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.
The fourth sub-regional
workshop on ICTs for francophone representatives of fourteen
National Machineries for the advancement of women took place
from 23 to 27 May 2005 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop
was organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW),
the United Nations Information Communication Technologies (UN
ICT) Task Force Secretariat and the ECA. National machineries
are government units set up to support gender equality and gender
mainstreaming in the development frameworks of member States
as outlined in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The workshop identified common strategies for institutional
capacity building for promoting gender equality through the
effective use of ICTs, and develop an online network of national
machineries. The workshop included training on the use of ICTs
for knowledge management and information sharing. Countries
represented were: Algeria, Burundi, Cape Verde, Comoros, Congo,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Madagascar,
Mauritania, Morocco, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, and Tunisia.
More: Eskedar Nega (enega@uneca.org).
Ethiopian
academics go practical in the Information Age
A half-day workshop
was held by the Mathematics and Computer Science Department
of Addis Ababa University (AAU) and ECA on 31 May 2005 at the
UN Conference Centre to unpack the implications of Free and
Open Source Software (FOSS) for Ethiopia’s development
and to address local software development in Ethiopia. The University
has been spearheading a web-based Content Management System
(CMS) prototyped on an OSS platform for use by Amharic-speaking
stakeholders in public and other institutions in Ethiopia. The
Amharic Open CMS prototype was developed in the context of ECA’s
VarsityNet programme supported by the Ford Foundation, which
aims to build the research and development (R&D) capacity
of African academia on IT applications through the use of OSS.
Discussions also focused on the role of the Ethiopian Free and
Open Source Software Network (EFOSSNet) initiative supported
by Catalysing Access to ICT in Africa (CATIA) and ECA, which
was formed early this year to promote a FOSS policy in Ethiopia
and promote the participation of Ethiopian IT professionals
(especially the Youth) in FOSS development and initiatives.
More: Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org).
The Twentieth Meeting of the Intergovernmental
Committee of Experts (ICE) of the ECA Sub Regional Office for
North Africa
The meeting was
represented by Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan
and Tunisia. In its presentation of the interim report on the
status of information for the development activities in North
Africa, the Secretariat acknowledged that the last three years
have witnessed remarkably rapid advances in ICT in the sub-region.
Some participants presented their own national experiences in
ICT4D. The Tunisian delegation described the state of preparations
for the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) and
encouraged all the participants to take part. Participants requested
the ECA Office to give more impetus to sub-regional cooperation
in the ICT sector. Suggestions were made that this cooperation
should deal with the regulations governing e-commerce (the security
of exchanges) and the security of information networks in the
sub-region. Finally, the Committee put particular emphasis on
the development of content in Arabic, on software industrialization
and on taking into account the potential of free software in
the sub-region. More: Mohammed Timoulali (mtimoulali@uneca.org).
IICD
launches online open source Monitoring and Evaluation tool
Together with developers
from Drostan and Data-Assist, IICD launched an open source tool
for internet-based surveys specifically designed for IICDs target
group. The International Institute for Communication and Development
(IICD) has put itself up to this challenging task to support
their unique Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) process. More:
http://www.iicd.org/articles/iicdnews.2005-05-09.8711099501
ICT
Parliamentary Committees for Niger and Gambia
ECA is organizing
two workshops for parliamentarians to take place in Niamey,
Niger from 1 to 2 June 2005 and Banjul, Gambia from 6 to 8 June,
2005. Specifics objectives of the workshops are:
Increase
awareness on ICT policies and strategies (NICI) and the World
Summit on the Information Society processes
Increase awareness on the role of parliamentarians in the
formulation and implementation of e-strategies, by ensuring
adequate budget and supporting legislation required for the
Information Society
Create
ICT Committees within the Parliament to sustain MPs involvement
in the process.
The
support to parliamentarians was also articulated as one of the
recommendations endorsed at the third and fourth meetings of
the Committee on Development Information (CODI III) http://www.uneca.org/codi/.
More: Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org).
