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.
GKP
launches the virtual “Beyond Tunis: Flightplan”
The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) announced that it launched
the virtual publication entitled “ Beyond Tunis: Flightplan”.
The premise of Beyond Tunis is to take a snapshot of the state
of ICT4D community after the WSIS process and try to look ahead
to what might happen in the short, medium and longer-term. It
is in a series of at least 3 publications that will lead into
the next GKP global event. The Beyond Tunis #1: Flightplan publication
points toward the “tomorrow” of ICT4D. It is not
a prediction or a projection, but a set of strategic markers
and signposts, the ‘run way lights’ that ICT4D players
use to bring their ideas down to the ground. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org
First
World Information Society Day highlights the need for e-security
The first World Information Society day was observed on 17th
May 2006 to mark the inception of the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) in 1865, over 140 years ago. According to ITU, the
intention of commemorating World Information Society Day is
to focus global attention on extending the enormous benefits
of the digital revolution in information and communication technologies
(ICTs) to all humanity. Impetus for marking this day stems from
the WSIS process, which culminated with the Tunis Commitments
and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society in November
2005. The UN was also called upon to endorse 17 May, which previously
marked World Telecommunication Day, as World Information Society
Day. Due to the growing threat on electronic networks and electronic
transactions, the Tunis Agenda reaffirmed that world leaders
should "develop a global culture of cyber-security and
develop legislation for the investigation and prosecution of
cybercrime, adopt anti-spam legislation and enhance the protection
of personal information and freedom of expression". More:
http://www.uneca.org/eca_programmes/it_for_development/news/05182006dnadisd.asp
ITU
announces results of global survey and launches cybersecurity
gateway on World Telecommunication Day 2006
A global opinion survey to assess trust of online transactions
and awareness of cybersecurity measures was conducted by ITU
in conjunction with World Telecommunication Day. The theme chosen
this year - Promoting Global Cybersecurity - aims to highlight
the serious challenges of ensuring the safety and security of
networked information and communication systems. More: http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2006/09.html
NEPAD:
e-Africa Youth Programme established
Participants from various African countries, gathered in Johannesburg
in April 2006, formed a NEPAD e-Africa Youth Programme, whose
main objective is to build a cadre of young people who will
raise awareness on issues of the Information Society and serve
as active participants in building inclusive Information Society
in their countries and on the African continent. Conducted by
NEPAD e-Africa Commission - the advisory body of NEPAD Heads
of States and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) on
ICT related matters - in conjunction with Department of Communications,
the meeting had aim of sharing views on the involvement of youth
in ICTs. The meeting came up with NEPAD e-Africa Youth Programme
governance structures, roles, terms of reference and rules of
procedures. A 3-year programme was agreed upon, which would
be presented for adoption at the official launch of the programme
that would coincide with the main NEPAD Youth Summit to be held
in June 2006. The meeting agreed to foster partnerships with
governments, business and civil society. The programme would
be linked to the flagship NEPAD e-schools programme and Governments
would form the programme focal points in their respective countries.
More: http://www.eafricacommission.org/
Digital
Opportunity Channel celebrates its fourth birthday. In 2002,
OneWorld launched the Digital Opportunity Channel. The Channel
was launched on World Telecommunications Day, which is observed
globally on 17th of May. The 2002 WTD was celebrated on the
theme "ICT for all: empowering people to cross the Digital
Divide." The Channel continues to promote the cause of
bringing ICT for all for people's empowerment, as its motto
is “promoting digital opportunities for all.” Initially,
while launching this exclusive portal on ICT for development,
OneWorld teamed up with the US-based Benton Foundation. Over
the years, the Channel has enormously been benefited by the
vast reach of OneWorld and the Digital Divide Network, Benton
Foundation's ICT4D community. The Channel now attracts content
and reach of more than 1600 of OneWorld Network partners. The
Channel has been one of the most prominent portals launched
at an early date, focusing exclusively on the ICT for development
issues. The portal contains a vast knowledge base on ICT in
development, especially on MDGs. The Channel is supported by
the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General
for International Co-operation. More: http://www.digitalopportunity.org/article/view/132970/1/
UN
Secretary-General establishes Internet Governance advisory group
to assist him in convening Internet Governance Forum
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan established an Advisory
Group to assist him in convening the Internet Governance Forum,
a new forum for a multi-stakeholder dialogue on Internet governance.
