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 GKP Event on the Future, Third Global Knowledge Conference,
GK3, which took place from 11 – 13 December 2007 in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia was very successful in providing the platform
for the world ICT4D community to share knowledge and forge partnerships.
The Conference was opened by Deputy PM Najib Tun Razak on behalf
of H. E. Mr. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
The Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh has also
attended the opening session. GK3 attracted a total of 1,766
registered participants from 135 countries, comprising 50% from
Asia and Oceania, 5% from the Arab world, 9% from Commonwealth
independent nations, 14% from the African continent, 5% from
Latin America and the Caribbean and 17% from North America and
Europe. Through 3 days of interactions, intensive debates and
discussions, certain threads of ‘Emerging People, Emerging
Markets, Emerging Technologies’ surfaced which can guide
the ICT4D community in continuing to address the challenges
and reap opportunities in development. More: http://www.gkpeventsonthefuture.org/
The
2007 AISI-GKP Media Award winners honoured at GK3
The winners of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI)-GKP
Media Awards 2007 were announced at the GK3 Gala Dinner on Tuesday,
11 December. The Awards were organised by the ECA and supported
by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the International
Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). Aida Opoku-Mensah,
Director of the ICT, Science and Technology Division of ECA,
who said that 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, announced the
winners of the eight award categories. The awards were presented
by representatives of GKP and the respective award co-sponsors,
namely:
o Rinalia Abdul Rahim,
Executive Director of GKP
o Beate Wilhelm, Assistant Secretary General, SDC
o Pamela Passman, Corporate Vice President, Global Corporate
Affairs, Microsoft Corporation
o Rohinton Medhora, Vice President – Programmes, IDRC
o Jac Stienen, Managing Director, IICD
UN
partners with European Commission to boost ICT investment
A new agreement between the United Nations telecommunications
agency and the European Commission aims to attract greater investments
in information and communication technology infrastructure in
the Caribbean, Africa and Asia and the Pacific. The collaboration
between the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and
the Commission is a follow-up to commitments made at the Connect
Africa Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, in October when the EC expressed
support for the agency’s regulatory reform initiatives
in Africa. In a press statement from its Geneva headquarters,
the ITU notes that over the past decade, most countries in Africa,
Asia and the Pacific and the Caribbean have begun reforms in
the telecommunication sector, including through setting up national
regulatory bodies and introducing competition. The new agreement
aims to harmonize regulatory frameworks within the different
regions. It also seeks to build human and institutional capacity
in the field of ICT through a range of training, education and
knowledge-sharing measures. As part of the agreement, the European
Union has allocated 8 million Euros from the European Development
Fund, to which ITU will add $500,000 of its own resources. The
work will be managed and implemented by ITU. More:http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2007/39.html
ECA's
Aida Opoku-Mensah Speaks on the State of ICT Development in
Africa
In an interview conducted with GKP, Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director
of ICTs, Science and Technology Division of the ECA tells GKP
about the state of development in Africa, reaching the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and ECA's work in achieving both. ECA
is represented on the GKP Executive Committee and is also GKP
Africa's Regional Coordinator. More: http://www.globalknowledge.org/gkps_portal/index.cfm
ICT
4 All Forum in Tunis
At the occasion of the Second anniversary of the second phase
of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in
Tunis in 2005, the Tunisian Government organised the ICT 4 All
Forum from 20 –21 November 2007 in Hammamet, Tunisia.
