ECAs ICT Library 2004 2005 Activities Report

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ECAs ICT - Library 2004 - 2005 Activities Report
Biennium 2006-2007 Work Programme

• Thierry H. Amoussougbo, Regional Adviser - DISD
• Sub Committee session 5
• 27-04-05

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Contents

• 2004-2005 ICT/Library Activities Report
• Information Policy Development and Implementation
  
• Information and Knowledge Development and
  Management
• Promoting Partnership and Networking
• Outreach on Information Society Development
• 2006-2007 Work Programme

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Information Policy Development and Implementation
Acceleration of e-strategies processes
(NICI/SICI/RICI)

• National e-strategy (NICI)
• The number of Countries with national e-strategy
  (NICI) documents and which start the
  implementation phase has increased
• Sectoral e-strategy (SICI)
• A health and ICT policy have been prepared and
  reviewed by stakeholders in Uganda
• E-Government projects in Ghana, Rwanda
• Regional e-strategy (RICI)
• Sub-regional e-gov framework in the East African
  Community (EAC)
• COMESAs e-strategy is almost completed
• A legal framework for e-commerce for the ECOWAS
  region and process of feasibility study on the
  same platform has started in UMA Region

4

Information Policy Development and Implementation
Promote and Coordinate ICT Initiatives

• World Summit on Information Society (WSIS)
• WSIS Africa Regional preparatory conference held
  from 2 to 4 February 2005 in Accra, Ghana under
  the theme Access Africas key to an inclusive
  Information Society ,
• More than 2000 Participants, more than fifteen
  workshops were organized on
• E- strategies, financing mechanisms, internet
  governance, partnership and the way ahead beyond
  Tunis 2005
• Key principles, development orientations,
  resource mobilization including human resources,
  international cooperation, and operational
  aspects including the way to Tunis 2005
• Africa Ministers Meeting was organised and
  adopted the Accra Commitments for WSIS Tunis
  2005 ,an Africas position to key issues of the
  WSIS process. And agree on the formulation of
  African Regional Action Plan (AFRAPE)
• NEPAD
• AISI framework help in coordinating UN Agencies
  contribution to NEPAD- Variopus meeting were
  organized in this line

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Information Policy Development and Implementation
Involvement of ECA Sub-Regional Offices (SRO)
in e-strategies

• East African SRO participated in the launching
  workshop of the EAC e-government policy
  development, and involved in Rwandas
  e-Government strategy.
•  
• West African SRO is involved in activities with
  ECOWAS for the formulation of sub-regional
  framework on e-commerce
•  
• Central African SRO has been active in the
  Cameroon NICI process and stakeholders Network
  promotion.
• North African sub-regional office, along with the
  Union du Maghreb Arabe (UMA) was instrumental in
  preparing the ECA-UNDP workshop on the use of ICT
  as a tool to boost trade exchanges within the
  region

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Information Policy Development and Implementation
Creation of Performance Indicators for the
Implementation of AISI

• In collaboration with IDRC a workshop was
  organise in February 2004, to assess and conclude
  the first phase of the SCAN-ICT
• ECA/ITU Regional Workshop on ICT Indicators held
  in Gaborone, Botswana from 26 to 29 October 2004
  - discussed the issue of indicators. And launched
  the second phase of SCAN-ICT to include other
  nine African countries
• One of the four Academia Research Network is
  working on Indicators for measuring and
  benchmarking Information Society

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Information and Knowledge Development and
Management Enhancing the role of the Library and
operationalize AVLIN

•  
• Fully integrated library information system
  online references through its information portal
  is implemented- AVLIN website is operational
• Library and technical information services is
  provided to the secretariat and member States.
• Several socio-economic information sources for
  use by African researchers and policymakers in
  member States is produced and disseminated
• Value-added informational materials targeted at
  policy makers, researchers, economists and
  similar groups are produced
• Workshop was organized to build ECA Sub-regional
  offices library staff capacity
• AVLIN members participated to WSIS Accra and were
  involved in ARN on language and OSS activities

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Information and Knowledge Development and
Management Promotion of OSS and Localization

•  
• ECA - OIF Partnership to promote the use of open
  source software in the continent
• ECA/FOSSFA workshop on the Digital Commons in
  January 2004, FOSSFA Council program activities
  was launched
• ECA - Ford Foundation support to Addis Ababa
  University in research activities on OSS and
  Ahmaric localization
• ECA- IUCEA including Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania,
  support to e-government platform research
  activities based on OSS
• ECA - UNCTAD - Expert Meeting on Free and Open
  Source Software, held from 22 to 24 September
  2004 in Geneva.
• WSIS-OSS workshops during WSIS Accra

