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.
NEWS: PICTA Members ....
NEWS: PICTA Members …. NEWS: PICTA Members ....
PICTA
Annual Meeting
The annual meeting is scheduled for 10th
-11th September 2004, in Mauritius. An agenda is being prepared and members are encouraged
to send topics for discussion. Please confirm availability to attend this meeting at your
earliest convenience to enable hotel booking by sending an email to: Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo @uneca.org).
New Assignment
Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of
the Development Information Services Division (DISD) of the ECA will start her new
assignment as director of ECA’s North African Sub-regional Office, based in Tangier
– Morocco on 16 August 2004. Ms. Bounemra has served the Addis Ababa office for 7
years. More: http://www.uneca.org/eca_resources/news/072304_disd.htm
AU Welcomes African
Regional WSIS Conference
The Executive Council of the African Union
(AU) welcomed the offer of the Government of Ghana to host the next Regional WSIS
Preparatory Conference meeting from 2-5 February 2005. In its 5th Ordinary Session held in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 30 June – 3 July 2004, the Executive Council also urged
all member States to actively participate in the WSIS preparatory process. Decisions were
also taken on the Report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) and on the Digital Solidarity Fund. The decision of the AU
Executive Council is available at http://www.africa-union.org/AU%20summit%202004/excl/Decisions%20Rev.pdf
For more information on the African Regional WSIS (Second Phase) Preparatory
Conference, contact Aida Opoku-Mensah (aopoku-mensah@uneca.org)
ECA Delegation Hold Talks with Ghana Government on WSIS Regional
Conference
The Ghanaian Government through its
Ministry of Communication has requested ECA’s support in planning for the African
Regional WSIS Preparatory Conference. ECA staff will undertake a mission in this regard
during the last week of July 2004. Among other things, logistical, technical and financial
support issues will be discussed, and themes be identified. For more information on the
African Regional WSIS (Second Phase) Preparatory Conference, contact Aida Opoku-Mensah (aopoku-mensah@uneca.org)
IICD Adopts Strategy for Its Programme
The new strategy has increased attention
for IICD’s own thematic findings in ICT for development, without losing sight of
externally focused activities. A change in strategy was deemed necessary to further
support IICD’s core activities in developing countries, to better assist local
partners engaged in development activities and to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation
activities with in-depth thematic and cross country analyses. Two major activity lines are
identified. One examining experiences and lessons learned to translate these into thematic
position papers, the other identifying recurring problems across projects so that these
can be addressed in cross-country learning events. Throughout, the whole programme
learning and sharing are at the core. More: http://www.iicd.org/
APC ICT Policy Workshop Held
The Association for Progressive
Communications (APC) held a five-day ICT policy advocacy workshop in Nairobi from July 19
to 23. The goal was to help build better ICT policy environments through promoting
inclusive policy processes in which civil society together with the media and the private
sector are active participants. More: http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22398
School Networking
in Africa: “Mkusanyiko”
SchoolNet Africa (SNA)– one of
IICD’s main partners in education – published a report covering a range of
SchoolNet and school networking activities taking place across Africa. This
‘Mkusanyiko’ or collection provides an overview of school networking initiatives
under way at national, African and international levels as at January 2004. It further
provides a synopsis of ICT and education programmes of donor and development agencies
working in Africa. The report is part of a wider SNA research programme, supported by
IICD. For the full report, please visit the SchoolNet Africa website: http://www.school
netafrica.net/
Civil Society ICT Policy Portals
APC's Anna Feldman explains the process
behind the challenge to set up ten information portals around the world in under six
months in a team effort where everyone involved collaborated entirely online. –
APCNews. More: http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22268
Botswana and Mauritius Become CTO Multiple Members and Seychelles
Resumes Collaboration
Botswana and Mauritius are the first CTO
member countries to maintain their status as full member countries through their ICT
ministry, while their regulatory agencies have also joined the organisation separately as
sector members. In addition to that, their main fixed-line operating companies are also
members of the CTO. This development is the result of provisions in the new constitution
of the CTO, approved in November 2002 and effective since April 2004. Meanwhile, the
Government of Seychelles recently notified the CTO of its decision to re-join the
organisation as a full member country, with effect from this year. More on the Botswana
and Mauritius story: http://www.cto.int/index.php?dir=06&sd=11&id=127
More on the Seychelles story: http://www.cto.int/index.php?dir=06&sd=11&id=124
OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS ..... OTHER NEWS .....
