African Union Ministerial Conference on Communications & Information Technology (CIT) - Cairo

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African Union Ministerial Conference on Communications & Information Technology (CIT)

18 - 19 Nov 2006

Introduction

Over the last years, many African countries have taken advantage of the opportunities provided by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and have put in place National Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) Plans to support their socio-economic development efforts. These successes have been made possible thanks to the combined efforts of all stakeholders under the leadership of Governments and support by regional and international organizations as well as bilateral partners and the private sector. These efforts need to be extended to remaining African countries so that they can benefit from the knowledge economy. In this context, a coordinated and multi-pronged strategy at both the national and sub-regional levels is essential for rolling the knowledge economy in the continent. This Action Plan, which aims at building a region fully benefiting from ICT services by the year 2015 will be adopted by African leaders through several fora, including the African Union Summit.

Background

The proposed framework for the African Regional Action Plan on the Knowledge Economy (ARAPKE) was developed as a direct outcome of the Second African Regional Preparatory Conference for the WSIS, held in Accra, Ghana from 2-4 February 2005. It is based on the “Accra Commitments for Tunis 2005”, and defined by both the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), under the leadership of the African Union. By building upon the recommendations and results reached from the Accra Conference, this is a Regional Action Plan for the continent. In addition, the Action Plan is expected to contribute to the realization of the Millennium Declaration Development Goals (MDGs). Within this context, it is designed to:

Define an African approach and positions in the process
of preparation of the second phase of WSIS, to become the
African approach in the current debate on the main issues of
the WSIS,
Create a foundation for national, regional and international
cooperation over a period of 10 years, up to 2015, with the
aim of improving the life of African populations.

The Action Plan development process has been coordinated by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with the participation of a Committee of Experts composed of the Bamako Bureau for the WSIS and the African Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) on the AISI, as well as experts from member States, the Diaspora, the African Union Commission, The African Telecommunication Union (ATU) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). African stakeholders have also provided and continue to provide their input through various discussion lists. The meetings held on the development of the Action Plan were held on:

24 April 2005 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as a side event of
ECA’s Fourth Committee on Development Information
(CODI) meeting; and
9 May 2005 in Cairo, as a side event of the Arab Regional
Meeting for the WSIS.

The Action Plan was reviewed by the African Ministerial Committee on ICT, held in Cairo on 10 May 2005. Several other
meetings are expected to be organized to review and enrich the Action Plan. A final workshop will be organized during the
Tunis phase of the SMSI on the morning of the 16 November 2005 to discuss implementation of the Action Plan.

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Cairo, Egypt