500 scientists set to examine Africa’s technology, innovation performance

ECA Press Release No. 23/2009

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 24 April 2009 (ECA) - Over 500 scientists from Africa and the world have confirmed their participation in the forthcoming First Session of the Committee on Development Information, Science and Technology (CODIST I) billed for Addis Ababa from 29 April to 1 May 2009, Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director of Information Science and Technology Division told journalists in the Ethiopian capital today.

Expressing optimism about the meeting’s outcomes, she said that it would  “create an opportunity for benchmarking Africa’s innovation performance against such key pillars of the knowledge economy as education and capacity building, ICT infrastructure, regulatory and economic and institutional regimes and lay the groundwork for the development of the ECA’s two-year programme on ICT, Science & Technology for Development.”
 
Ms Opoku-Mensah explained the significance of the theme of the meeting, which is, “Scientific Development, Innovation and the Knowledge Economy” with two sub-themes on “the Enabling Environment for Innovation” and “Innovation and Economic Growth.”

In the light of the current global financial crisis, Ms Opoku-Mensah stressed that Science and Technology Innovation and the Knowledge Economy will gain greater importance for Africa to assure its future growth.

The first session of CODIST will focus on three key scientific areas: ICTs, Geoinformation and Science and Technology; with pre- and post-CODIST events in each of the three focus areas.

Special events in the respective areas also figure prominently on the meeting’s agenda. In the ICTs sector, a special event will be the Technology in Government Award (TIGA) 2009; in the area of geoinformation there will be pre-CODIST workshops on ‘Enlisting National Mapping Agencies in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS, while in the area of Science and Technology a pre-CODIST event on ‘ECA- IDEO Workshop on Capacity Building on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Africa’ will be conducted.

Over 30 applications were short-listed from Angola, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, The Gambia, Tunisia, Zambia; and among which 9 will awarded on 30 April for demonstrating innovative applications in government services. A book on ‘AISI: A Decades Perspectives’ will also be launched.

END

Issued by the ECA Information and Communication Service
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
Fax: +251 11 551 0365
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org
Web: www.uneca.org