The Group includes 46 members from Government, the private sector
and civil society, including the academic and technical communities,
who represent all regions of the world. The Advisory Group met
on 22 and 23 May in Geneva, following an open consultation on
19 May. Its main task is to prepare the substantive agenda and
programme for the first meeting of the Internet Governance Forum,
which is to be held in Athens from 30 October to 2 November
2006. Decisions on how to prepare subsequent meetings and on
any future structure and working methods of the Forum will be
taken in light of the experiences gained during the preparatory
process for the Athens meeting. The Internet Governance Forum
is an outcome of the Tunis phase of the WSIS, which took place
in November 2005. More: http://www.intgovforum.org
ECOWAS
Ministers validate ICT common market
The sixth meeting of the ECOWAS ministers of telecommunications
and ICT for the establishment of the Common Market for ICT in
West Africa took place in May 2006 in Abuja, Nigeria. Convened
by the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat, in collaboration with the
government of Nigeria, and the International Telecommunications
Union, the meeting validated the legislative and regulatory
texts for the establishment of the Common Market for ICT in
the sub-region. According to reports, the sub-regional ministerial
meeting adopted a string of draft decisions that were sourced
from the guidelines relating to the legislative and regulatory
framework of the telecommunications in the ECOWAS-UEMOA in order
to achieve a common liberalised ICT market. Accordingly, the
meeting considered the Lome declaration of the ECOWAS Meeting
on Regional Policy on ICT in Togo held in February, this year
to define the framework of regional ICT policy. Source: The
Daily Observer (Banjul), May 15, 2006. More: http://www.ecowas.int
CAFRAD
Launching LOG-IN Africa
The first workshop was on “Innovative Applications of
ICTs for Local Governance in Africa” organised by the
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), ECA and United
Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), held in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia in 2004. The second, LOG-IN Africa pre-project workshop
was held from 3-5 September 2005 in Nairobi, Kenya. Following
these two meetings, LOG-IN Africa became a reality. IDRC has
approved a two-year grant to the African Training and Research
Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD) to undertake
research on the Local Governance and ICT research Network for
Africa (LOG-IN Africa). The project will be launched during
this workshop as a Pan-African network of researchers and research
institutions from nine countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius,
Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda). It
will assess the current state and outcomes of e-local governance
initiatives in Africa, and in particular how ICTs are being
used to realise good local governance at different levels. The
Network will generate research findings contributing to more
effective policy making and implementation in e-local governance
in Africa. National and regional guidelines and an implementation
“Roadmap” will also be developed. More: Misuraca
Gianluca Carlo (gianluca.misuraca@epfl.ch)
and Soussi Takati Zoubir (zoubir@cafrad.org).
Mali
NTIC website wins award for best Francophone website
ToguNet’s www.mali-ntic.com website won this first prize
in the contest for Best Francophone website in Mali. The first
prize of a computer was awarded to the NTIC (Nouveau Technologies
de l’Information et de la Communication – New ICTs)
website because of its content, easy navigation, accessibility
and design. The contest was organised by the Francophone Digital
Campus of Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, the French
embassy in Mali and the University of Bamako as part of the
festivities for the International day of Francophone countries
and communities of the world. The goal was to encourage and
stimulate technical creativity, to promote the connection of
all Malian websites with French content and to promote more
multilingual diversity in cyberspace. The contest was open to
different types of websites, from business to private sites,
as long as they were already online and created in French. No
less than thirty websites participated in the contest. An international
jury of five judges selected the winners. More: http://www.iicd.org
A
contribution to e-Governance projects in Burkina Faso, Ghana,
Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia
The Dutch ICT company Inter Access and the International Institute
for Communication and Development (IICD) are going to collaborate
in the field of e-Goverance in Africa. The aim of the partnership
is to promote innovations in the public sector and increase
knowledge on e-Governance in five African countries. The partnership
agreement was signed on the 2nd of May 2006. Inter Access will
participate in several IICD initiated projects in Burkina Faso,
Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The support of the ICT-consultants
of Inter Access will vary from giving workshops and training
to research and consultancy. In Uganda Inter Access will be
involved in giving strategic and technical advice on information
centres and the development of web portals. More: http://www.iicd.org/articles/iicdnews.2006-05-05.9780260063
The African Union Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) ministers are pushing strongly for governments across
the continent to abolish duplicate ICT focal ministries, as
that stalled ICT advancement. This also creates unnecessary
bureaucracy in government systems, contended the ICT officials
during the conference. African ICT ministers were meeting for
the first time under the auspices of the AU in Cairo, Egypt
in April 2006 to consider strategies of improving ICT development
in the region. The ministers meeting observed that the implementation
of ICT in particular and World Summit on Information Society
resolutions in general in African countries is being hampered
by the fact that more than one ministry was championing the
ICT agenda. More: http://allafrica.com/stories/200604250182.html
Empowering
Rwanda Journalists in building an Inclusive Information Society
A 2-day workshop was held for Journalists in Rwanda to create
awareness and in-depth understanding of the 2 phases of Rwanda's
National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI).
