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3 July 2009
Twenty participants, comprising managers of community access points, telecentre network leaders, project coordinators and managers of ICT initiatives from eight countries are attending a two-day “Africa Knowledge Network Launch Workshop” at the Royal Mirage Hotel, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The participants are from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
 The workshop is the third major activity in a seven activity joint United Nations ESCWA led Regional Commissions’ initiative whose outcome is that of empowering poor and disadvantaged communities through the transformation of selected ICT access points into knowledge hubs of global knowledge networks. A number of activities had taken place prior to this including a regional stakeholders’ workshop which culminated inputs to the knowledge network strategies, mechanisms and tools and a review and assessment undertaken in the East African Community which identified services and best practices in community ICT access points.
The workshop will also review knowledge products and services developed in the various community ICT access points and provide mechanisms for sharing such products and services regionally and globally through the global knowledge network. The deliberations will also include the role of existing national and regional telecentre networks in catalysing knowledge sharing among community ICT access points/knowledge hubs and facilitating partnerships with similar initiatives and networks both at the regional and international levels.
In his welcoming remarks, on behalf of the Director for the ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD), Mr. Sizo D. Mhlanga, Chief ICT Policy and Development Section, advised participants that objective of this activity was to adopt the regional knowledge network strategy and a plan of action towards the launch of a regional network portal, the implementation of which, would “increase the involvement and engagement of disadvantaged in the utilization and dissemination of knowledge pertaining to the key areas of sustainable development such as employment, education, gender and health.” He advised that through the regional knowledge network portal, increased networking and knowledge and best practice sharing will be facilitated thus engaging the community in its own development processes.
By way of conclusion, he hoped that the adoption of the terms of reference of the regional knowledge network of telecentres, network strategy and requisite plans including the format and structure of the regional knowledge portal culminating in the launch of the Africa Regional Knowledge Network would form the concrete outcomes of this workshop.
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