During the eighth session of the Joint Conference of African Statisticians, Planners and Demographers (JCPSD) held in Addis Ababa from 21-26 March 1994, the Information Science Committee assumed new functions assigned to it by the twenty- eighth (1993) session of the UNECA Conference of Ministers. Under its new terms of reference the Information Science Committee is charged with providing policy guidance to the UNECA on its activities and programme in information systems development.
The change in functions of the Committee resulted from the UNECA Conference of Ministers decision to rationalize the number of statutory and legislative bodies reporting to it, eliminating, among other bodies, the Regional Technical Committee for PADIS which had meet biennially since 1985.
Information systems figured prominently among the debate and decisions of the Joint Conference this year. The Conference urged UNECA to co-ordinate databases developed in the region through the promotion and the adoption of norms and standards, in order to facilitate the exchange of information and foster regional economic integration. In view of the barriers placed to the introduction of modems, satellites and other new information technology in some countries, the Conference requested UNECA to sensitize policy makers to the importance of electronic communication as a tool for African development and regional co- operation. The Conference stressed the need for Africa to take part actively in computer mediated communications so that more intra-country and intra-African communication would result. The Conference urged member States to approve the introduction and utilization of new technology for electronic communication.
Member States were also urged to adopt national information policies and to set up multi-sectoral national information networks for better coordination of development information activities in their respective countries.
The Information Science Committee was attended by 12 member States, two international organizations and two other observer organizations. Its officers elected were Chairperson: Niger (Mr. Abdoulaye Maliki); Vice Chairperson: Senegal (Mr. Abdoussalam Diallo); and Rapporteur: Swaziland (Ms. Dudu Fakudze).
Among the documentation presented to the Committee was the following:
- Development Information Management Issues in Africa (E/ECA/PSD.8/24)
- Computer mediated Communications and the need for infrastructure building
in Africa (E/ECA/PSD.8/25)
- Report on ECA development information activities (1992-1993); work
programme (1994-1995) and provisional work programme (1996-1997)
(E/ECA/PSD.8/26)
- Programme Budget Resources 1994-1995 (E/ECA/PSD.8/26/Add.1)
(Translator; these are available in French; let us give you correct titles)
Copies of all these documents are available upon request from PADIS from
the address shown in the box on p.1.
This decision was a very important one for the continuation of PADIS, whose activities are comprised by UNECA's subprogramme on statistics and information systems development. Since March 1992 when its funding from UNDP came to an end, PADIS financial resources have been very tenuous. The decision of the General Assembly ensures the commitment of the United Nations to include activities on behalf of information systems development in Africa within the resource structure of the United Nations regular programme budget. Further evidence of that commitment came in January 1994 with the creation of a post of regional advisor at UNECA in information systems development, as part of the United Nation's section 20 technical assistance programme.
Change of name Although information specialists had been included in the Joint Conference of African, Planners, Statisticians and Demographers since 1984 as a result of UNECA Conference of Ministers resolution 438 (XVII) of 1982, their participation had never been officially recognized in the Conference title. As a result of the decision of the eighth meeting of the JCPSD (related story above), the Conference has now changed its name to the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Population and Information Specialists. In the case of information specialists, this is meant to include information science and systems, information technology, information management, information policy and telematics and to reflect the role of the Conference in advising on the secretariat of the Economic Commission for Africa on development information.
Copies of the new terms of reference of the Conference are available upon request from PADIS. PADIS visits Tunisia From 15 to 23 January 1994 the Pan African Development Information System undertook a mission to the Export Promotion Centre (CEPEX) of the Ministry of the National Economy in Tunis, in order to discuss potential cooperation between PADIS and CEPEX in the field of trade information systems.
Undertaken by Mr. Saddik Solbi, PADIS Systems Development Officer, the mission evaluated CEPEX's Trade Applications System for Developing Information Research (TASDIR) developed as an information trade system in collaboration with the International Trade Centre of UNCTAD/GATT (Geneva) and the United Nations Development Programme.
The mission examined the system software, its connectivity to other similar systems and its possible adaptation to or adoption by other African States.
The mission had several meetings with CEPEX's management in order to discuss modalities of cooperation in the field of training, advisory services and information exchange. Copies of the mission report are available from PADIS upon request. PADIS Participates in TELESPAZIO Seminar PADIS attended a seminar on the use of space technologies for environmental development and telecommunication in Africa organised jointly by Telespazio and African Development Bank (ADB) in Abidjan on 28 January 1994. The mission was undertaken by PADIS staff member Mr. Saddik Solbi. The seminar discussed distance teaching and training, the use of satellite and space technologies in rural development, natural disaster, remote sensing projects in the use of soil and Geographical Information Systems.