Held from 18-19 May 2006, in Kigali the workshop brought together
approximately sixty participants who included government officials,
MPs, youth and civil society groups. A Rwanda ICT4D media network
was launched at the end of the workshop. The network's first
short-term activity is a media campaign aimed at publicizing
and popularizing ICT4D in relation to the second (implementation)
stage of Rwanda's NICI process. Emphasize will also be placed
on ICT usage in Rwanda and efforts put in place to upscale ICT
as a tool for development. More: http://www.uneca.org/disd/events/2006/rwanda-workshop/main.html
ECA,
SADC and CRASA to work on a sub-regional e-strategy
Following a consultation meeting among ECA, the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC), and the Communication Regulators
Association for Southern Africa (CRASA) formerly known as TRASA
from 16 – 19 May 2006 in Gaborone, Botswana, agreement
was reached to work together in the development and harmonization
of regional e-strategies on ICT4D in the SADC sub-region. It
was noted that both SADC and CRASA are making structural and
management changes, with emphasis on ICT4D in the region. A
ministerial meeting on ICT to be convened by Botswana is planned.
More: Mohammed Timoulali (mtimoulali@uneca.org).
e-Learning
Africa Outcomes
ECA, the Government of Ethiopia, ICWE and Hoffmann & Reif
Consultants of Germany, organized the first e-learning conference
held in the UN Conference Centre from 24-26 May 2006 under the
theme, “Empowering Africa through e-Learning” in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Some 832 participants from 80 countries
attended the conference. A total of 13 pre-conference workshops,
five parallel topics with over 250 speakers and prominent keynotes,
as well as an exhibition with major vendors and service providers
covered all aspects of eLearning and ICT Supported Education
and Training in the African context and provided a massive capacity-building
event for all stakeholders and educational and training professionals.
Speakers at the conference called for better use of ICTs in
Africa in a bid to improve education and thus development. ECA’s
acting deputy Executive Secretary Josephine Ouedraogo noted
however that Africa had to overcome challenges such as limited
infrastructure and lack of expertise to develop and support
applications and systems. “These challenges, if left unchecked,
can create greater digital gaps between countries and within
countries,” she warned. Some ECA led activities and focus
areas include e-learning and African universities, education
and Africa's Information Society and knowledge economy, policies
and partnerships. More: http://www.uneca.org/disd/events/2006/e-learn/
The
Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) holds validation
workshop on Information System
The Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) convened
a validation workshop on the development of an Inter-University
Information System platform from 3-4 May 2006 at Makere University,
in Kampala, Uganda. This activity falls within the framework
of the ECA VarsityNet programme that provides IUCEA with support
to enhance R&D capacity on information society issues in
East African higher education institutions with support from
the Ford Foundation. The project has been implemented in 2 phases.
The first, which focused on developing an e-government platform
using open source software was jointly implemented by the Universities
of Nairobi and the Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology
(Kenya); Makerere University (Uganda) and the University of
Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). The second phase is currently scaling
up R&D activities to manage students’ academic records.
More: http://www.uneca.org/disd/
OTHER
NEWS ..... OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS .....
