnect
Africa, Volume 1, No.5 (July 2003) is out!
More
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AISI
Radio Series
Winner
of the New York festivals 2003 Radio Award
!
Click
here for more...
For
46 years, The New York Festivals has honored excellence
in communications media which touch the hearts and minds
of readers, listeners and viewers worldwide. The AISI
Radio Series competed against entries from 32 countries.
The
Award was received by Ben Dotsei Malor, Chief Executive
Producer of United Nations Radio, on behalf of the ECA.
More
on the New York Festivals: http://www.newyorkfestivals.com
More
on the Radio Series: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/radioseries/ |
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PICTA
Bulletin, No. 20, June 2003 is out !
More
>>
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Workshop
on "Intellectual Leadership and the African Information
Society Initiative: What Role for Africa's Academic
Community?", 14-16 June 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
More
>>
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Online
Discussion on the African Media and the Information
Society (aisi-media-l) launched !
This
online discussion list provides a platform and space
for African media practitioners to reflect on the many
issues for enhancing the role of the Media (journalists
and institutions) in the information society. It also
serves as a forum for exchange of knowledge, information,
lessons, and resources on information society issues
in Africa.
More
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The
African Academia and the information society Online
Discussion List (aisi-academia-l)
launched !
The
general aim of the African
Academia electronic discussion list is to determine
how universities and other higher education institutions
see their involvement in the development of information
societies. And in which areas? For further info,
contact: aopoku-mensah@uneca.org
Currently, there are over 100 members on the list.
More
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ECA
supporting African women participation in AFNOG training
workshop
The
workshop will be held in Kampala, Uganda from 9-15 June
2003 and ECA is sponsoring five African women from Nigeria,
The Gambia, Tanzania and Zambia, selected from women
graduates of ECA/ITCA-CISCO Networking Academy programme.
More
>> |
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The
Africa node of the Global ePolicy Resource Network (ePol-Net)
launched !
More
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AISI
Media Award Winners Announced !
More
>> |
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UN
ICT Task Force - African Stakeholders Network (ASN)
Meeting, 10-11 May 2003
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The Third Meeting of the Committee
on Development Information (CODI III)
10 – 17 May 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
CODI-III, one of the seven subsidiary bodies of the Economic Commission
for Africa, is being organised by the Development Information
Services Division of the ECA and will take place from
10 to 17 May 2003 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme
of the meeting is “Information and
Governance”. Apart from the plenary
discussions on the theme, a series of workshops are
also being planned to take place in conjunction with
the main meeting.
Some of the related events include:
10
- 11 May 2003
The African Virtual Library and Information Network
(AVLIN)
10
- 11 May 2003
Open Source for improved public administration in Africa
13
May 2003
AISI Media Award Ceremony
15
- 16 May 2003
Second Media Forum "Media and Capacity Building
in the Information Society" in collaboration with
SDC and GKP
10
- 11 May 2003
Meeting of the African Stakeholders Network (ASN)
13
May 2003
GKP Africa Day - 2
13
May 2003
Launch of IeDRN Africa Node
More >> |
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GKP
Africa Day - 2
The
second GKP Africa Day (GKP Africa Day - 2)
will be held on 13th May 2003 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
during the third meeting of the Committee on Development
Information (CODI-III) that will take place from 10
- 17 May 2003 on the theme "information and governance".
More
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Second
Media Forum
The
second Media Forum on
“Media and Capacity Building in the Information
Society”15-16 May, 2003,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The forum, organised by
ECA
in collaboration with the Global
Knowledge Partnership (GKP) and the Swiss
International Development Cooperation Agency (SDC),
will bring together approximately 60 - 80 participants
from the print and electronic media sectors to deliberate,
among other things, the recommendations from the Bamako2002
Media Forum, as well as review the GKII Media Forum
outcomes.
More
>> |
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Seminar
Series on ICT Awareness for African Parliamentarians
In
the context of building the capacity of African stakeholders
under the African Information Society Initiative (AISI)
outreach programme, the Economic Commission for Africa
(ECA) has launched a seminar series on 27 March 2003
that is intended to raise awareness of Ethiopian Members
of Parliament on ICT for development issues at its Information
Technology Centre for Africa (ITCA/DISD). Over 150
MPs from the various standing committees are expected
to participate in these workshops in groups of 40 for
over two months.
More
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Ethiopic
standardisation development and dissemination programme
to kick off
In
the context of supporting the development and promotion
of the use of African local languages in ICTs, ECA has
organised a half-day (14 March 2003) workshop on Ethiopic
standardization development and dissemination programme,
in collaboration with UNESCO and the Ethiopian capacity
building ministry. Ethiopic is the script used to write
Amharic, the official working language of Ethiopia,
as well as many other Semitic and Cushitic languages
in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The workshop
was a ground breaking moment, as different stakeholders,
such as government agencies, the private sector, academia
and computer associations, gathered to identify key
players, map out a future course of action and discuss
and build consensus on the framework for the first time.
With the Ethiopic script enabled on computers and the
Internet, the people in the region will have a tool
to create online content and communicate in their own
languages. This workshop provided Ethiopian IT professionals
and government officials with a forum where the importance
of cross-sectoral collaboration was highlighted and
participants agreed to work towards the common goal.
This programme is being supported
by UNESCO, ECA, and the Ethiopian Government.
For
more information on the programme, please contact Dr.
Dawit Bekele (dawit@math.aau.edu.et)
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Over
80 applications from 16 countries have been received
for the AISI Media Awards
Programme for eight different categories. The
Programme closed on 28th February 2003, and winners
will be announced on 13th May 2003.
The
AISI Media Awards encourages more informed coverage
of the information society and ICT for development issues
in Africa as part of the its AISI Outreach and Communication
Programme. The AISI Media Awards is aimed at individual
journalists and media institutions based in Africa that
are "promoting journalism which contributes
to a better understanding of the information society
in Africa".
The
overall awards programme is sponsored by OSISA and ECA
with sponsored categories by IDRC, IICD, OSIWA.
More
on the Programme and list of applicants >> |
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Call
for contributions on best practices on creative &
innovative use of ICTs by women
More
>> |
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First
issue of the AISI Briefing Series - Towards an Information Society in Africa: The Case for National Policies [EN]
[FR] |
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