PICTA Bulletin is a monthly
publication that provides information on activities of members in the Partnership for ICTs
in Africa (PICTA), as well as news on ICT-related activities in Africa.
A meeting of African ministers
in charge of Information and Communication Technologies took place in Dakar, Senegal from
19 to 20 April 2004. Among the recommendations that resulted, it was agreed that an
African Ministerial Committee on ICTs would be set up to ensure the formulation, follow up
and harmonization of African initiatives, programs and projects on the information
society. In addition, countries will now be required to commit themselves to sending
contributions to the Digital Solidarity Fund. There was a call to support the formulation
and implementation of e-strategies, especially the NICI Plans, strategies for the use of
ICTs to facilitate progress towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goals. For
further information, please contact Makane Faye (mfaye@uneca.org)
Cameroon holds stakeholder consultations for e-strategies
ECA organised stakeholder
consultations from 29 March to 1 April 2004 in Yaounde and Douala. The purpose was to
formulate mechanisms and strategies for solidifying partnerships and networking that will
support Cameroon’s implementation of national e-strategies (NICIs). Brainstorming
sessions among civil society, media, academia, women, youth, parliamentarians and private
sector were held. For further information, please contact Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org)
Meeting of the UN ICT Working Group on ICT Indicators and MDG
Mapping
The meeting noted that ICT
indicators and MDG mapping needed to include national and regional experiences. The
important role of the Task Force and its regional networks in monitoring progress on the
implementation of the Geneva Action Plan and the implementation of the MDGs was
underlined. It was decided that the final business plan of the Task Force dealing with
“monitoring and benchmarking progress on WSIS implementation” would take the
recommendations of the Working Group into account. For further information, please contact
Makane Faye (mfaye@uneca.org)
African Civil Society (ACS) network officially launched
A meeting of African Civil
Society took place from 13 to 15 April 2004 in Tunis, whose main aim was to officially
launch ACS and sub-regional networks and to deliberate on the way forward to Tunis 2005,
Participants agreed on a strategy to promote the civil society special fund; reinforce
mobilization of the civil society at the national and regional levels towards a viable,
strong, and active Information Society; and design a realistic and coherent ACS agenda of
activities to support the success of the second phase of the WSIS 2005 to be held in
Tunis). For more information, please contact Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org)
WSIS 2005 – Tunis preparatory meeting announced
A preparatory meeting for the
Tunis phase of the Summit will take place at Hammamet, Tunisia, from 24-26 June 2004.
Pre-registration will start in May 2004 and more information regarding this meeting will
be available soon on the WSIS website. Fellowships are available for Government
representatives from LDCs who want to attend the meeting. For more information, please
check the guidelines and the request form or contact the WSIS Executive Secretariat. The
deadline to submit fellowship applications for the Preparatory Meeting is 12 May 2004.
More: http://www.itu.int/wsis
ITU launches global WSIS-2005 fundraising campaign
The Secretary-General of the
International Telecommunication Union, Mr. Yoshio Utsumi, launched a global fundraising
campaign to support activities for the Tunis phase of the WSIS. Appealing to the
international community, he called on all stakeholders to help make the WSIS-2005
Fundraising Campaign and the Summit in Tunis a success. The campaign got off to an
interesting start with an announcement by the Government of Japan of a CHF 386 300
contribution to the WSIS Fund. In addition, the governments of Japan, Spain, Canada,
Switzerland and the Republic of Korea as well as other stakeholders, including UNESCO, and
KDDI Corporation and BHN Association of Japan, have confirmed that they will provide
professional staff to serve in the WSIS Executive Secretariat. More: http://www.itu.int/wsis/newsroom/press_releases/wsis/2004/5apr.html
Lyon to host UN Agency for Digital Solidarity
The town of Lyon will host a UN
Agency for Digital Solidarity linked to the Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) that was decided
in December 2003 in Geneva. A meeting that was held recently in Lyon adopted the statutes
of the DSF. Present at the occasion, among others, were Mamadou Diop-Decroix, ICT and
Regional Cooperation Minister of Senegal, Mercedes Bresso, Chairperson of the Turin
Province, Christian Ferrazino, Geneva Mayor, and Gerard Collomb, Mayor-Senator of Lyon.