PADIS made a presentation to the seminar on the use of the HealthNet SatelLife for the health sector in the horn of Africa and the use of telecommunications in computer mediated networking as well as the importance of distance training in the development of capacity building for African member States.
The mission concluded with an agreement between PADIS and Telespazio officials on promoting data exchange and experiences. Resrep visits PADIS The Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Namibia Mr. Aliou M. Diallo visited PADIS on 22 February to learn about PADIS' products and services. It is expected that the visit will result in a request from the Government of Namibia for PADIS' advisory services for the development of an information system to support development planning.
During January and March 1994 CABECA visited six southern African countries, namely, Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland to assist in identifying new electronic communication nodes and strengthening existing ones. All the missions were undertaken by Mike Jensen, a leading expert in electronic communication in Africa.
Lesotho
The first mission was to Lesotho from 12-14 January; some users there had already been using electronic mail by dialing Rhodes University in South Africa, but no local system had been established. The Institute of Southern African Studies of the University of Lesotho in Roma hosted the mission and volunteered to act as the host for the national node to be established under the CABECA project. The mission visited a number of university departments, local organizations and government offices to ascertain their interest in forming a national user group. The prospect received strong support, especially from the Vice Chancellor of the University. Plans were made to order equipment under the CABECA project; once this arrives, installation will be done and demonstrations held to bring in additional users. Both e-mail and conferences will be provided on the prospective system.
Swaziland
In Swaziland from 19-22 January Mike Jensen found that although some attempts were being made to use e-mail, there was no national host. Swaziland has a unique opportunity to establish a leased line connection to InterNet through UniNet in South Africa because of the close proximity of South Africa telecommunications facilities and the low pricing schedule of the Swai Telecom Authority. If this takes place, Swaziland would be the first country in sub- Saharan Africa outside South Africa to have such a system. The mission centred on plans towards this goal, with the assistance of the Office of the Vice Chancellor, University of Swaziland, which hosted the mission.
Mozambique
Mozambique was the third country visited, from 24-27 January with the assistance of the Informatics Centre at the University Eduardo Mondlane which had e-mail connectivity through a Uucp connection to Rhodes University. The University has established public access policies for this node, and thus CABECA concentrated its efforts on developing a plan of operation for the national network to be called EMUNET running under Unix on an IBM compatible 486 PC based at the University. Calls would need to be initiated from South Africa in view of the view high cost of telecommunications in/from Mozambique.
Namibia
The timing of the mission to Namibia from 1-4 February was particularly apropos as a new local electronic host had just been commissioned at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Namibia, The visit concentrated on developing national users and strengthening the newly-established host, whose address is user@grumpy.cs.na. A public meeting was held, attended by 30 residents interested in electronic communication. Individual meetings were subseuqnetly held with all the participants to discuss their particular electronic communication needs. The new host running on Unix calls the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa, which is on Intrnet, so mail transfer is immediate. The mission noted that Namibia has a packet switching network, SWANET.
Angola
In Angola from 7-14 February Mike Jensen found two operating nodes, both using the FIDO operating system, - one run by Development Workshop, a Canadian non-governmental organization, and the other as part of the United Nations Development Programme Sustainable Development Network (SDN, or RIDS in Portuguese). Onsite training, installation and configuration were done at both sites and at a user site as well. A development plan was also worked out to bring electronic networking extensively to the University Agostinho Neto. Electronic communication users can reach the two nodes at user@angonet.gn.apc.org (DW) or user@ridsang.gn.apc.org (SDN).
Botswana
Botswana was the last of the six countries to be visited, from 22-25 February. The mission was hosted by the Botswana Technology Centre in Gaborone. The institution had e-mail through the cc:Mail package on a local area network, but no wide area electronic mail service. Users had been dialing South Africa, using the commercial CompuService electronic mail service which provides a mail gateway to Internet. The University of Botswana had some e-mail experience on a dialup UUCP link to Rhodes University in South Africa. In addition to BTC, the`South Africa Development Conference also showed interest in the CABECA project.
Mike Jensen can be contacted electronically at mikej@wn.apc.org. Copies of the individual missions reports are also available upon request from PADIS.
HealthNet/SatelLife Established in Ethiopia
Under the sponsorship of PADIS, the HealthNet/SatelLife information system based in Cambridge MA (USA) has installed a ground station in Ethiopia, at the library of the Addis Ababa University Medical School. The ground station became operational in January 1994.
Under the HealthNet programme, the medical school library of Emory University in Atlanta GA (USA) has agreed to be the international library partner for HealthNet Ethiopia, responding to information requests on subjects related to health and medical matters.