The event, which included a forum and a technological exhibition,
brought together on high-level policymakers, government officials,
representatives from the private sector, potential investors
as well as experts from international organizations. The Forum
addressed the issue of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in ICTs
as a tool for development. The Forum was organised in line with
paragraph 98 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society
adopted by the WSIS in Tunis in 2005. Several organizations
including ECA, the African Development Bank, UNCTAD, ITU and
the Tunisian Federation of ICT Employers participated in the
Forum. Mrs. Lala Ben Barka, Deputy Executive Secretary of the
ECA, in her remarks representing ECA at the Forum, put emphasis
on ECA's commitment in developing partnerships and gave the
examples of the Commission hosting the secretariat of several
multilateral ICT for development partnerships, such as the Global
Alliance on ICT and Development (GAID), the Global Knowledge
Partnership (GKP) and PICTA. More: http://www.ict4allforum.tn/
Dutch
IT company Altran supports ICT projects in Tanzania and Zambia
The International Institute for Communication and Development
(IICD) has been collaborating with the Dutch subsidiary of the
consultancy organization, Altran, since October 2007 on several
IICD-supported projects that need technical assistance and advice
about eGovernance. Altran consultants will spend the first year
focussing on projects in Tanzania and Zambia, possibly expanding
to other countries at a later date. More: http://www.iicd.org/articles/dutch-it-company-altran-supports-ict-projects-in-tanzania-and-zambia
APC
makes recommendations to UN Internet governance forum
The second Internet governance forum took place in November
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the second meeting of five
convened by the United Nations over five years to discuss the
future of the world’s most critical communications resource.
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) presented
an initial assessment and made suggestions for moving towards
the third forum in India in December 2008. Recommendations included
the establishment of a self-regulatory mechanism to ensure participation,
access to information and transparency in Internet governance,
convening regional and national IGFs, working groups to address
complex issues, more resources for the IGF secretariat, strengthening
the capacity and legitimacy of the Multi-Stakeholder Advisory
Group, making better use of plenary time and passing of lessons
learned by former IGF hosts Brazil and Greece to New Delhi.
More: http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=5340227
The first Panel was on “Building Knowledge Societies,
What Makes the Difference? People or Policies in Africa?”
, and the second was on “Rural Societies, Technologies
and Languages in Africa”. The first Panel addressed key
questions such as what are the key features of the knowledge
and information Society in Africa? Can knowledge and information
transform African societies? If so how? What will make the difference?
People or Policies? How can people be empowered in the Information
and Knowledge societies? Moderated by Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah,
Director, ISTD, ECA, the Panellists were Declan Kirrane, Founder
and Managing Director, Intelligence in Science, Yam Nyarko,
Professor, New York University, Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Director, United
Nations ESCAP - Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information
and Communication Technology for Development (UN-APCICT). For
the second Panel, the Panellists tackled the difficulties associated
with access to ICT as a result of limitation of language. This
Panel was moderated by Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah and the Panellists
were John Dada, Director Fantsuam Foundation, Nigeria; Nafissatou
Mbodj, Executive Director, SchoolNet Africa, Senegal; Adama
Samassekou, Executive Secretary, ACALAN, Mali; Mouhamet Diop,
CEO, NEXT/ Khewal, Senegal; and Adel Elzah, IDRC- Cairo, Egypt.
More: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/eca-gk3.htm
Knowledge
summit comes to Africa
The Economic Commission for Africa was supporting African coverage
of proceedings at the third Global Knowledge Partnership, held
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ten Highway Africa News reporters
hailing from South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Seychelles
and Senegal were producing daily wire copy for a Special HANA
GKP digest, which was distributed to over 1600 subscribers.