The creation of the DSF will be formalized at the beginning of May in Paris during the
Congress “cités et gouvernements locaux unis”. President Abdoulaye Wade of
Senegal has repeatedly appealed for the creation of a Solidarity Fund allowing developing
countries access to the new technologies. The town of Geneva has declared payment of
500.000 Suisse Francs (330.000 euros), Senegal 500.000 dollars (420.000 euros), and the
town of Lyon has contributed 300.000 euros for financing the Fund. (Source: AFP)
Strengthening the Capacity of National Machineries through the
Effective Use of ICTs
This meeting-cum-training
workshop that took place from 19 to 23 April 2004 in Windhoek, Namibia, was organized by
the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(DESA) of the United Nations and attended by representatives of national gender
machineries in Southern African countries. It aimed to strengthen the institutional
capacity of national machineries using ICT to advocate successful gender equality policies
at the national level. Participants discussed challenges and opportunities provided by ICT
and how to enhance the participation of national machineries in the ICT policy formulation
and development processes. The division is planning a similar workshop in Dakar for
Francophone countries at the end of May and for Central and Eastern African countries in
October 2004. For more information, please contact Ms. Makiko Tagashira at tagashira@un.org
Ghana Presidency develops a website
A web portal
(www.ghanacastle.gov.gh) has been created for the Presidency as a means for increased
interaction between the presidency and the citizenry. The website will offer
round-the-clock updates on the activities of the President as he conducts the affairs of
state. Features of the website include biographical information on the President and
access to his latest speeches and memorable photographs, and important documents. The
website is structured to ensure high level of interactivity by allowing suggestions,
comments, and enquiries to be channeled to the presidency through the e-mail address: info@ghanacastle.gov.gh The President can also
be emailed on jkufuor@ghanacastle.gov.gh
Tunisia reduces Internet tariffs for the youth
On Tunisia’s 48th
Independence Day anniversary and Youth Day, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali decided a
50% reduction in the tariffs of Internet use in youth institutions, and the adoption of a
symbolic tariff for youth institutions and clubs established in rural areas. This is a new
presidential initiative, which sets an example in the field of digital solidarity, and
constitutes a new step in the process of building the information society. More: http://www.wsistunis2005.org
Ethiopia’s ICT capacity building programme
The Ministry of Capacity
Building and the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) embarked on a six week ICT training program (15 March to 17
April 2004), conducted in 14 sites located all over the country. The training program is
part of WoredaNet and SchoolNet projects, which the Government of Ethiopia is implementing
with the view to enhance its decentralized Woreda (district) administration and improve
the delivery of education in secondary schools. Over 2300 trainees participated in the
program and certificates were awarded on 18 April 2004 for the trainees at all training
sites.
Telling the Open Source Story at IDRC
On March 15, 2004, Bellanet held
a story-telling session on the experiences of using, advocating, and contributing to the
Free/Libre & Open Source Software (FLOSS). The session offered a space for frank and
open discussions on the merits and drawbacks of FLOSS. The storytellers shared their
opinions, passions, through persuasive presentations and compelling arguments. The session
focused on the relevance of FLOSS to international development efforts and considered the
ability of FLOSS to encourage local capacity development, local empowerment, low-cost/free
software alternatives, a source for local economic development, freedom of choice, and the
philosophical principles underlying the movement: transparent collaboration, search and
sharing of solutions that transcendence their immediate environment, free accessibility of
knowledge, and community building. For further information, contact Mark Faul at: mfaul@bellanet.org
MTN villagePhone extends access in Uganda
MTN villagePhone extends
telecommunications access to rural villages across Uganda. In partnership with Uganda's
leading micro finance institutions, MTN creates opportunities for poor rural individuals
to become 'Village Phone Operators'. These businesses can be established in areas where
electricity is unavailable and in areas where the MTN network can only be accessed with a
booster antenna. MTN provides special airtime rates to the Village Phone Operators to
enable them to provide affordable telecommunications services to people in their village.
People living in rural areas are now able to make a call without traveling many kilometers
to the nearest town as community Operators provides affordable communications services.
