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.
SchoolNet Africa (SNA) will move its Secretariat from South
Africa to Senegal under the auspices of the Groupe pour l’Etude
et l’Enseignement de la Population (GEEP) - an African
non-governmental organisation (NGO) hosted by the Faculté
des Sciences et Technologies de l’Education et de la Formation
(School of Education) of the Cheikh Anta Diop University. The
new Secretariat will be led by Ms. Nafissatou Mbodji from Senegal
and Mr. Amr Hamdy from Egypt who commenced as the new Executive
Director and Deputy Executive Director respectively, in June
2006. Outgoing Chair, Mr. Eric Yankah from Ghana says “SNA
has emerged from a difficult period with its organization, its
network of practitioners and its programs to reach greater numbers
of African learners and teachers strongly intact. This is testimony
to the resilience of civil society networks and the dedication
of the champions who are passionate about their continent. With
these ingredients, we can only grow from strength to strength.
From the seeds we germinated from Cape Town through Addis Ababa
in 1999 to Okahandja in 2000, champions and practitioners on
the ground have shown the power of collaboration, of pressing
on with an idea and of action backed by supportive partners”.
More: http://www.schoolnetafrica.net
EASSY
Declaration signed by Southern and Eastern Africa Ministers
Source: Highway Africa News Agency. Government ministers
from Southern and Eastern Africa have signed a declaration on
the East Africa Submarine System project known as EASSY. The
declaration signed in Johannesburg in early June commits fifteen
countries to this project, which is expected to see the construction
of infrastructure to ensure cheap broadband access for countries
on the eastern side of Africa (from Mozambique to Sudan). The
construction of the undersea cable is expected to be completed
by the first quarter of 2008 according to one of the signatories,
Kenyan Deputy Minister David Were. The represented countries
were Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius,
Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somali Republic, South Africa,
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The major highlights
of the declaration are that it proclaims an open access model
(meaning anyone can join in as an investor in the project);
it commits countries to developing and signing a protocol on
the policy and regulatory framework for the EASSY project. The
project is expected to cost 300 million USD excluding additional
costs of in-country infrastructure. More: http://www.eafricacommission.org
Reflections
on the GKP international Forum 2006
The recent International Forum 2006 themed “Creating Prosperity
through Innovation: ICT at Work in Development” was another
example of GKP's highly regarded events focused on knowledge
sharing and partnership building in the ICT4D arena. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org
GKP
Strategy 2010 Programme Framework Information Release
A GKP Strategy 2010 Programme Framework was endorsed by GKP
Members at the Annual Members' Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka
on 10 May 2006. Documents relating to this Programme Framework
are now made available for GKP Members, and comprise a briefing
document, which is a clarified version of the document recently
presented at the Annual Members’ Meeting; and a presentation,
which accompanies the briefing document. GKP Secretariat welcomes
feedback and queries. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org
Global
alliance outlines work to solve information technology needs
of the poor
After two days of meetings in Malaysia involving over 700 experts
from around the world, the United Nations initiative to foster
information and communication technologies (ICT) in developing
countries has established a framework for their activities.
The Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies
and Development adopted the Kuala Lumpur Vision, outlining the
principles of the Alliance’s future work. Pledging to
overcome the social and digital divides between developed and
developing world, the Vision promotes policies and partnerships
that can help create an “arc of digital opportunity.”
More: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18949&Cr=information&Cr1=technology
As one of the activities of PICTA, the African Youth Network
in the Information Society (AYIN) will undertake a study on
"Policy and strategies to involving Youth in building an
inclusive Information Society" under the PICTA project
entitled “Harambee”. The Harambee project is intended
to assist the project proponents to both support specific networks
and communities and to help the proponents themselves increase
their respective capacities to support their existing partner
networks and communities more generally. APC, ECA and Bellanet
are the coordination partners to give guidance etc. The initial
Focus Networks and communities identified for project support
through Phase-1 include APC-Africa-Women, Capacity Building
for Community Wireless Connectivity in Africa, Women of Uganda
Network (WOUGNET), ARN represented by ANACLAC, Constitution
and Reform Education Consortium (CRE-CO) and African Youth ICT4D
Network (AYIN). Each network has submitted project proposal
validated by the coordination committee. More: Thierry Amoussougbo
(tamoussougbo@uneca.org).
