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As
a follow up to the World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS), ECA, the Canadian e-Policy Resource Centre (CEPRC),
the e-Policy Resource Network (ePol-NET), NetTel@Africa network
and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)
in collaboration with the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications
and New Technologies of Sénégal, convened from
16-19 October 2006 in Dakar a workshop under the theme "Development
and implementation of ICT policies in Africa : Strengthening
the capacity of stakeholders". The workshop, which was
mainly targeted to French-speaking African countries was the
second of a series of four seminars being held in various
sub-regions of Africa.
51
participants including representatives of Governments, regulators,
institutions in charge of implementation of national ICT policies,
operators and service providers, private sector, civil society,
research institutions, from Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun,
République Démocratique du Congo, République
du Congo (Brazzaville), Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinée,
Madagascar, Mali, Maroc, Niger, République centrafricaine,
Rwanda, Sao Tomé & Principe, Sénégal
et Tunisie. The following institutions attended the workshop
: CEA, CEDEAO, Impact Africa, NEPAD, NetTel@frica, OIF, PANOS/CIPACO,
SADC and UNDP.
In his opening speech the Minister of Posts, Telecommunications
and New Technologies of Sénégal, Mr. Joseph
Ndong indicated that the workshop was in direct line with
the recommendations of the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) and should be considered also as an input to
the Internet Governance Forum to be held in Athens in November
2006. The Minister thanked the partners and praised ECA for
"the contunous actions it undertakes to facilitate the
continent's entry into the knowledge economy ".
The workshop was concluded with recommendations on the need
to put in place favourable regulatory environment in African
countries to enable access for all to an inclusive Information
Society, strengthening of existing cooperation networks, capacity
building of regulators and policymakers, and ensuring inclusion
of women.
Participants requested ECA to forward the recommendations
to the relevant organs, facilitate and monitor implementation.
All the communications are available at: www.epolafrica.org
. For more information, please contact: mfaye@uneca.org
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