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.
CODI
IV on information as economic resource in Africa
The fourth meeting
of the Committee on Development Information (CODI IV) will take
place from 23 to 28 April 2005, including pre-meeting workshops,
seminars and tutorials. Under the theme of “Information
as an Economic Resource”, the meeting will discuss and
recommend strategies to ECA and member States for harnessing
information for economic growth. Delegates are drawn from national
statistics offices, national libraries, archives and documentation
centres, information and communications technology agencies,
national mapping agencies and other geoinformation management
organizations. Pre-meeting workshops include:
e-Economy (ECA/e-PolNet/UNCTAD, 23 April)
Ad hoc Expert Group Meeting: Creating and Managing Digital
Content (24 April)
Open
Source (ECA/OIF/FOSFA, 24 April)
Ad
hoc Experts' Group Meeting on Situs Addressing in Africa (23-24
April)
The
draft programme and additional information can be found at the
CODI web page: www.uneca.org/codi
Africa @ WSIS Prepcom2
The second meeting
of the preparatory committee (PrepCom-2 of the Tunis phase)
took place in Geneva, Switzerland from 17 to 25 February 2005.
Some issues are yet to be resolved, such as Internet Governance
for which the report of the Working Group will be released in
July. Also issues related to implementation and follow up mechanisms
are still pending and will be tackled during Prepcom3. However
the Digital Solidarity Fund has been officially accepted. Africa
was represented by 13 Ministers, several Permanent Secretaries
and all the Ambassadors accredited in Geneva. In addition each
country had an average of 4 delegates during Prepcom2. Prepcom3
will be held from 19 to 30 September 2005. The African position
was presented through the Minister of Communication of Ghana,
who is President of the WSIS African group. More: Makane Faye
(mfaye@uneca.org).
UMA e-Commerce workshop
A workshop on the
use of ICT as a tool to boost trade exchanges within the Union
du Maghreb Arabe (UMA) was held from 1 to 3 March 2005 in Tangiers,
Morocco. Participants were ICT and commerce experts, as well
as representatives from the private sector and civil society
from UMA member States (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco,
and Tunisia) and International organizations. Jointly organized
by UMA, ECA and ICTDAR (UNDP), the seminar addressed key issues:
ICT and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the use of
on-line applications for trading of goods and services in the
UMA region, e- commerce and opportunities of ICT usages. The
seminar adopted recommendations to devise strategies on how
to mainstream ICT in economic and development policies, and
to develop e-commerce applications in the sub-region. For more
information, contact Mohammed Timoulali, Regional Advisor, ECA,
mtimoulali@uneca.org
WSIS
Thematic Meeting on ICT Statistics
The International
Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development organized a WSIS
Thematic Meeting on "Measuring the information Society"
in Geneva, 7-9 February 2005. The meeting brought together representatives
from countries involved in the statistical measurement of the
Information Society. The meeting achieved the following:
Agreement
on a preliminary common list of ICT core indicators (basic
access and usage by households and individuals, businesses)
to be collected by all countries and harmonized at the international
level, which will constitute the basis for a database on ICT
statistics.
Identification of the needs of National Statistical Offices
(NSOs) in developing countries with regard to technical assistance
in the compilation of ICT indicators.
Mechanisms discussed on the quantification of the relevance
and contribution of ICT indicators towards improving development
and achieving the MDGs, and ongoing work concerning the creation
and maintenance of an international database on ICT indicators.
ECA
presented its SCAN-ICT experience in six countries. More: Mohammed
Timoulali (mtimoulali@uneca.org)
Revamped
iConnect
The iConnect website
has been revamped based on a new strategy. This will be a series
of locally written, qualitative articles on the impact and use
of ICTs for development. The articles will have a strong focus
on facts on the ground with a developing world’s perspective,
content, and written by local people. Dissemination will take
place via three regional organisations (in Africa, Asia and
Latin America) with a development and knowledge-sharing objective.
ECA is the African regional arm of this exercise and will soon
re-launch iConnect Africa in line with the new strategy. iConnect
is an initiative of the International Institute for Communication
and Development (IICD) and serves as a source of information
on the application of knowledge and ICTs in sustainable development.