ECA
organizes a training course on Internet Governance for African
policymakers
To build capacity in the area of Internet Governance and the
debates on the issue, ECA, in the framework of the UN Development
Account, is launching a series of training courses on Internet
Governance for African policy-makers, supported by the Diplo
Foundation of Malta, the Canadian e-Policy Resource Centre (CePRC)
and ICANN. Approximately, 35 African Anglophone Permanent Secretaries,
Directors and Advisors will participate in the course. There
will be representation from Angola, Cameroun, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa,
Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The training will develop
skills and knowledge required to participate meaningfully in
the global debate on Internet Governance and ICT for Development,
in particular the use and exploitation of the Internet achieve
the MDGs. A second course will be delivered during the second
half of the year for Francophone member States. Online courses
will be available before the end of the year. It is expected
that at the end of the course, African policymakers would acquire
knowledge to facilitate their participation in the debate on
ICT for Development at the national, regional and international
levels, including meaningful contribution in the newly established
Internet Governance Forum and the Global Alliance on ICT and
Development, both created by the UN Secretary General at the
request of member States. More: Makane Faye (mfaye@uneca.org).
Editors
and media house directors held Information Society workshop
ECA in collaboration with the Government of Cameroun, the Central
African ECA Subregional Office, the Media School of the University
of Yaounde II and Ecole Supérieure des Sciences et Techniques
de l’Information et de la Communication (ESSTIC) held
a workshop on the theme, ‘Involving editors and directors
of media houses in building the Information Society,’
from 28-30 June 2006 in Yaounde, Cameroun. Following the workshop,
it is expected that the media will be empowered to meaningfully
contribute to the implementation of the National Information
and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) policies and plans in
various countries of the Central African sub-region and be more
involved in pushing forward the recommendations adopted by policymakers
and other stakeholders during a workshop on “ICT Policies,
Access and Regulation”, which was held in Douala from
7-9 June 2006. The workshop is a follow-up of the regional media
training of trainers workshop that was held for Francophone
media training institutions in Yaounde, Cameroon in August 2005,
where participants focused on integrating ECA’s AISI media
training modules in institutional curricula. Co-sponsored by
ECA, and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), the workshop
also re-examined the media training modules. Approximately thirty
participants from Cameroun, Gabon, Chad, Congo, Republic of
Central of Africa (RCA), Equatorial Guinea, and Sao-tome &
Principe attended the workshop. More: Thierry Amoussougbo (tamoussougbo@uneca.org).
ECA
and Egypt to work on African Leadership ICT (ALICT) programme
In
line with Egypt’s commitment to boost the development
of the ICT sector in Africa, it is proposing the development
of ALICT aiming at enhancing leadership skills in African countries
for promising ICT professionals. The idea behind this proposal
was first introduced by Egypt during the conference of Ministers
responsible for ICTs of the African Union, first ordinary session
held in Cairo from 18 – 20 April 2006 and was well received
by member States representatives. Based on the initial proposal,
Egypt organized a workshop from 6 - 7 June 2006 that brought
together African experts from a number of countries and organizations
to share experiences in the conceptual development and formulation
of the ALICT programme. The workshop’s main objective
was to encourage experience sharing and solicit inputs in order
to formulate a challenging and robust programme that addresses
the main priority issues in the ICT sector in Africa with a
focus on leadership and regional cooperation. Participants at
the workshop were from Mali, Mozambique, Mauritania, Kenya,
Ghana, Egypt, and representatives from AU and ECA. More: Eskedar
Nega (enega@uneca.org).
ECA
organized a workshop on ICTs, regulation and public and community
based access for francophone Central African countries
The workshop supported by Industry Canada, Government of France,
Agence Internationale de la Francophonie and ECA was held in
Douala, Cameroon from 7 to 9 June 2006. It was aimed at facilitating
a multi-stakeholder dialogue in order to strengthen access related
public policies in National Information and Communication Infrastructure
(NICI) plans and strategies in Central Africa. Over 50 representatives
of local authorities associations, NICI focal points, regulators,
cyber café managers parliamentarians, civil societies,
private sectors and women entrepreneurs from Cameroon, Chad,
Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon,
Republic of Congo, Sao Tome & Principe and Burundi attended
the workshop. The workshop was concluded with recommendations
on developing ICT policy, legal and regulatory frameworks; accelerating
skills development; and ensuring women access to ICT. The same
kind of workshop was held in Dakar, Senegal from 17 to 18 October
2005, for West African countries. More: Makane Faye (mfaye@uneca.org).