Media,
Youth, Women Associations awareness raising on the Information
Society in Gambia and Swaziland
To sustain the participatory
approach of all stakeholders in the formulation and development
of e-strategies, there’s a need of creating permanent
stakeholders' institutional framework conducive for their better
involvement in the formulation, mainly the implementation and
the evaluation processes. Specifics objectives of the workshops
are:
Increase
Stakeholders awareness on e-government, NICI, WSIS, scan-ICT,
Gender equity
Increase Stakeholders’ awareness on their role in formulation,
implementation of national policy and sectoral policies
Implement
institutional framework to sustain and ensure impacts of stakeholders'
participations and engagement through the launching of network
and formulation of strategic Plan of Action.
Workshop
on multilingualism for cultural diversity and participation
of all in cyberspace
The workshop, held
from 6 to 7 May 2005 in Bamako, Mali, was a joint activity organized
by UNESCO, the Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie
(AIF), the African Academy of Language (ACALAN), the ECA, and
in cooperation with the Government of Mali. The workshop discussed
concrete actions in the area of linguistic diversity that governmental
and non-governmental players can implement, both on the policy
and application levels, to achieve a multilingual cyberspace.
Over one hundred and thirty participants from twenty-five countries
all other over the world attended the workshops. More: Thierry
Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org).
Can technology help reduce poverty?
2005 APC Hafkin prizewinner trains Kenyan youth for business
opportunities
For young people
living in poverty in coastal Kenya, surfing the Internet and
learning how to use computers make most sense when these skills
mean better economic opportunities and work-readiness. In recognition
of this, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
announced on May 26 that the winner of the APC Africa Hafkin
Communications Prize for 2004-5 is the “Global Education
Partnership - Wundanyi” in Kenya. Global Education Partnership
- Wundanyi (GEP) is a not-for-profit organisation located in
the Taita Taveta District of Kenya. It has created a 12-week
comprehensive training programme that focuses on “entrepreneurship
and work-readiness skills” for local youth from 15 to
24 years. "A clear lesson is that entrepreneurs are difficult
-if not impossible- to create but they can be identified and
supported," GEP's East Africa Regional Coordinator Tammy
Palmer told APC. More: http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin/2004/
SchoolNet
Toolkit & Software Comparison Study
The
African SchoolNet Toolkit produced by SchoolNet Africa in partnership
with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has just been released.
Aimed at African schoolnet practitioners, policymakers, school
managers and teachers, the toolkit documents experiences in
school networking from a number of African countries and recommends
frameworks, tools, lessons and good practices to inform and
improve our day to day practice. The Toolkit will now serve
as a basis for a training course for African schoolnet practitioners
and policymakers, which is currently being developed by SchoolNet
Africa and COL, thereby making the toolkit a living document.
The toolkit is available at http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/1500.0.html
The Software Comparison Study conducted by bridges.org in partnership
with SchoolNet Africa, IDRC and the Open Society Initiative
has just been published. The report is a comprehensive study
of FOSS and proprietary software in public computer labs in
Namibia, South Africa and Uganda. It reflects the practical
realities found in 121 computer labs. It is the first study
of its kind and scope. The report is licensed under a creative
commons license and can be freely shared. The report is available
at http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/1502.0.html
SNA will be hosting a discussion among its schoolnet practitioners
on the findings of the study.
EAC
concludes Second Regional E-Gov meeting
Interim Working
Group meeting, which was held on the 9th and 10th May 2005.
The meeting reviewed and made recommendations on the draft report
on the regional e-Gov framework for East Africa, and finalised
preparations of the forthcoming second regional e-Gov stakeholders
consultative meeting planned to be held in June 2005. More:
Mohammed Timoulali (mtimoulali@uneca.org).
GKP
Forum
The Global Knowledge
Partnership (GKP) organized an International Forum on cross-sector
partnerships for the advancement of Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT) solutions for development, 4 - 5 May 2005
in Cairo, Egypt. Top leaders from business, civil society and
government shared their experiences, interests, opportunities
and challenges in applying ICTs for development and in building
new partnership-based initiatives for implementing and scaling
the socio-economic development impacts of these technologies
in the Middle East and around the world. PICTA members participated
in the Forum include SDC, Sida, UNESCO, ECA and UNDP. The Forum
was 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).
