Although Ethiopia was active in developing a national ICT policy for sometime, it has remained one of the slowest in terms of translating policy efforts into concrete actions. The government has recognized ICT as one of the key sectors of development. A National Information and Communications Infrastructure Framework Study Task Force was set up in the Office of the Prime Minister to indicate directions and approach for the establishment and implementation of an integrated, comprehensive and effective National Information and Communication Infrastructure Framework (NICIF.) The document prepared in January 1999 containing the Executive Summary and the Conclusion stressed the need for an adequate ICT national policy, rules and regulations.

In March 1999, the government assigned a high-level IT Development Sub-committee with the following task groups for ICT development:

1. National Information & Telematics Policy Group (NITP)
   Responsible body: Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission (ESTC)

2. National Information Infrastructure Development Group (NIID)
   Responsible body: Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC)

3. Human Resource Development Group (HRD)
   Responsible body: Addis Ababa University (AAU)

4. Standard and Content Development Group (SCD)
   Responsible bodies: Central Statistical Authority (CSA) / Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission (ESTC)

In January 1999, the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission (ESTC) with support from the Development Information Services Division (DISD) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) took the lead in stimulating debates and discussions on ICT policy formulation and implementation in Ethiopia. Preparations followed shortly to call a national workshop that will bring together all the stakeholders in the information and communication sectors, government policy makers, researchers and others, to facilitate the formulation of a national information and communications policy. ECA's support covered: development of concept papers, intellectual input to the work of the technical committee, dissemination of best practices in other countries and providing supporting documents. A national workshop on information and communication technology was then held in September 1999.

The policy document has recently been adopted by the Council of Ministers. Amid frustration with the slow progress, the British Council in collaboration with ECA and UNDP held a successful stakeholders conference in June 2001 with the aim of developing an ICT vision for Ethiopia, sharing examples of best practice and taking practical steps towards the implementation of successful partnership projects. Among the recommendations made at the conference was the need for considering ICT as a key sector in development, that access to information and knowledge for all should be a national priority and that Ethiopia should use ICTs to develop its economy. The conference resolved that:

• an enabling legal and regulatory environment should be established to encourage innovation and use of ICTs,

• a universal access strategy should be established,

• incentives should be put in place to encourage applications development for and in the local market,

• the government should initiate a programme to take advantage of opportunities for electronic government,

• all tertiary education institutions should be connected to the Internet by 2003,

• Schoolnet Ethiopia should be introduced in collaboration with the private sector and development agencies, and

• a national ICT human resources development fund should be established.

A National ICTs Policy and Strategies Draft Document was then prepared by the ESTC in December 1999. This document was refined and in July 2001 the National Computers and Information Center (NCIC) of the ESTC came up with a Draft National ICT Policy. The document was open for comments and discussions until November 2001. It aims at developing a National Information Infrastructure (NII.) The document put forward the objectives, visions, goals, policy statements, national strategies and priority areas. The priority areas included in the national ICT policy are:

• building telecommunication infrastructure

• sectoral and institutional in-house network capacity building

• human resources development

• content and applications

• diffusion and dissemination of ICT services and products

• data security

• standards

• research and development in ICT

The government has recently embarked on a number of information technology projects focusing on improving public administration, revitalizing education and enhancing the infrastructure.

The House of Peoples Representatives on July 22, 2003 endorsed a bill providing the establishment of the Ethiopian Information and Communication Technology Development Authority .

AISI  |  ECA's Harnessing ICTs for Development   |  Country Profiles  |   Web Resources  |   NICI Terminology   |    African Governments on the Internet   |   Events Calendar

Copyright  © 1999-2005 Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
For comments and suggestions related to this web page, contact the webmaster