MTN VillagePhone is an initiative of MTN Uganda and Grameen Foundation USA (who
implemented a similar model in Bangladesh). The first Operators started business in Uganda
in March 2003, and MTN villagePhone was formally launched on November 17, 2003. More: http://www.wougnet.org/Links/ictresources.html#MTNVP
‘e-Governance can cut government costs by 10%’, says
UIA’s Kigozi
Expenditure on local government
affairs can be reduced by 10 percent if e- governance is promoted in all the 56 districts
of Uganda, according to Dr. Maggie Kigozi, the executive director of Uganda Investment
Authority. She defined e-governance as the computerised administration of government
affairs between various administrative levels. Currently, there are only four districts in
Uganda that have access to e-governance; Kayunga, Mbarara, Mbale and Lira. Speaking at a
one-day workshop themed: Enabling E-governance in Uganda on April 6 at the International
Conference Centre in Kampala, she said that e-governance is the most effective way of
reducing costs in running public affairs from the lower levels of government to the
central government. She asked the government to speed up the process of e-governance in
every district and called on district leaders to embrace the system to cut cost and time.
(SOURCE: All Africa)
Kenya Airways e-commerce site shows it can be done, but can
Africa’s banks keep up?
Until recently, e-commerce in
Africa was something that happened in North Africa and South Africa but hardly anywhere
else. A major breakthrough has been achieved by Kenya Airways whose e-commerce site is
seeing impressive results. However, the continents rather conservative banking sector is
struggling to keep up. Russell Southwood interviews Kenya Airway’s Joseph Nduva who
is responsible for its e-commerce web site. More: http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/current1.html
Telecommunications bill introduced in Mozambique
The Mozambican government
presented a bill intending to fully liberalise the telecommunications market. In 1999 the
telecommunications market in Mozambique was opened to the private sector and it was
through this that a second mobile phone operator, the South African company Vodacom, set
up a subsidiary to compete with M-Cel, the cell phone company that is currently 100
percent owned by the public telecoms company TDM. The proposed bill aims to introduce
competition in the fixed phone network with the aim of gradually phasing out TDM’s
monopoly over the fixed phone service. The government intends to privatise TDM this year
-a process that will involve finding a strategic partner to take a majority stake in TDM,
and attract funding for expanding the network. More: http://www.cto.int/index.php?dir=07&sd=11&id=1156
3 – 5 May 2004,
Tenth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts for Southern Africa (ICE),
Lusaka, Zambia
ECA’s Southern Africa
Subregional office (ECA-SA)will be hosting the Tenth ICE Meeting at the Mulungushi
Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia from 3 to 5 May 2004. The theme of the meeting is
“Private Sector Development in Southern Africa”. The meeting is expected to
critically assess progress achieved by the ECA-SA in implementing its work programme as
determined by priorities for 2003/04. It will also consider Private Sector Development;
Sustainable Development; The Implementation of the System of National Accounts; and the
Status of Information for Development activities. The meeting will make recommendations on
the future orientation of the ECA-SA office. Contact: The Director, ECA Office in Southern
Africa, P.O. Box 30647, Lusaka, Zambia, Tel (260 1) 228502/5, Fax: (260 1) 236 949,
E-mail: srdcsa.uneca@un.org
3 – 8 May 2004, ITU Telecom Africa 2004, Cairo, Egypt
This Forum will focus on the
opportunities that new and affordable telecommunication technologies have brought about,
the Forum at ITU TELECOM AFRICA 2004 will focus on the following themes: a) Creating
successful business models, b) Policy challenges, c) Appropriate technologies, d) Using
ICTs to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals, and e) Africa and the world. More: http://www.itu.int/AFRICA2004/index.html
6 May 2004, The East African Satellite Communications Forum:
Extracting maximum user value, Nairobi, Kenya
Hosted by AITEC in association
with leading suppliers of satellite services, the workshop will equip users of satellite
communication systems with the technical and market knowledge they need to gain maximum
benefit from investment in their systems – as well as optimum service from their
bandwidth suppliers. In addition, some of the issues that will be addressed include
advanced & cost-effective methods of content delivery in Africa, and VSAT technologies
to bridge the digital divide. More: www.aitecafrica.com
10 – 15 May 2004, Global ICT Summit "From Adversity to
Success - The World's Best e-Content & e-Creativity Experience", Hong Kong
Rapid advances in ICT have
continued to drive economic changes, restructure businesses, affect skill and employment
models, and contribute significantly to growth and wealth creation. However, these
developments are largely uneven; many people in the world have been deprived of access to