The editor of the articles, Zachary Ochieng from Kenya said,
"UNECA's support is a clear indication of its commitment
to enable Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
through use of ICTs." This activity was made possible through
the financial support received from the Swiss Agency for Development
and Cooperation (SDC). The news articles filed by the team are
available at: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/eca-gk3.htm
Regional
Stakeholders Workshop on Knowledge Networks for disadvantaged
communities
Twenty participants, comprising managers of community access
points, telecentre network leaders, project coordinators and
managers of ICT initiatives from eight countries participated
in a two-day “Regional Stakeholders Workshop on Knowledge
Network Strategies, Mechanisms & Tools” held from
3 - 5 December 2007 in Kampala, Uganda. The participants were
from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
and Zimbabwe. The workshop is the third activity in a seven
activity joint United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Western Asia (ESCWA)-led UN Regional Commissions’
initiative whose outcome is that of empowering poor and disadvantaged
communities through the transformation of selected ICT access
points into knowledge hubs of global knowledge networks. The
initiative is in line with the realisation that community access
points can be the most effective tools in the realization of
many socio-economic development goals and as such, need to be
re-designed differently to be able to disseminate knowledge
in key areas of sustainable development i.e. employment, education,
gender and health. The transformation into service and community
development hubs as well as centres for exchanging business
information and providing sustainable sources of revenue would
therefore extend the access centre model beyond the original
model that only focuses on access to ICT’s. More: http://www.uneca.org/disd/news/istd-dna-2007120301-en.asp
ECOWAS
adopts Guidelines on combating cyber crime
ICT experts from the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) adopted new guidelines on combating cyber crime in
the sub-region, following a workshop that concluded on 11 December
in Lome, Togo. The guidelines were developed by the ECA in response
to a request made by ECOWAS and the West African Monetary Union
(UEMOA). The guidelines are aimed at modernizing the instruments
for promoting e-commerce, preserving personal data and curbing
cyber crime through the necessary sub-regional and national
legislation. ECOWAS Heads of States are expected to adopt the
guidelines as directives in 2008. ICT experts, lawyers, parliamentarians,
private banks, economic operators, academia and economists from
West Africa attended the workshop. ECOWAS, UEMOA, the African
Union (AU) Commission, the Central Bank of West African States
(BCEAO), the West African Telecommunications Assembly (WATRA)
and the International Organization of Francophony (OIF) also
attended. The workshop also adopted a roadmap for implementing
the guidelines at the sub-regional and national levels; and
proposed the establishment of a West African Council on ICTs
to monitor implementation of the guidelines and other matters
related to the Information Society. More: http://www.uneca.org/disd/events/2007/ecowas-legal-framework/.
ECA
Head Abdoulie Janneh brokers partnerships with Europe for a
science driven development in Africa
“We
need no less than a scientific revolution in Africa,”
said Abdoulie Janneh, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive
Secretary of the ECA to EU parliamentarians early December in
Brussels. The EU parliamentarians as well as representatives
from the Council, Commission officials, industry representatives,
stakeholders and policy makers had gathered for a preliminary
hearing on the “Science with Africa” Conference
to be hosted by ECA and other partners from 3 – 7 March
2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. More: http://www.uneca.org/disd/news/istd-dna-2007120501-en.asp
OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS .....
OTHER NEWS .....
Kenya’s
cyber law being developed
Kenya’s cyber law, when enacted, could be adopted as a
model law for other countries within the East African Community
(EAC) — Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi — which
are yet to enact such kind of legislation to give regulatory
direction for ICT-related transactions. Already, a process has
been initiated under the auspices of United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) Washington’s Economic
Growth Agriculture and Trade/Information Technology and Energy
(EGAT/IT&E) Bureau to guide the process leading to the development
of the legislation in Kenya. The initiative, called e-Legislation
policy development initiative for the East African Community
(EAC) — Kenya Cyber Law model, is facilitated through
the Digital Opportunity through Technology and Communications
Partnerships (DOT-COM), policy component that is managed by
the Academy for Educational Development (AED). The process is
run in collaboration with Kenya’s Directorate of e-Government
and implemented by Afrika ICT Strategies Inc., a consulting
and research firm with head offices in Washington and a subsidiary
office in Kenya. More: The Standard http://standardkenya.newsstand.com/
Rwanda
becoming Africa’s high-tech hub
Rwanda becoming Africa’s high-tech hub Kigali, Rwanda
- Sometime in the next two years, nearly every school in Rwanda
– from distant mountain villages to swelling urban areas
– will be hooked up to the Internet. And it won’t
be some crummy dial-up service. It will be high-speed broadband,
carried by fiber-optic cables. The fact that Rwanda is closing
in on this goal without having the massive oil wealth of Angola
or Sudan, the diamonds of Congo or South Africa, or even the
copper of nearby Zambia is a testimony to the power of imagination.