Grameen Bank
Village Phone Wins Prize
Grameen Bank-Village Phone has been chosen
from a field of more than 200 nominees for the Development Gateway Foundation’s
first-ever Petersberg Prize. The Euro 100,000 prize recognizes Grameen’s outstanding
achievement in the use of ICT to improve people’s lives. Grameen Bank, which provides
microcredit to poor people, established a program called Village Phone, through which
women entrepreneurs can start a business providing wireless payphone service in rural
areas of Bangladesh. In doing so, Grameen has created a new class of women entrepreneurs
who have raised themselves from poverty. More: http://home.developmentgateway.org/prize
1st Annual Nigerian Youth Leadership Awards
LEAP Africa (www.leapafrica.org) has
announced the 1st Annual Nigerian Youth Leadership Awards. These awards will recognize
outstanding young Nigerians who have initiated and supported development initiatives in
their communities or have led change efforts to improve the lives of people in their
society. Applications can be picked up at LEAP's office or downloaded from the LEAP Africa
website. They must be returned to LEAP Africa by post or email before August 13th, 2004.
Contact: Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli (nnwuneli@leapafrica.org)
Using ICT to Strengthen Public Health Care
New online resources are available on
practical ideas for improving the success rate of public sector health information
("e-health") systems in developing or transitional countries. The material can
be found at: www.egov4dev.org/topic3.htm
RESOURCES .....
RESOURCES .....
RESOURCES .....
NEW – ePol
Africa Resources; e-Commerce
As the regional node of the Global ePolicy
Resource Network (ePol-NET) ECA has been developing resources for the ePolAfrica website
for African countries on implementing strategies and policies on the Information Society.
Resources on e-commerce policies from African as well as from industrialized countries are
available at http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/ecom.htm
WSIS Action Directory Launched
This directory, an online platform
providing access to information on UNESCO’s contribution to the implementation of the
Plan of Action adopted by the WSIS in December 2003 has been launched. The address is: http://www.unesco.org/wsisdirectory
New Panos Report on Rural Telephony
The recent hype surrounding the explosive
growth of mobile phone use across Africa is hiding the fact that most Africans are still
without phone access, says a new report. The report, 'Completing the Revolution - the
Challenge of Rural Telephony in Africa', is available from the Panos London website - http://www.panos.org.uk/resources/reportdetails.asp?id=1069
PULA: e-Newsletter on Women and ICTs in Africa
Pula, a newsletter of the Association for
Progressive Communications Africa Women (APC-Africa-Women) aims to promote and profile the
work and activities of women's ICT initiatives in Africa and to act as a communicative
tool to link women to each other and to initiatives and opportunities. Pula is sent out
four times a year. Contributions for publication in French and English and for suggestions
and ideas can be emailed to africa@apcwomen.org To subscribe or unsubscribe, email africa@apcwomen.org For
previous editions go to: http://www.apcafricawomen.org/pula.htm
LWATI; SANGONET Monthly e-Newsletter
"Lwati" is a isiSwati word
meaning information, and the monthly e-newsletter will be used to reflect on completed
SANGONeT activities and projects, as well as to highlight and profile new, planned and
forthcoming activities and events. To subscribe to the Newsletter, send an e-mail message
to sangonet-enewsletter-request@lists.sn.apc.org with the
word 'Subscribe' in the subject line.
23 – 27
August 2004, Kabissa “Time to Get Online” Training-of-Trainers Workshop, Accra,
Ghana
Kabissa has launched the next phase of its
“Time to Get Online” project, which aims to train African civil society
organizations on how to integrate the Internet into their work. Kabissa invites West
African civil society organizations interested in conducting their own “Time to Get
Online” workshops to apply for the upcoming Training-of-Trainers program in Accra. http://www.time
togetonline.org/workshops.php
5 – 8 September 2004, Universities: Taking a Leading Role in
ICT-Enabled Human Development Conference, Makerere, Uganda
Academics, practitioners and experts from
both developing and technologically advanced countries are invited to submit paper
summaries/proposals for this conference. Emphasis should be put on the current or
potential roles of universities and the challenges they face. Well-documented case studies
that pass on important lessons or best practices are particularly encouraged. More: http://www.civicus.