and use of information. With a shared vision of overcoming the digital divide, ICT experts
and professionals from over 20 countries are expected to gather to share best practices in
e-content and e-creativity as well as to exchange ideas that will shape the future of
global ICT development. Delegates will also be able to gain first-hand experience from
Hong Kong's dynamic capabilities in the advancement of ICT and its unique role as a
gateway to China. More: http://www.esdlife.com/campaign/Global-ICT/
11 – 12 May, Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) EXCOMM
Meeting, San Jose, Costa Rica
The new GKP EXCOMM members will
meet to discuss, among other things, the GKP 5-years strategy, GKP engagement in WSIS and
members feedback on role of GKP for WSIS, GKP activities and events for 2004, promotion
& communication tools, and membership issues. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org
13 – 14 May, Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) Annual
Meeting, San Jose, Costa Rica
The sessions will focus on GKP
thematic papers including multi-stakeholder partnerships & ICT4D, financing ICT4D,
Internet Governance, youth, poverty reduction, gender, media, indigenous knowledge local
content and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). More: http://www.globalknowledge.org
19 – 21 May 2004, World Congress on IT 2004 (WCIT 2004),
Athens, Greece
Organized by Federation of
Hellenic Information Technology and Communications Enterprises (SEPE), the theme of the
congress is "The Future Is Now". The World Congress on Information Technology
(WCIT), is a biennial meeting attracting leading ICT professionals, top corporate
executives, distinguished academic professors and researchers, government ministers and
policy makers from all over the world, whose interaction and decisions shape the future of
the ICT world. More: http://www.worldcongress2004.org
21 May 2004, Telecoms East Africa Investor Business Day:
Investment opportunities with the end of Kenya’s telecommunications monopoly,
Nairobi, Kenya
24 – 26 May 2004, e-Nigeria: Implementing the WSIS Process:
The case of Nigeria, Shehu Musa Yar’adua Conference Centre, Abuja, Nigeria
The conference will drawup
strategies for the implementation of the WSIS process in Nigeria; explore the framework
for the development and use of ICTs as the driving force of Nigerian economy; identify
necessary ICT human resources and infrastructure required for the deployment of
e-strategies; offer solutions to the challenges of ICT within the framework of the
Nigerian economy; deliberate on the existing strategies for national development and
examine strategies for re-designing them in line with the latest technologies and
applications in the global economic structure. More: www.enigeria.org
1 – 3 June 2004, AITEC WEST AFRICA. AITEC 2004 –
business-to-business networking and intensive knowledge-sharing platform
The Eighth Annual West African
Information and Communications Technologies Conference and Exhibition (AITEC 2004) is
scheduled to be held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC), from 1 – 3
June 2004 under the auspices of Ministry of Communications and Technology, Ghana. The
theme of AITEC 2004 is “Building Public-Private Partnership and Creating
Opportunities Through ICTs”. The conference will focus on the need for private and
the public sector to work in synergy to maximize the whole spectrum of opportunities
available in the ICT space around the sub region and beyond. For further details of AITEC
2004, contact: AITEC GHANA, Tel: +233-21-7012137 ghana@aitecafrica.com
18 – 19 June 2004, “NEPAD and Issues Affecting the
Youth: South-North Relations and the Digital Divide”, Europa-Universität Viadrina,
Frankfurt/Oder, Germany
The African Youth Foundation
(AYF) will hold its 3rd International Conference on the theme: “NEPAD and Issues
Affecting the Youth: South-North Relations and the Digital Divide“. The aim of the
conference is to provide an insight into the pros and cons of the NEPAD objectives and
also, how the European Union-Africa partnership can address and meet the challenges of
ICTs in youth education, in African and Western communities. People who wish to submit
articles for academic purposes may inquire about procedures or submit them to the AYF
Secretariat at: info@ayf.de Papers from all areas of
education are welcome. Selected papers will be published in a special volume of the
Conference Proceedings. More: http://www.ayf.de/Int-Conf-04.pdf
23 – 26 June 2004, Third Annual Digital Bridge Africa –
Global Partnership Conference on ICT and Development, Abuja, Nigeria
The conference is organised by
Digital Partners, in collaboration with the Nigerian Computer Society and the National
Information Technology and Development Agency. The goal of this invitation-only conference
is to bring together prominent individuals from Nigeria, as well as leaders from across
the rest of Africa and the world, to showcase successful social entrepreneurs and
highlight current and potential partnerships between technology corporations, foundations,
and non-profit and for-profit organizations using ICT for the advancement of the region.