And Rwanda imagines that one day, it will be the information
technology center of Africa. ECA and its partners assisted Rwanda
to develop its national e-Strategy and plan in two phases: NICI
2000-2005 and NICI 2006-2010. “In 2000, we decided to
transform the country from agricultural subsistence to a knowledge-based
economy,” says Albert Butare, Rwanda’s minister
of state for energy and communications. With two fiber-optic
rings around Kigali, and cable being laid across the country,
Rwanda is well on its way to being wired. “Once we’ve
reached the towns of each sector, it’s like you’ve
covered the whole country. In another two years, we should be
there.” Rwanda’s dream of becoming the Singapore
of Africa – an information-technology hub for the resource-rich
nations of Eastern and Central Africa – is a point of
pride for the government, a matter of concern for some Rwandans,
and a curiosity for just about everyone else. Government officials
and business leaders see high-tech as the best way to lift one
of the world’s least-developed countries into a better
position to compete globally. Source: CSMONITOR http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1017/p01s02-woaf.html
New
website to help NGOs share ideas on technology
Nokia and Vodafone have launched a new website designed to help
share ideas on how to use mobile communications for social and
environmental benefits. The site, www.shareideas.org, was created
in direct response to NGO calls for better tools and information
to help them use mobile services more effectively in their work.
Although initially created with support from Nokia and Vodafone,
the site will be developed by a wide range of individuals and
organizations interested in using mobile technology for social
change. The wiki format means people can edit, update or comment
on case studies and stories on the site, and add their own from
wherever they are around the world. Case studies are grouped
into six key areas - civic engagement, economic empowerment,
education, environment, health and safety, and humanitarian
relief projects - topics chosen after consultation with many
NGOs. Stories already shared on the site include how the development
of an SMS alert system has made it possible for one organization
to mobilize hundreds of volunteers to carry out emergency clean
up efforts in the event of an oil spill in the Baltic Sea. Other
examples include how mobile games have been created in Africa
and India to educate the public about HIV/AIDS and prevention
measures, and how teachers in remote areas in the Philippines
are receiving training and state of the art learning materials
through a simple SMS message. Tips and advice to help NGOs use
mobile devices to help manage their work and communication between
their teams or their supporters are also available on the site.
More: http://www.nokia.com/A4136002?newsid=1134399
Rwanda
takes ICT to street kids
Rwanda will launch an extensive campaign aimed at taking Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) to street boys in the country.
The project, initiated in Africa by One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
is aimed at equipping every Rwandan child with a laptop. The
laptops would also be given out to children in all primary schools
in the country. Last October's Connect Africa International
summit on ICT, set the goal of ensuring Internet access to every
African by 2012. At least US$ 300 million will be invested in
projects, which will promote Information and Communication Technology
in Africa. More: http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/12854
29
January 2008, Web 2.0 Conference & Expo 2008, Santa Clara,
California, U.S.A
The Second Annual WebGuild Web 2.0 Conference & Expo will
cover popular Web 2.0 technologies as well as those shaping
the future direction of the Web. Learn from industry experts
and thought leaders, connect with the companies changing the
rules of the game, and those redefining the future. The conference
will feature keynotes, panels, expo, awards, and networking
sessions. More: http://www.webguild.org/meetings/web20/2008/index.php
3
– 7 March 2008, Science with Africa: Improving African
participation in global R&D, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Organised by ECA and ISC – Intelligence in Science aims
at exploring how African science based entities can increase
their collaboration with and participation in international
science R&D projects. The Conference will be a follow-up
to the January 2007 African Heads of States Summit in which
the leaders declared 2007 the year of science and technology
and strongly urged all members countries to allocate 1% of their
GDP to R&D by 2020. The Conference will inaugurate the Science
with Africa Office (SWAO), which will serve as contact point
for questions regarding collaborative research and act as a
forum for establishing best practices in collaborative science
between industrialised nations and African countries. More:
http://www.sciencewithafrica.com/
After serving the International Institute for Communication
and Development (IICD) for nearly eight years, Jac Stienen,
Managing Director, will retire from his position at the end
of 2007. Ms. Caroline Figuères will succeed him on 1
January 2008. Jac Stienen has been in charge of general management
at the IICD since 2000, only a few years after the institute
was first established in 1996. During his time in office, IICD
grew from 15 tot 33 staff members, set up programmes in nine
different countries, and brought the highly successful Global
Teenager Project to 35 countries all over the world. Today,
IICD is one of the key players in the field of ICT for development
and is widely recognised in the public, private and non-profit
sector for its valuable contribution to sustainable development
and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More:
http://www.iicd.org/articles/jac-stienen-managing-director-of-iicd-retires
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