Nigeria's
ICT4D draft nears completion
The final draft of the National Information and Communication
Technology Strategic Action Plan, will be ready within five
months, the committee working on the document has said. The
Chief Executive Officer of Alteq Limited, Dr Armstrong Takang,
who heads the committee, informed journalists that this followed
the recent review of Draft 2 of the ICT4D by Prof. Clement Dzidonu,
the ICT consultant hired by ECA to oversee the initiative. The
ICT Strategic Action Plan, partly funded by ECA, is the government’s
response at having practicable and sustainable plans to execute
specific ICT policies in all sectors of national life from health
and national security, to education and agriculture among others.
The final draft of the ICT4D document is expected to provide
the roadmap for Nigeria’s entry into the global Information
Society and offer strategic guidance on the deployment of ICT
in all sectors. Source: THE PUNCH, Tuesday, May 09, 2006.
Kenyan
President Directs for a Digitization Campaign
His Excellency Mwai Kibaki, President of the Republic of Kenya,
officially opened the Safaricom House, Westlands, Nairobi on
24 May 2006. Safaricom House is the new home to one of Kenya's
largest corporate organizations. “Safaricom is one of
the largest mobile phone services company in the region. Apart
from directly employing about 900 people, Safaricom indirectly
employs thousands of Kenyans in related fields, ranging from
mobile phone support services to mobile phone stalls and calling
booths across the country. Moreover, the company is now one
of the leading taxpayers in the country, and attained the second
position in the ranking of distinguished taxpayers in the last
financial year”, Mr. Kibaki said. He also encouraged investors
to join hands with the Government in developing the ICT sector
throughout the country. He said, “Indeed, there is vast
investment potential in ICT, especially in the rural areas where
teledensity remains unacceptably low. Investors should view
the existing untapped potential as an investment and business
opportunity, which should be fully exploited”. More: http://www.statehousekenya.go.ke/
A
new briefing paper for journalists asks what's stopping the
wireless revolution in developing countries
A new briefing paper
for journalists asks what’s stopping the wireless revolution
in developing countries. Despite significant advances in technology,
more than two-thirds of the world’s population remains without
access to communication facilities. The use of wireless technology
could transform this situation, bringing low-cost, accessible
information and communication technologies to those who have so
far been left on the wrong side of the ‘digital divide.’
However, in many countries, particularly in the developing world,
governments have been slow to reduce restrictions that limit the
use of this technology. This brief from Panos London looks at
different applications of wireless technology, and its comparative
advantage in making communication available to all. It suggests
what governments could do to encourage its wider use in everyday
life. More: http://www.panos.org.uk/files/wsistoolkit4.pdf
5
– 7 June 2006, Knowledge Management Capacity for African
Research Institutes and Networks: East Africa Workshop, Kampala,
Uganda
As a follow-up to the “Knowledge Sharing for Development:
Africa Regional Program Workshop” that was held in Cairo
in February 2005, the Global Development Network (GDN) will
be organizing a series of sub-regional workshops across Sub-Saharan
Africa. These workshops are aimed at strengthening the operations
of African research institutes and networks by exposing them
to knowledge management concepts, tools and approaches, and
helping them to develop Action Plans to enhance their organizational
capacity. The upcoming East Africa workshop will be help in
Kampala, Uganda from 5-7 June 2006. More: http://www.gdnet.org/middle.php?oid=991
7
– 9 June 2006, NEPAD e-Governance Workshop, The Birchwood
Hotel & Conference Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
The NEPAD e-Africa Commission, in collaboration with the Commonwealth
Secretariat, will convene a workshop on “e-Readiness Strategic
Gap Analysis”. This first workshop will set the pace towards
the delivery of an integrated and aligned e-governance programme
in the context of NEPAD. The workshop will have breakout sessions
on e-governance themes such as building the e-Economy, Government-online,
e-Health, e-Laws, etc. in order to review deficits and identify
strategic gaps that NEPAD should seek to fill in the delivery
of its e-governance programme over the next years. Participants
include representatives of the African Union, the NEPAD Secretariat,
Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Sector Organizations,
ECA, senior Government officials, and the private sector. More:
http://www.eafricacommission.org
7
– 9 June 2006, Workshop on ICT regulation and public and
community-based access for francophone Central African countries,
Douala, Cameroon
ECA is organising a workshop to facilitate a multi stakeholder
dialogue to strengthen access related public National Information
and Communication plans and strategies. The workshop is organized
under the auspices of the African node of the Global ePolicy
Resource Network (ePolNet) and in collaboration with Industry
Canada, the Canadian ePolicy Resource Centre (CePRC), Government
of France and Agence Internationale de la Francophonie. This
workshop is the second in a series of three in Africa and close
to 80 participants from Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Equatorial
Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe and Burundi are expected to attend.
