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Kigali, 4 March 2009
Africa would need to bring Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to the forefront of its development agenda if it wants to take “advantage of innovations and immense benefits of ICTs”, Hon. Vincent Biruta, President of the Senate of the Republic of Rwanda, remarked here today.
Hon. Biruta, who was addressing the International Information Society Conference for African parliamentarians held in Kigali, acknowledged that Africa has a number of priorities on its agenda for economic and social transformation, but stressed the need for “these problems to be addressed holistically with ICTs as an integral driving force for transformation.”
Biruta, advised parliaments to adopt measures to ensure that “the information systems are an integral part of national development by advocating for the budgeting for information society needs at country level.
He also called on parliaments to provide oversight in strengthening the institutional organs responsible for the implementation of national ICT programmes.
“African parliaments also need to address the issue of regulatory barriers that hinder the development of the sector”, he said, stressing that “harmonized regulation will ensure that all Africans benefit, irrespective of their national boundaries.”
The two-day conference was held under the theme The development of an equitable information society: The role of African parliaments, and brought together more than 100 delegates including eight speakers, deputy speakers and MPs from 40 African countries.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in collaboration with the Rwandan Parliament and the Pan African Parliament organized the conference.
The Director of ECA Sub-regional office for East Africa, Mr Patrick Bugembe cherished the unique role being played by information and knowledge in the global networked economy.
“Indeed, we can see that countries which have created an enabling environment for ICTs are already reaping the fruits of information and knowledge especially in the area of governance, education, health and business sectors”, Bugembe said.
He commended the progress in the 21st century; with the number of countries with ICT policies increasing from 13 in 2000 to 42 in 2008, but regretted what he called the lack of political will among African countries.
“The main challenge the continent faces in advancing the implementation of the national ICT infrastructure plans, is that of political commitment”, he said.
In his welcome remarks, Dr John-Mary Kauzya, Chief of governance and Public Administration of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) noted that ICTs are borderless and require legislative frameworks that are not limited to one country.
He called for the creation of legislative frameworks with regional or continental focus to deal effectively with the emerging cyberspace.
“Besides the regional dimension of ICTs, politically Africa is moving towards integration and closer collaboration which also requires close collaboration and exchange of information among African parliaments.
Engineer James Rege, the chairman of the Information and Communications Committee in the Kenyan parliament observed that legislators must have a thorough understanding of the existing legal frameworks so as to effectively formulate policies that are conducive to the growth of the ICT sector.
“The legislators need to have a grasp of the existing laws as they formulate ICT policies. However, in order for the ICT sector to grow, goodwill and support of the government is paramount”, Rege stated.
As a prelude to the conference, ECA launched the Academy for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Essentials for Government Leaders in Africa on 3rd March 2009.
The curriculum consists of a core ICT for development platform with eight stand-alone modules ranging from basic to more advanced topics of ICT for development, including internet governance, the linkage between ICTs and development, e-government applications, ICT trends for government leaders, among others. The curriculum is to be implemented by ECA’s Information Technology Centre for Africa (ITCA).
Main steps to be taken include the development of a repository of policy, legislation and regulation on ICT for development; the development of ICT Master and the creation of ICT Committee in all African Parliaments.
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