GKP Excom and GKP Annual meetings were also organized as side
events to the Forum. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org
OTHER NEWS
..... OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS .....
Ghana
telecom looks to e-commerce and renewable energy to kick-start
rural communications
A model communication centre
developed for rural and peri-urban communities, called eCARE
is seen by Ghana Telecom as a way of revolutionising communication
in rural areas. eCARE is an acronym for e-commerce and renewable
energy. The project seeks to increase access to ICT powered
by renewable energy in rural and peri-urban areas of Ghana.
eCARE is a community phone project by Ghana Telecom since February
2005. More: http://allafrica.com/stories/200505231010.html
7
June 2005, Dgroups Online Networking Workshop, Royal Tropical
Institute (KIT), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Dgroups (www.dgroups.org)
is a partnership and platform designed to support online collaboration
between international development practitioners. The partnership
currently includes Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD, OneWorld,
UNAIDS and WorldBank; and is supported by member organizations
including CIDA, CTA, Danida, FAO, IDRC, INASP, SNV, Sida, SDC,
and ECA. Dgroups has had a strong history of supporting online
collaboration since it was first established in February 2002,
and it continues to grow with interest from other organizations.
The use of Dgroups as an effective tool for supporting online
interactions is exemplified by the increasing number of groups
(with over 1200 groups currently established), and the growing
number of Dgroups users (over 35,000 users to date). The partnership
would like to invite members of the development community to
the workshop. The interactive workshop will include an introduction
to the Dgroups partnership, a short technical demo of the Dgroups
platform, storytelling session: Online Networking Experiences,
table discussions, how can the partnership support online networking?,
and how other groups can join/support Dgroups efforts. If you
are interested in attending the event, please RSVP to Mark Faul
at mfaul@bellanet.org
or +1 613 236 6163 ex 2388
14
- 17 June 2005, Fourth Meeting of WGIG, Geneva, Switzerland
WGIG will hold its
fourth meeting in Geneva on 15-17 June 2005, preceded by consultations
open to all stakeholders. The consultations will be held on
14 June in Room B of the Montbrillant Building of the International
Telecommunications Union. The questionnaire on Internet Governance
arrangements will provide a structure for the consultations.
More: http://www.wgig.org/
20
- 22 June 2005, African and Arab Regional Conference about "Electronic
Transaction Security, Digital Signature and PKI", Tunis,
Tunisia
The conference is
organized by the National Digital Certification Agency under
the aegis of the Tunisian Ministry of Communication Technologies,
in collaboration with the ECA and the Agence Intergouvernementale
de la Francophonie (INTIF), and it will take place at the Mariott
Renaissance Hotel in Gammarth, Tunis. This conference will allow
participants and experts from the region, to familiarise themselves
to digital signature and PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) technology,
to learn more about digital signature deployment and to discuss
the strategy and actions to foster PKI deployment in the region.
This Conference is also held in preparation for the World Summit
for the Information Society WSIS Tunis 2005 (http://www.wsis.org).
More: http://www.certification.tn/Conference/PKITunisia2005/programme.htm
23 - 24 June 2005, WSIS Thematic
Meeting on Multi-stakeholder Partnerships for Bridging the Digital
Divide, Seoul, Republic of Korea
This meeting examines
how governments, the private sector, civil society and international
organizations can work together to help to bridge the digital
divide. Separate sessions will examine the need for a multi-stakeholder
approach, country case studies of successful partnerships, measuring
the digital divide, technologies for helping to bridge the gap
and other ways of overcoming barriers. More: http://www.itu.int/wsis/preparatory2/thematic.html
28 - 29 June 2005, Second regional
e-Government stakeholders consultative meeting, Nairobi, Kenya
The forthcoming second
regional e-Government stakeholders consultative meeting planned
to be held in June 2005 would offer a wider forum to discuss
issues related to regional e-government strategy after the Dar
es Salaam Workshop. The Dar es Salaam workshop as the first
preliminary stakeholder consultation, which drew participants
from diverse areas of the society including academia, public
and private sector, and members of Parliament. The June 2005
stakeholders consultative meeting would be part of stakeholders'
involvement in the development of the regional e-government
strategy and implementation of its Plan of Action. The forum
would also be used to communicate the progress made by the IWG
to the stakeholders. More: Mohammed Timoulali (mtimoulali@uneca.org).