More: http://www.iconnect-online.org/
NICI
Update: Swaziland
As a follow-up to
a request from the Government of Swaziland for a NICI, ECA undertook
its second advisory mission to the country from 14 to 18 March
2005. The main objective was to validate the progress made in
the process of developing a national e-strategy. A lot of progress
has been made with regard to policy formulation with the drafting
of a NICI outline document. Data collection on socio-economic
factors and identified pillars were also in progress. Public
awareness briefings, like awareness campaigns for policy makers
are currently underway. More: Sizo Mhlanga (smhlanga@uneca.org)
EAC regional e-government framework
in progress
ECA is supporting
the East African Community (EAC) to develop a regional e-government
framework for its partner States (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania)
with support from Industry Canada (through ePol-NET) and Government
of Finland. ECA supported EAC to organise the East African regional
e-government strategy workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from
17 to 19 November 2004 to draw up an action plan. Based on the
consensus reached at the workshop, EAC convened the first meeting
of the regional e-government Interim Working Group (IWG) in
Arusha, Tanzania from 24 to 25 February, 2005 to finalise the
detailed work plan including the development of the regional
e-government framework. The partner States are expected to organize
focus groups meetings with stakeholders from Government ministries
and agencies, private sector, civil society and academia to
provide country specific input to the proposed framework. Further,
a regional e-government observatory will be established for
the implementation of various e-government strategies, initiatives
and projects in East Africa. More: Makane Faye (mfaye@uneca.org)
GDN's Knowledge Sharing for Development:
Africa Regional Program
As part of its program
of supporting the generation and communication of research from
developing countries, the Global Development Network (GDN) organized
a workshop in Cairo, Egypt from 27 to 28 February 2005 to enhance
the knowledge sharing and research dissemination capacity of
research institutes and networks in Africa. The workshop brought
together people from across the continent who are responsible
for communicating the wealth of research knowledge currently
being produced in Africa - these included librarians, administrators,
information officers, knowledge managers and researchers. More:
http://www.bellanet.org
Consultative
workshop held on Ethiopia's new broadband initiative
A
consultative workshop on Ethiopia’s ICT development was
held on 29 March 29, 2005 with the objective of introducing
the general public to ETC’s expansion of the ICT infrastructure
to provide multiplicity of services, such as data, voice and
video. Plans for the new upcoming broadband initiative are already
underway to revolutionize Ethiopia’s entry into the Information
Society. More: http://www.uneca.org/eca_resources/news/032905disd_dna.htm
OTHER NEWS
..... OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS .....
Commission
for Africa report launched
On March 11, 2005
the Commission for Africa released its final report entitled
“Our Common Interest”, urging increased aid to the
continent, but stressing the need for African governments to
do their bit too. The report provides 80 clear recommendations
for Africa’s future. These will be taken forward to the
G8 Summit in July 2005. The report, which was launched simultaneously
in London and Addis Ababa, is an attempt to come out with sustainable
and far-reaching solutions to tackle Africa's grinding poverty
and governance issues, and put the continent back on the road
to recovery. Launched in February 2004 by British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, the Commission aimed to examine Africa and how the
international community could contribute to its development.
In Chapter 7, under Infrastructure (section 7.3.2), the report
states, “Africa needs an additional US$20 billion a year
investment in infrastructure. This should support African regional,
national, urban and rural infrastructure priorities –
ranging from rural roads and slum upgrading to ICT and the infrastructure
needed to support greater integration of Africa’s regions
and to enable Africa to break into world markets.” More:
http://www.uneca.org/commreport.pdf
RESOURCES
..... RESOURCES .....
RESOURCES .....
ICT4D
– Connecting people for a better world - A new book from
Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and the Global Knowledge
Partnership (GKP)
This book aims to
make the outstanding wealth of knowledge compiled during the
ICT4D Platform of WSIS-I available to a wider audience. It is
also intended to stimulate interest and awareness beyond the
core ICT circles, and especially to reach those development
organisations, which are still skeptical about ICT4D because
of its perceived technological focus. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org/ict4d/
African
Voices on Development and Social Justice: Editorials from Pambazuka
News 2004. Edited by Firoze Manji & Patrick Burnett
"This is a wide
ranging informative compilation of essays which offer the very
best advocacy for Africa - by Africans."– Glenys
Kinnock MEP. The collection constitutes a valuable record of
the views of both African civil society activists and academics
on key developments and events in the region during 2004, touching
on issues of conflict, development, debt cancellation, women's
rights and the role of the international financial institutions
in Africa. More: www.pambazuka.org
e-Readiness Assessment: Is
duplication building a knowledge base or wasting resources?