More: Eskedar Nega (enega@uneca.org).
8
– 9 June 2006, Involving the African Private Sector in
building the Information Society, Tunis, Tunisia
ECA, in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of
Tunisia, through Elgazala Technoparc, Softopia Technopark of
Japan is organizing the event alongside the 2006 International
Services Salon in Tunis entitled SISE 2006. SISE is an exhibition
dedicated to services’ Sector in the know-how and expertise
field required for developing projects (http://www.sise-tunisia.com).
The ECA workshop will combine the expertise from specialists
from technological parks and business incubators and will provide
a forum to exchange on innovative ICT applications. The main
objective will be to discuss about Africa Private sector development,
enabling policy and regulatory environment, incentives, banking
and financial reforms. The workshop is a follow-up of the Private
Sector Forum held during the second preparatory conference on
the World Summit on the Information Society in Accra Ghana,
2-4 February 2006. About thirty participants from Benin, Egypt,
Gambia, Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Tunisia Senegal and Japan
will attend the workshop. Thirteen technology experts from Japan
are expected. The workshop is co-sponsored by ECA, and the German
Government’s development agency Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). More: Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org).
19
– 20 June 2006, Inaugural meeting of the Global Alliance
for ICT and Development, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
As a follow up to the recent decision of the UN Secretary-General,
the inaugural meeting of the Alliance will be held in Kuala
Lumpur, organized in collaboration with the Government of Malaysia.
The meeting will launch the Global Alliance and will provide
an opportunity to initiate discussions among stakeholders and
potential partners on the principal theme of the Alliance: "Advancing
the Millennium Development Goals through ICT and Innovation:
Setting the Framework", as well as to define priority issues
to be addressed by the Alliance and on optimal modalities of
its work. More: http://www.unicttaskforce.org/
22
– 23 June 2006, e-FORUM 2006, Skhirate, Morocco
The main themes of the annual forum of electronic administration,
e-Forum 2006, will include e-government national programs, services
to citizens, services for the simplification and modernization
of the administration, the best environment to enable government,
benchmarking of the governmental initiatives, and technological
solutions. More: http://www.virtualis-net.com/eforum/
23
– 25 June 2006, iCommons Summit, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
With participation by commons communities from Creative Commons,
Wikipedia, Science Commons, Ubuntu, A2K and others, this year's
annual Summit is set to be one of the most exciting events for
creative and knowledge commons pioneers from around the world.
The Summit is structured around three major themes: 1) Tools:
Developing effective, relevant tools to assist other creators,
authors, scientists and researchers to develop and showcase
their creativity and innovation, 2) Policy: Strategies to ensure
international, regional and local policy fora that are conducive
to the development and nurturing of the commons, and 3) Practice:
Learning from the experience of others to develop effective
models for the development of open content in societies around
the world. The goals of iCommons are to build the Summit into
a launch-pad for global cooperation around commons projects
and to provide an open, creative space for practitioners to
learn from best case practices and to showcase new ideas. More:
http://www.icommons.org/summit
25
– 30 June 2006, ICANN Marrakech - June 2006, Marrakech,
Morocco
The next ICANN meetings will be taking place in Marrakech, Morocco.
ICANN meetings are open to all who want to participate. Pre-registration
and visa requests can be made online on the web site. More:
http://www.icannmarrakesh.ma/
18
– 22 July 2006, Harvesting ICT4D Training Materials, Accra,
Ghana
A four-day itrainonline workshop where participants will deepen
their knowledge of how to design, develop and adapt effective
training materials geared to the needs of learners from civil
society and the public sectors in their own countries. During
the workshop, participants will a) discuss and document how
to find, adapt, and localise training materials - Collectively
work on a “Train-the-Trainer” course module that
reflects their shared expertise; and participate in the establishment
of the Itrainonline Community of Trainers, an international
online community devoted to the exploration of ICT4D training
issues. More: Saskia Harmsen: sharmsen@iicd.org