Electronic mail users may reach HealthNet Ethiopia at khundie@eth.healthnet.org. By traditional means, those interested may contact Mr. Tadesse Gulbessa, Librarian or Mr. Kebede Hundie, Systems operator, HealthNet Ethiopia, Medical School Library, Addis Ababa University, P O Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, tel.+251 1 51 89 99.
HealthNet expects to install a ground station in Eritrea in April 1994, to bring to 16 the number of operational HealthNet ground stations. Copies of information on HealthNet/SatelLife are available from PADIS.
PADIS sets up BBS
As part of its CABECA project, PADIS has opened The Hornet, a free electronic bulletin board serving as a source of news, reports and discussion on issues related to the Horn of Africa. It also intends to introduce users to Internet, the giant metanetwork.
Any electronic communications users in the Horn of Africa, or elsewhere, are welcome to access this information service by using their modem to dial +251 1 51 45 34 (at 2400 baud, settings N-8-1). News, reports and discussions can be browsed; callers can also download shareware, software and information services. The BBS is also accessible through Windows. Further information is available from ben.parker@padis.gn.apc.org.
Among the items of interest on The Hornet on a recent day were files for fully exploiting Internet, United States Department of State human rights reports on Ethiopia and Eritrea, Somalia news updates, Amnesty International reports and the PADIS newsletter.
POPIN Gopher
The United Nations Population Division of the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (New York) has established a population information "gopher". (A gopher is an electronic library of services, an interactive information delivery service which allows users to browse available Internet resources.)
The POPIN gopher was created by the Division's Population Information Network (POPIN) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with financial support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Population information resources in the POPIN gopher include electronic journals and newsletters, software, news summaries and press releases, directories, and documentation about the forthcoming International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
Resources have been contributed by international, governmental and non-governmental organizations and cover topics of immediate interest and importance to researchers, policy makers, clinicians, and others in the fields of population, health and family planning.
The POPIN gopherspace has been designed to serve as a focal point for the display and distribution of population information world-wide and POPIN welcomes additional relevant postings. PADIS has contributed information on population information activities in Africa to the gopherspace. Access to the UNDP gopher is free of charge for Internet users. To access the gopherspace, the address is gopher.undp.org via Internet or gopher@undp.org via email.
For further information, contact: Dr. Susan Pasquariella, POPIN Co-ordinator, Population Division, Department for Economic and Social, Information and Policy Analysis, United Nations Secretariat, 2 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 USA; telephone: +1(212) 963-3203; fax: +1 (212) 963-2147; E-mail: popin@undp.org.
E-mail at the University of Zimbabwe
At least three electronic mail nodes at the University of Zimbabwe are accessible to the public sector, research community and non-governmental organizations, according to an article by Prof. John G. Shepard.
The first which uses a UUCP link to Internet, for electronic mail only, to Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, has nearly 2000 registered users. The second is a node using Front Door software and the Fidonet Protocol, as part of the Eastern and Southern Africa Network (ESANET) project linking five universities in the subregion, with about 30 users in Zimbabwe. The third is a Healthnet/SatelLife ground station, which, as of the time of the writing of the article, was experiencing difficulties in securing an operating license.
The author argues the merits of the three systems and makes the case for obtaining a leased line to move toward full Internet connectivity.
Copies of the article are available upon request from PADIS at the address listed on p.1. Prof. Shepard may be contacted at the Computer Centre, University of Zimbabwe, P.O. Box MP167, Harare, Zimbabwe, e-mail johnax@zimbix.uz.zw.
The United Nations is working toward creating an integrated library network of the United Nations system. Reports detailing efforts in this direction were presented to the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly meeting in New York in April 1993. Copies of the reports presenting this agenda item (A48/83) are available upon request from PADIS at the address listed on p.1.
Computers Available
Although the issue of recycling computers to developing countries is a controversial one (readers may request from PADIS a summary of the debate which took place over electronic media on this issue) an organisation in the United Kingdom has been organised to facilitate the no-cost transfer of microcomputers and related technology to recipients in developing countries.
Organisations in developing countries who are interested in profiting from these arrangements should contact Dr. Patrick H. Corr, Department of Computer Science, Sir David Bates Building, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, N. Ireland; Tel.:44-232-245133 Ext 3216; Fax: + 44-232-331232;e- mail:p.corr@v2.qub.ac.uk.
Training Opportunities
Agriculture Information Training
Librarians and information professions from countries with or planning to have national information systems are invited to apply for the fifteenth annual training course on information on agriculture and the biosciences organized by CAB International from 17 July-5 August 1994.
The overall topic is use and management of information on agriculture, the biosciences and related disciplines, with strong emphasis on new information technology and marketing library resources. Candidates should have professional qualifications either in library or information science or in a scientific discipline. Further information is available from the Cou