CIPESA International ICT Policy Commentary Series, Volume 1,
Commentary 2. 14 March 2005
This commentary is
part of the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East
and Southern Africa (CIPESA), a programme by bridges.org. This
is one of a series intended to spark thinking and dialogue on
important issues in the field. These short informative pieces
give an overview of an international ICT policy issue relevant
to African stakeholders, and stir discussion by presenting strong
views and provocative questions. Readers are encouraged to respond
to the points raised, via email or in the "comments"
box under each commentary on the CIPESA website. More: www.cipesa.org/AfricansCareAboutICTPolicy
Network
Readiness Index 2004-2005 Report. (World Economic Forum Global
Technology Report)
A total of 104 countries
were ranked, including 23 African countries. 15 of the 23 African
improved their rankings and 8 regressed in ranking. Most improved
was Morocco (up by 10 points); close behind were Tunisia, Kenya
and Ghana, each up by 9 points. Most regressed was Tanzania
(12 points down), followed by Nigeria (7 points down). More:
http://africa.rights.apc.org/index.shtml?apc=21860ne_1&x=31261
6
– 8 April 2005, “THE AFRICAN BROADBAND REVOLUTION
2005” Overcoming Technical and Financial Barriers to Broadband
Deployment in Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
The event is organized
by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO), and
aims to present opportunities for wholesale and retail broadband
in Africa, by bringing together key stakeholders with a view
to stimulating the uptake of true broadband in Africa. More:
http://www.cto.int/abr05/index.php?page=home
West Africa 2005
will bring together the main stakeholders of the West African
ICT sector from the private and public sector, including individual
ICT professionals, representatives of small, medium and large
enterprises, regulatory bodies, donor and development agencies,
West African Ministers of information and communication, members
of the scientific community, educational institutions, telecom
operators and various ICT associations. A total of 500 visitors
are expected to attend the meeting, making it the largest of
its kind. More: http://www.optic.sn/RencontreAng/default.html
17 – 22 April 2005, AfNOG
2005 Workshop on Network Technology, Maputo, Mozambique
In conjunction with
the Sixth meeting of African Network Operators Group (AfNOG),
a Network Technology workshop is planned prior to the meeting.
The workshop will offer advanced training to operators of existing
African Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who are participants
in the process of developing and enhancing a national Internet
with regional and international connectivity. More: www.afnog.org
and www.afrinic.net
13 – 14 April 2005, Eighth
Meeting of the UN ICT Task Force "Global Forum on Harnessing
the Potential of ICTs for Education", Dublin, Ireland
The Global Forum
will explore how ICTs can provide a practical and enabling solution
for improving the quality and quantity of education, by bringing
together participants from the fields of education, ICTs and
development. The Forum will be co-hosted by the Global e-Schools
and Communities Initiative (GeSCI). Launched by Mrs. Nane Annan
at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) in December 2003, GeSCI works at local, national and
international levels, convening and supporting groups as they
deliver effective ICT-in-education strategies. More: http://www.unicttaskforce.org/eighthmeeting/
26
- 27 April 2005, AfriNIC Second public policy meeting, Maputo,
Mozambique
Prior to the meeting
itself, AfriNIC is organizing one day LIR training on the 23rd
of April (French and English session). For registration and
more info: www.afrinic.net/meetings/afrinic-2/index.htm
Contact e-mail: meeting@afrinic.net
Phone: +230 466 66 16.
4
– 5 May 2005, International Forum on Advancing ICT Solutions
for Development through Cross-Sector Partnerships With a Special
Focus on the Middle East and North Africa, Cairo, Egypt
The Global Knowledge
Partnership (GKP) will be organising an International Forum
on cross-sector partnerships for the advancement of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions for development.