org/new/event_info.asp?id=150
6-10 September 2004, SADC-Wide Workshop: Building Awareness of,
and Support for Use of Free and Open Source Software Solutions (FOSS) in Women's
Organisations, Johannesburg, South Africa
Women'sNet is hosting a SADC regional
workshop to build awareness of the potential use of Free and Open Source Solutions (FOSS)
in the non-profit sector, and women's organisations specifically. This event is organised
by Women'sNet, with inputs from APC Women'sNetworking Support Programme, Meraka, and
Ungana-Afrika. The event is sponsored by the Open Society Initiative - Southern Africa
(OSISA) and the Information Programme of Open Society Institute (Hungary). For more
information email natasha@womensnet.org.za
14 - 17 September 2004, e-Government for Leadership in Change
Management, United Republic of Tanzania
The Centre of Specialisation in Public
Administration and Management (CESPAM) in collaboration with the Commonwealth Network of
Information Technology for Development (COMNET-IT) is organising an executive seminar with
the theme "e-Government for Leadership in Change Management" in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania. This event will be hosted by the Government of Tanzania and is the latest in a
series of informative seminars and workshops in CESPAM's Executive Programme, a
CESPAM/COMNET initiative to develop materials and training for e-Government. More: http://www.comnet-it.org/index.html
16 – 18 September 2004, Highway Africa Conference 2004,
Grahamstown, South Africa
The eighth Highway Africa Conference,
“Media making the Information Society”, will have a strong alignment to the
unfolding processes of the World Summit on the Information Summit (WSIS). The overarching
theme of the Highway Africa Conference 2004 is technology. The conference will seek to
address the interface of technology with society, development, policy, access, content and
the media. The conference concentrates on new media issues relevant for journalists,
encompassing the policy, economics, development and technology questions around ICTs.
More: https://www.comminit.com/africa/events_cal/2004/181-event.html
29 September – 1 October 2004, The East Africa Regional
E-Government Strategy Workshop, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The East African Community (EAC), the ECA,
and Advancing IT Knowledge in Africa-Tanzania (AITEC-Tanzania) are jointly organizing the
workshop. For more information send an email to Mohamed Timoulali (mtimoulali@uneca.org)
ANNOUNCEMENTS .....ANNOUNCEMENTS .....
WSIS
GENDER CAUCUS - Research Program: Engendering ICT Policy
The WSIS Gender Caucus is launching a
program of small grants to support innovative research on gender and information
communications technologies, during 2004-05. It is anticipated that there will be two
rounds of calls for proposals and that the supported research will be completed in time to
be presented in Gender Caucus panels at the second phase of WSIS slated for Tunis, Tunisia
in November 2005. To be considered for the first round of research grants, interested
parties should submit their proposal to research@genderwsis.org by August 15, 2004. It is
anticipated that the first grants will be made by the end of September 2004.
Research project - Papers towards WSIS II
APC member, the Third World Institute
(Instituto del Tercer Mundo, ITeM) is seeking scholars and activists to participate in a
research project intended to contribute to the second phase of WSIS decision-making
process. More: http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22260
Call for Chapter Submissions of a New Book: Gender Equity and
Free and Open Source Software
In recent years, academia, non-governmental
organizations, governments, and industry have become increasingly involved in the
development of F/OSS technologies, and in analyzing the social impact of that technology
in diverse settings, such as in developing countries, in education and in the workplace.
WOWEM, a gender equity and F/OSS research and education project started by the Foundation
for Sustainable Development, is sponsoring a book to be co-edited by Stacy Gildenston,
current Director of Certification for Linux Professional Institute, and Lady Murrugarra,
Coordinator Group Work Gender and ICTs - Peru, at www.concytec.gob.pe/generotics/
and Head of Computer Center Instituto de Medicina Tropical Alexander von Humboldt - UPCH http://www.upch.edu.pe/tropicales.
Contact: Sophia Huyer (mshuyer@wigsat.org);
Website: http://www.wigsat.org/
The AYF Youth Award
The AYF Youth Award is a new annual
educational scholarship award, which will be awarded to an African Youth starting in the
academic year 2004/2005. This year's award ceremony will take place in Accra on the 22nd
October 2004. To win this award, a Youth project writing contest on "ICT and
Agriculture" is set in place to elicit and disseminate the views of African young
people on the needs and benefits of ICT and Agriculture in Africa. The deadline for
submitting papers is 20th September 2004. Project papers can be submitted via email to the
secretariat at: info@ayf.de
or ayf-info@t-online.de
Executive Director, East and Southern Africa Centre on
International ICT Policy (ESA CIP) Position Vacancy
The Centre is seeking an Executive Director
who will assume responsibility for the setting up and management of the Centre from the
African Bridge Consortium. The Executive Director will establish and maintain a range of
stakeholder relationships and high-level credibility for the Centre as an exciting and key
focal point for international ICT policy. Responsibility will also be held for reporting
to the appropriate bodies and ensuring the longer-term sustainability of the Centre. A
copy of this position vacancy can be found at: http://www.bridges.org/about/getinvolved/
and http://www.catia.ws
Archives:
(Note:
All documents are in PDF) To view PDF files, download the Adobe Adobe Acrobat
Reader.