Gender
and e-Government workshop
ECA, the Government of Tunisia, and the Canadian ePolicy Resource
Center (CePRC) jointly organized a workshop on gender and e-Government
held from 19-20 June 2006 in Tunis, Tunisia. ECA sponsored about
25 participants from francophone African countries. The event
was broadcasted on the local media. The two working sessions
of the event were organized under the themes: gender mainstreaming
into ICT applications and gender applications and e-Government.
It was noted that there is gap between the gender machineries
and the NICI focal points in terms of understanding the concepts
of and linkages between gender and ICTs. There is a plan to
organize a similar workshop for the Anglophone countries, which
might take place either in South Africa or Botswana. More: Eskedar
Nega (enega@uneca.org).
OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS .....
WIPO
Director General Pledges Support for Initiatives to Enhance
Intellectual Property in Morocco
The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, pledged the Organization’s continued
support in enhancing the intellectual property (IP) system in
Morocco during talks with Moroccan Minister of Justice, H. E.
Mr. Mohammed Bouzoubaa, in May 2006. In a meeting in Geneva,
the Director General and the Minister of Justice discussed the
strategic importance and relevance of intellectual property
for development and explored ways to further strengthen cooperation
between WIPO and Morocco. Dr. Idris applauded the Government
of Morocco for its commitment to the use of the IP system as
a tool for economic, social and cultural development. He said
that Morocco had made great advances in modernizing and boosting
its intellectual property capacity and infrastructure in recent
years and was a model for the region. He referred in particular
to Morocco’s use of information technology to facilitate
public access to the Moroccan legal system. A consequence of
this important development, he said, was that it offered users
of the IP system better access to IP legal texts and easy access
to information relating to commercial IP disputes. The Minister
of Justice, outlined the importance of IP to Morocco, particularly
within the context of the country’s comprehensive multi-sectoral
development strategy. He referred to the Ministry’s role
in promoting Morocco’s national development goals through
the modernization of its national legal framework and improved
access to and delivery of legal services, including in the field
of intellectual property. More: http://www.wipo.int.
NTIA
call for comments: Take a stand on Internet Governance
In advance of renewing the current agreement between the U.S.
Department of Commerce and ICANN, the U.S. government's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has
asked for public comments about its supervision of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This is
an important opportunity for public participation in the reform
of ICANN and Internet governance. The Internet Governance Project
urged everyone to provide opinions on how ICANN is working and
how it can be improved be known. Comments are due by July 7,
2006. More: http://internetgovernance.org/comment.asp
AMARC
Africa Round Table Community Radio & its Social Impact:
Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness
The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)
is organizing the Round Table "Community Radio Social Impact:
Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness", the third
in a series of regional roundtables. The Roundtable will be
hosted by the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), an held
in Abuja, Nigeria, on the 5th of July 2006 and will bring together
community radio practitioners, advocates, NGO and Donors in
order to assess the social impact of community radio in Africa.
The key topics to be discussed include review of Community Radio
in Africa, impact assessment of Community Radios, and evaluation
of the effectiveness of AMARC. The AMARC Africa Roundtable is
part of the worldwide ongoing evaluation of the CR movement
being implemented by AMARC in all its regions that will culminate
in the AMARC 9 World Conference to be held in Amman, Jordan
from 11-17 November. AMARC is an international non-governmental
organization founded in 1983, serving the community radio movement
in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate
at the international, national, local and neighbourhood levels.
More: http://www.amarc.org
10
– 11 July 2006, GKP Africa Regional Meeting, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
This is a regional meeting of GKP Members in Africa in a workshop
style. The objective of the meeting is to brainstorm and strategise
on the formulation and implementation of GKP Africa's 2006/2007
work programme. More: Eskedar Nega (enega@uneca.org).