Nigeria's annual
one stop ICT international conference will be on the theme "ICT
deployment for sustainable development in Nigerian rural areas".
The sub-themes include Nigerian grassroots in the global information
society; Nigerian rural economy in achieving the MDGs; issues
in exploring ICT for transforming Nigerian rural economy; SMEs
in ICT deployment; and necessary financial, technical and other
ICT resources for socio-economic development in Nigeria. More:
Vincent Olatunji (volatunji@nitda.gov.ng).
30
June - 1 July 2005, International Symposium on Intellectual
Property (IP) Education and Research, Geneva, Switzerland
The Symposium is intended
to provide a forum in which discussion on IP education and IP
research could be further developed and advanced. It will be
held at the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO). More: http://www.wipo.int/academy/en/meetings/iped_sym_05/
30
June - 2 July 2005, Scan-ICT Phase II kick-off workshop, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia
In order to launch
the second phase of SCAN-ICT programme, ECA and the Government
of Finland, are organizing a workshop that will be held from
30 June to 2 July 2005 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Using the set
of core indicators, which were adopted by the second African
Regional Preparatory Conference for the WSIS, held in Ghana
in February 2005, the workshop aims at:
learning from experiences/lessons/results of Scan-ICT phase
I program
discussing the methodologies, core indicators, and frameworks
for the second phase of the SCAN-ICT project under the coordination
of National Statistical Offices (NSOs)
1
- 3 July 2005, Africa Civil Society Forum, WTDC ’06 Africa
Regional preparatory meeting, Nigeria
The Forum objectives/outputs
include capacity building/training, issue African civil society
statements on the implementation of the WSIS Action Plan, and
present Africa sub-Regional WSIS perspectives from the civil
society. More: Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org).
5
- 6 September 2005, CTO FORUM 2005, Yaounde, Cameroon
The CTO will be holding
its third annual international ICT Forum from 5th to 6th September
2005 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The Forum is open to all stakeholders
and is aimed at bringing together opinion formers, business
leaders and the wider international community to discuss and
to find solutions to the challenge of accelerating access to
basic communication services to all. Held this year under the
theme “ICT Business and Development: The Challenge of
Access”, the event is organised with the support of the
Cameroon Government. The Commonwealth ICT Ministerial meeting
will also be held during the Forum. More: http://www.cto.int/forum2005
19
- 30 September 2005, Third Meeting of the Preparatory Committee
of the Tunis Phase of WSIS, Geneva, Switzerland
The third meeting
of the Preparatory Committee of the Tunis Phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS PrepCom-3), will be
held in Geneva, Palais des Nations, from 19-30 September 2005.
PrepCom-3 will be a critical step in the preparatory process
for the Tunis Summit, which will take place in Tunis from 16-18
November 2005. PrepCom-3 will consist of two full weeks of negotiations
on all issues related to the output of the Tunis Summit. This
meeting will have to forge consensus on the final document(s),
which is/are to be adopted by Heads of States and Governments
at the Tunis Summit. More: http://www.itu.int/wsis
ANNOUNCEMENTS .....ANNOUNCEMENTS .....
IPDC
- UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication
UNESCO is inviting
nominations for the IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication,
to be awarded for the tenth time during the twenty-fifth session
of the Intergovernmental Council of the International Programme
for the Development of Communication (IPDC), which will be held
at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (France) from 21 to 23 March 2006.
The IPDC-UNESCO Prize for Rural Communication was established
by the UNESCO Executive Board at its 120th session, in pursuance
of a decision of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental
Council of the IPDC. It is intended to recognize a meritorious
and innovative activity in improving communication in rural
communities, mainly in the developing countries. The IPDC-UNESCO
Prize, consisting of a sum of US $20,000.00 is awarded every
two years. More: http://www.unesco.org/webworld
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