Background

The genesis of the NICI development process has its root in the visions of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), an action framework for the development of the information and communication infrastructure of Africa. In terms of objectives, the NICI process is remarkably similar with the National Information Infrastructure (NII) of the USA that was designed and implemented to enhance the penetration of USA into the global market; and the activities of the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) aiming at increasing the involvement and participation of the private sector into the global trade networks.

Definition

The definition of NICI can be best given based on the objectives it aims to achieve in the following areas:

The NICI development process aims at developing national information and communication policies and strategies that could be used to enhance the role of Information and communication technologies (ICTs) in facilitating the socio-economic development process. The NICI process also deals with defining and enabling regulatory environment whereby all the necessary legal and institutional structures are put in place for the introduction and regulation of the market whereby a number of actors are competing in the production and marketing of various ICT products and services.

Moreover, the NICI development exercise deals with the formulation of strategies that could be use to develop the physical information and communication infrastructure whose ultimate goal is to provide users with the connectivity and equipment required to access and disseminate data, voice, text and image including facilities required to host and transmit the same.

Human resource development is yet another aspect the NICI process addresses. The endeavour that is being made to harness the use of ICTs for development cannot be done without the development of the required trained workforce in the various areas of ICTs, namely, information management, information intermediary, web site design, development and hosting, network management and maintenance, etc. The need for building a capacity to provide with the necessary learning institutions and facilities is one of the concerns of the NICI development process.

The lack of systems and initiatives to organize existing knowledge and create new content in Africa is one of the major issues that national ICT strategies and policies need to address. To this effect, the NICI process formulates necessary strategies and guidelines for the production, organization and dissemination of content in Africa. Moreover, it also focuses on the development and utilization of sectoral ICT applications in the commerce, health, education, etc. As overall environment for the development and implementation of NICI plans and strategies is provided by the goals and priorities defined in the national development plan, the integration of ICTs in sectoral development areas may requisite the redefinition of sectoral policies and strategies.

In short NICI is:

• an instrument to implement the global AISI visions of developing the information super highway at national level

• an African response to facilitate the digital inclusion of Africa and integration of the continent into the globalization process

• an exercise aiming at developing national ICT policies and strategies which serve as guidelines for the development of the national information and communication infrastructure

NICI development process aims at improving the nations':

• Information and communication infrastructure
• ICT policies and regulatory frameworks
• Development human resource in the areas of ICT
• Content, and infostructure

NICI provides the framework whereby ICT strategies and plans are integrated into national and sectoral development plans to facilitate the achievement of national and sectoral development priorities and goals.

The NICI development process incorporates four components:

• Defining the over-all socio-economic development framework
• Developing the policy document
• Developing a detailed plan for several years
• Developing the design and structure of institutions for management, co-ordination and implementation of ICT projects