13
– 15 July 2006, ICT Governance and post WSIS strategies
in West and Central Africa, Saly, Senegal
The aim of this workshop is twofold and will consist in assessing
engagements in ICT policies priority issues in West and Central
Africa (universal access, regulation, convergence, etc.) by
the various stakeholders, and by the CIPACO project of the Panos
Institute West Africa, in particular, and contributing to the
preparations of African stakeholders for the Internet Governance
Forum (Athens, November, 2006). The workshop will bring together
about 40 key stakeholders, from the two regions, coming from
the private sector, government, civil society and regional and
international institutions. It will consist of three thematic
days. The first two days will be dedicated to the review of
the way priority issues have been dealt with and to the African
participation in the WSIS. The third day will lay the focus
on the Internet Governance Forum. The workshop is organized
with the support of the DFID (CATIA programme), APC (Association
for Progressive Communication) contribution and the collaboration
of the network African Civil Society on the Information Society
(ACSIS) and the Association of African Internet Service Providers
Associations (AfrISPA). The “PIWA-Information Society”
prize giving ceremony takes place in the framework of a project
on media supported by the IDRC. More: http://www.cipaco.org/article.php3?id_article=833&lang=en
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
21
– 23 July 2006, Conference on IT and Economic Development
(CITED) - Reaching Out for Technology Enabled Development, Legon,
Ghana
CITED is a community outreach effort of the Ghana Information
Institute. The Institute strives to further knowledge and expertise
in the field of information technology enabled economic development.
The first in the series of events, CITED will move around the
world to locations that have traditionally be left out of the
"usual" circuit of conferences and discussions. The
Information Institute has partnered with the University of Ghana
to organize the Conference. CITED is an innovative meeting of
the minds - all individuals and institutions involved in the
economic development of organizations, societies and countries.
University of Ghana offers facilities for CITED 2006. More:
http://www.information-institute.org/cited/
23
– 28 July 2006, Knowledge Societies for All: Media and
Communication Strategies, Cairo, Egypt
Organized by International Association for Media and Communication
Research (IAMCR), the conference will help establish insights
into the multiple dimensions of the issues and strategies that
are related to the "digital divide" and other barriers
to sustainable growth, use and development of information and
communication technologies and mass media. Plenary speakers
and other conference participants will bring critical insights
to issues relating to the role of the mass media and networked
communities in contributing to, or challenging, democratic processes
in a globalizing world. More: http://www.aucegypt.edu/conferences/iamcr/main.html
5
– 7 August 2006, ASIA–AFRICA Business Forum 2006
“Bridging the Trade Divide”, Sharjah, United Arab
Emirates
The primary aim of the Asia Africa Business Forum is to increase
trade and investment flows into Africa and to encourage a transcontinental
exchange of knowledge and expertise. AaAfBF contributes to the
ongoing efforts to foster stable and sustainable economic growth
and development in on both sides of the continental divide within
a South-South framework. The event encourages technology transfers,
privatization, joint ventures, franchising, sub-contracts, manufacturing
contracts, financial investments, equipment provision and inter-regional
trade. One of the targeted sector is ICTs. More: http://www.cipaco.org/article.php3?id_article=819
21
– 23 August 2006, Third annual African VoIP Forum, Lagos,
Nigeria
With its unique combination of conference presentations and
training workshops, the African VoIP Forum, to be held at Muson
Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos over 21-23 August 2006, offers
a high-powered educational opportunity for Africa’s ISPs,
telecom operators and corporate VoIP users. The main topics
include the impact of VoIP on African voice markets, maximising
international connectivity via a virtual service provider, and
successful revenue generating VoIP deployments in high-growth
markets - lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, a
series of workshops on VoIP related issues are organized. More:
http://www.aitecafrica.com
The
deadline for application to the 2006 AISI Media Awards is 15
August 2006. The Award winners will be announced in September
2006. The AISI Media Awards were introduced in 2003 to encourage
more informed coverage of the information society and ICT for
development issues in Africa as part of ECA’s Information
Society Outreach and Communication Programme. The Awards are
aimed at individual journalists and media institutions based
in Africa that are “promoting journalism which contributes
to a better understanding of the information society in Africa.
More: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/mediaaward.htm
Global
Prize for IT Benefiting Youth in Developing Countries - Call
for Nominations for US$100,000 Development Gateway Award
The
Development Gateway Foundation is calling for nominations for
its US$100,000 prize for outstanding achievement in the use
of information and communication technologies to improve lives
in developing countries. Sponsored in part by Intel Corporation,
this year's Development Gateway Award is focusing on initiatives
that empower or improve the conditions of youth. The award launched
recently at the United Nations' World Urban Forum III, at a
special reception for youth participants following the close
of the World Youth Forum. More: http://www.developmentgateway.org/award
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