This event is co-organised by the Ministry of Communications
and Information Technology (Egypt-MCIT) and the American Chamber
of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham), and co-sponsored by the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB), the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation
(SDC) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation
(Sida). The Forum will build on existing experiences, and lead
the way to effective new partnership-based initiatives. A special
focus will be on experiences from the Middle East and North
Africa. About 200 professionals and leaders from business, civil
society, government and research institutions are expected to
attend the Forum. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org
7
– 10 May 2005, The Pan Arab Conference on WSIS- Phase
II; An Arab Dialogue, Cairo, Egypt
The event starts
on 7th May with pre-conference activities such as INET regional
meeting, IPv6 Forum, and Arabic Domain Names meeting (closed).
The main event is from 8 to 10 May 2005, and it will focus on
Internet Governance, funding mechanisms, ICT indicators, e-content,
Arab Working Group meeting (closed), and African Ministerial
meeting (closed). The conference will be held in cooperation
with the League of Arab States, in coordination with the International
Telecommunications Union and WSIS Secretariat. The event is
organized and hosted by the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology-Egypt. More details regarding the agenda, speakers,
venue, accommodation and other logistics is available on the
event website: http://www.wsis-egypt.gov.eg
11
– 12 May 2005, The 3rd International Workshop on Open
Access, Maputo, Mozambique
The workshop is a
collaboration between the UN ICT Task Force, The KTH IT-University
of Stockholm, the Eduardo Mondlane University, Sida and IDRC
and is one of the deliverables of the United Nations ICT Task
Force Working Group on Low Cost Access and Connectivity. The
main theme of the workshop will be on Open Access solutions,
a Pan African Fibre Backbone, financing models and regulatory
environment for Open Access technologies. The scope is how to
provide open access which includes identifying the users, the
relevant technologies, and the regulatory framework and how
to support entrepreneurship that is necessary to build sustainable
networks. The workshop will address open access technologies
in the context of developing regions, in particular sub-Saharan
Africa. More: http://www.openaccess.uem.mz/
ANNOUNCEMENTS .....ANNOUNCEMENTS .....
AfrISPA IXP Survey. AfrISPA
has an African Internet Exchange Task Force (AFIX-TF) to promote
the development of new IXPs
The project is funded
by DFID’s CATIA programme. AfrISPA intends to have 8-12
new IXPs up and running in Africa by May 2006. The first workshop
is planned to take place in April 2005 and 6-10 workshops will
be organized over the next 14 months. AfrISPA will provide and
fund trainers and equipment, so long as local contacts can ensure
a minimum number of participants and provide a venue. A survey
is underway to help AfrISPA plan where and when to host this
series of workshops. More: http://www.afrispa.org
GKP publication and stocktaking
on ICT4D initiatives for the WSIS and the MDGs
The Global Knowledge
Partnership (GKP) intends to make a contribution to both the
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS - Tunis Phase)
and the Millennium+5 Summit in 2005, which will review the world's
progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This contribution
will be made via ONE publication on "ICTs, MDGs and the
Information Society" and will serve as an advocacy tool
on the positive role of ICTs in development based on the experiences
and initiatives of GKP members. The publication will thus serve
to highlight the work of GKP members to global policy makers
and ICT4D practitioners. GKP launched a stocktaking exercise,
which entails gathering, aggregating, and analyzing information
based on members' experiences and initiatives in ICT4D. More:
http://www.globalknowledge.org
Finalists of the APC HAFKIN
PRIZE 2004/5: Recognising community connectivity projects for
economic development in Africa
In May, APC will
announce the winner of the $7,500 Hafkin Prize. This year's
APC Hafkin Prize recognises community initiatives that use the
Internet and other digital communication networks to access
markets, skills and opportunities to derive real economic benefits.
The winner will be selected from the outstanding technology
initiatives below. The Hafkin Prize finalists in 2004-5 are
BorgouNET/Benin; Bukuku ICT Project/Uganda; Development and
Promotion of ICTs in Kenya and Neighbouring Countries; Global
Education Partnership - East Africa/Kenya; OKN Mobile Kenya;
and Thinkquest Uganda. More: http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin
Archives:
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