More: www.ddn-africa.org
7 – 9 July 2004, ICT Stakeholders' Forum: Special Focus on
Least Developed Countries, Mauritius
The Commonwealth Business
Council in conjunction with the International Telecommunications Union, the Government of
Mauritius and the E-Africa Commission (NEPAD) will hold a a three-day forum aimed at
examining concrete projects, proposals and models to help integrate least developed
countries into the global economy through the effective deployment of ICTs. The goal of
the Forum is to challenge delegates to provide deployable ICT solutions for development
and to encourage practitioners and high-level participants to brainstorm real world ICT
driven solutions., More:http://www.cbcglobelink.org/cbcglobelink/events/ICT04/
ANNOUNCEMENTS.......
ANNOUNCEMENTS.......
Call for Papers: ACT 2004, CyberCity, Mauritius 7 - 9 September
2004
AITEC is organising this event
in partnership with the ACT ICT Alliance of Mauritius. Individuals and organisations are
invited to submit proposals for Conference and Workshop Presentations at ACT 2004. The
theme for ACT 2004 is: “Building Partnerships to Mainstream Africa’s ICT
Sector”. Presentations will be selected on the basis of their educational value.
Commercial products or service promotion will not be permitted in the main conference
programme. Companies can book presentations in the Enterprise Solutions Showcase for this
purpose. Conference presenters are required to pay for their own travel and accommodation
costs and to register as a delegate to the Summit if they attend the full Summit
programme.
Key streams within the Summit:
Business Process Outsourcing
Forum
Knowledge Sharing
Open Source Forum, in
association with the Free & Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA)
The African eGovernment Forum,
in association with the UN Economic Commission of Africa
Skills and Professional
Development
Telecommunication Operators
Forum
GSM Applications for
Development Forum
Proposals should include the
title of the presentation, a brief outline and a brief biographical note on the presenter
(which will be used in the conference brochure).
Deadline: 30 June 2004, Send Proposals to: Sean Moroney (sean@aitecafrica.com)
To book exhibition space at ACT 2004, contact:
International: AITEC UK, Tel: +44-1480-495595
Call for Papers, Participation: “Enhancing Human Resource
Development through ICT”
The International Federation for Information Processing has sent out its first call for
participation in the 8th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in
Developing Countries. “Enhancing Human Resource Development through ICT” is the
umbrella theme of the conference, which has several sub-themes and topics for discussion.
The IFIP is interested in receiving papers, research-in-progress reports, case studies and
proposals for tutorials and panel discussions. The conference will be held in Abuja,
Nigeria, from 25 to 28 May 2005. For more information go to: http://is.lse.ac.uk/ifipwg94/pdfs/2005firstcall.pdf
Ethiopia: INFOCOM 2004 Exhibition and Forum
INFOCOM 2004 is expected to bring together over 150 companies from across Ethiopia and
abroad from 1 to 4 July 2004 at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Centre. The event is a response
to the fast-moving changes currently taking place in the ICT market in Ethiopia, where
many new developments show the real need for an event of this kind. INFOCOM 2004 Forum,
that will accompany the Exhibition, will address a wide range of ICT issues including
local content on the web, Internet, mobile technology, e-commerce and Open Source
Software. During this event the winners of the Best Website Awards will be announced.
More: http://www.ictfocus.net/Infocom/about.htm
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