Nurturing ICT Research and Development in Africa

The African Regional Preparatory Conference for the WSIS

"ARN Forum"

Breakout session
30 - 31 January 2005

I. BACKGROUND

In building an Information Society where key stakeholders can play a pivotal role, the ECA, upon the request of its Member States, launched the Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI). This was the first framework of its kind to concretely prioritize the issue of ICTs within the socio-economic development agenda. With respect to information and knowledge management activities for African academia, ECA considers the higher education community as the intellectual backbone to lead Africa into the digital age. The AISI framework document states that the AISI higher education and research objective is "to act as a vehicle for pooling national and regional intellectual and human resources to help contribute to research and development efforts in the continent."

In re-affirming the role of academia, universities and research institutions in the Information Society, ECA created VarsityNet, which is part of the Africa Learning Network (ALN), created to facilitate the effective use of ICTs in the learning and teaching process. The ALN was launched during the first African Development Forum (ADF'99), of which the theme was "The Challenge to Africa of Globalisation and the Information Age".

Worldwide, academic communities have been part of a driving force in creating the Information Society, including spearheading intellectual leadership through a series of knowledge-building activities. They constitute a tremendous reservoir of expertise that could provide vital assistance working with governments, private sector and civil society in an increasingly globalized and complex world.

It is for this reason that the Academia Research Network project has been launched to bring the diverse and varied research activities in the field of ICTs and society to the attention of African researchers. This signals the need for academics to effectively engage in collaborative research activities on the continent and assert their intellectual role.

II.- The Academia Research Network as Part of VarsityNet

In implementing the AISI at the national level, many countries have embarked on national e-strategies/policies (known as National Information and Communication Infrastructure - NICI plans). The intellectual input and guidance of academia needs to be increased in both the formulation and implementation processes of such policies. In line with this, the Academia Learning Network (ALN) programme, which was launched during ADF'99, was composed of the following four components:

• Schoolnet Africa - promoting ICT in schools,
• OOSYNET - promoting opportunities for out of school youth,
• VarsityNet - promoting connectivity at universities, research and development (R&D) centres etc and
• Local content and local language development.

One of the VarsityNet activities is the Academia Research Network launched during the first phase of the World Summit on Information Society in Geneva and followed by the establishment of four thematic research network areas (June 2004 in Addis-Ababa):

• Creating enabling environment
• Africa languages and content development in the cyberspace
• Measuring the impacts of the African Information Society
• Industrialisation of ICTs in Africa

Meetings were held by each group to formulate the research methodologies, budgets and respective timetables.

III. Forum objectives

This forum constitutes an opportunity for Academia and researchers to discuss the challenges facing them in the Information society. It will also help in reviewing findings of ongoing research activities in the framework of the implementation of African Information Society (AISI).

IV. Expected Outcomes

In line with the above-mentioned objective, the following outcomes are expected:

• A draft outline of major policies and strategies to improve the involvement of Academia and Research Institutions in the Information society. ;
• Findings of the research activities on "creating an enabling environment" to be reviewed so as to finalise the action plan ;
• Findings of the research activities on "Africa language and content development in the cyberspace" to be reviewed so as to finalise the action plan;
• Findings of the research activities on "measuring the impacts of the African Information Society" to be reviewed so as to finalise the action plan;
• Findings of the research activities on "industrialisation of ICTs in Africa", to be reviewed so as to finalise the action plan.

V. Content of the Agenda

- African Universities in the Information Society: Challenges, opportunities

African Universities and High Level education Institutions are breaking with outmoded traditions and embarking on major institutional and academic change, including new financial models, course structures, and governance practices. African governments increasingly recognize the value of these reforms in national development and poverty alleviation. Other factors promoting change in universities are processes of democratization, decentralization, and economic reform that grant greater autonomy to public institutions and hold them accountable. Among global factors helping to transform the scope of university practice and management, the revolution in information and communications technologies (ICT's) is one of the most powerful.

Major challenges to African universities include:

• technical obstacles to participation in increasingly global intellectual communities;
• redefining the nature of quality within international and local contexts;
• lowering costs through economies of scale; increasing access and gender equity and
• positioning higher education as a responsible partner in building democratic society.

This session will focus on challenges and opportunities facing Africa Universities in the Information Society and proposed way forward

Creating an enabling environment in the Information Society:

Over the last few years there has been a growth in the usage of terms such as the 'Information Society', the 'information superhighway', and the Internet. Politicians and political parties are also keen to announce policies aimed at enabling African countries to play a leading role in what we are told is a 'technological revolution'. Much of this populist coverage engages in what is known as 'social forecasting'. That is to say that the predictions may either be right or wrong. The simple truth of the matter is that the speed of current technological development is such that no one can predict with any degree of certainty what the future holds for societal uses of technology.

One thing that can safely be predicted however is that information communication technologies (ICT) will have a profound impact in terms of societal development. It is imperative therefore that all sections of society are given the opportunity to engage in a dialogue that assists in the development of a socially inclusive 'information society'. Research on enabling environment for inclusive information society is therefore a must. This session will cover findings of the thematic network on research domains identified and methodology to undertake the research activities.

- Africa language and content development in the cyberspace

With over 2,000 languages, which represent a third of all the languages worldwide, Africa cannot afford to ignore the issue of language in the development and building of an Information Society. Yet local African languages can become marginalized as a result of the Internet revolution with English becoming the dominant language. Efforts need to be made to include the use of local languages in the electronic world if the majority of Africans are to gain access to the Information Society. Given that Africa is under-represented in the global Information Society, there is a need to build capacity to produce and collect accurate and relevant local content in official and national languages, recognizing oral and traditional forms of communications. During the session the Coordinator of the Network, will present the status of the research activities followed by discussions to enrich the final product.

- Indicator for Measuring and benchmarking the African Information Society:

The tremendous growth in the use ICTs led to an increased interest in understanding its social and economic impact, giving rise to crosscutting research to understand the effects on the academia community in particular and the society at large. In addition, there is a need to develop indicators for the targets set in the WSIS Action Plan "as global references for improving connectivity and access in the use of ICTs" which are to be achieved by 2015. In addition, the WSIS Action plan recommends development of indicators for monitoring implementation between the two phases of the WSIS. The status of the research process on indicators for measuring and benchmarking the Information Society will be shared during the session.

- ARN: Industrialisation of ICT in Africa

Africa's digital economy is characterized by being a net importer of all ICT products - computers, communication equipment, software and related services. Digital inclusion in the African context entails support and access to information and communications manufacturing capabilities especially with regard to low cost and appropriate technologies among other issues.

There is a need to conduct research on selected critical issues related to the sector in order to review the current status, opportunities and challenges of ICT industrializations in Africa. In this regard, the African Academia Research Network can contribute significantly through research topics. During the Forum the Coordinator of the Network will make a presentation on the status of the process so as to obtain the necessary feedback to enrich the final product.