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Information and Knowledge Development and
Management Promotion of Africa-Wide Sectoral
Portals

•  
• ECAs ITCA has been developing sectoral portals
  on good governance, regional Integration, health
  and a database of African experts and the
  Diaspora, Online training for Policy makers and
  media professionals (VLAC)
• AISI webpages has been improved

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Promoting Partnership and Networking
Stakeholders Involvement in the Information
Society

• CSO
• Civil Society Network in the Information Society
  (ACSIS) official launched in Tunis- Road map from
  Accra to Tunis adopted with ECA support
• Media
• The second AISI media awards ceremony took place
  in September, the third has been announced and
  ECA is receiving entries.
•  
• ECA launched African Media and ICT4D and AISI
  media Training modules
• MPs
• ICT4D Tanzania MPs Network Launched, More than 70
  MPs received training on ICTs
• ICT4D Youth Networks launched

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Promoting Partnership and Networking
Stakeholders Involvement in the Information
Society

•  
• Academia
• The intellectual leadership of Academia has been
  strengthened from the retreat to the
  establishment of four African Academia Research
  Network (ARN)
•  Launched during WSIS Geneva, the ARN is composed
  of the following four thematic Network
•  
• - Creating enabling environment in the
  Information Society
• -   ICT Industrialization
• -    African Language and Content Development in
  the Cyberspace Improved content creation and
  assistance towards enabling African languages
• -    Information Society Indicators and
  benchmarking
• Academia Forum was organised during WSIS Accra

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Promoting Partnership and Networking
Stakeholders Involvement in the Information
Society

• Private Sector
• Nurturing ICT innovations workshop was organized
  for Africa Private sector in Tunis, two
  pre-conference workshops on public-private
  partnership (PPP) during WSIS Accra
• Gender
• ECA/DAW workshop from 10 to 14 January 2005 to
  build the institutional capacity of information
  managers working for National Machineries
• A Gender forum was also held during the Accra
  WSIS conference
• Other
• Stakeholders discussions list are still actives
  and constitute an Information, Knowledge sharing
  and capacity building platform.
• MSP Forum was organized during WSIS Accra. All
  stakeholders contributed to the Accra commitments
  adopted by the African Ministers.

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ECAs Partnership Initiatives

•  
• PICTA
• ECAs collaboration with partners in
  implementing the AISI continued under the PICTA
  framework. Annual PICTA meetings were held in
  Tunisia (October 2003) and Mauritius (September
  2004.)
• Monthly PICTA bulletin is produced by ECA
• ePolNet
• Assessment/survey to identify the e-strategy
  needs in African countries
• Development of web resources
• ePol-NET experts database - expert-country matrix
  of potential experts
• Requests for assistance in the development of
  e-strategies
• Requests from Benin, Lesotho, Uganda, Ghana,
  Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Burkina Faso,
  Gambia and Niger have been received

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ECAs Partnership Initiatives

•  
• GKP
• ECA continues to act as regional focal point for
  GKP
• A Multi-stakeholders partnership (MSP) session
  brought together more than two hundred
  stakeholders to discuss on the Information
  Society Issues and Africas position during WSIS
  Accra

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Outreach on Information Society Development

•  
• AISI Radio Series
• Dialogue on Digital Dividends in Africa is the
  Bronze winner of the New York festivals 2003
  Radio Awards
• Additional programmes in the series include a
  French programme
• The English version covered Ghana, Mali and
  Uganda while the French version covered Benin and
  Senegal.
• The series was disseminated through Radio
  Nederlands affiliate stations such as World
  Radio Network (WRN) broadcast worldwide with
  specific feeds to National Public Radio (NPR) in
  North America, SAfm, South Africa, Canadian
  Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and the Australia
  Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
• In addition, the Radio Series have been
  distributed to community radio stations in Africa
  using the AMARC network.

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Outreach on Information Society Development

•  
• AISI Video illustrate the extent of the
  implementation of the National Policies and shows
  that ICT is not a matter of choice, but that its
  a necessity
• Good practical examples have been be filmed
•  
• Uganda
• -         Health initiatives and projects e.g.
  HealthNet.
• -         National association of the blind and
  its use of ICT
• -         The community based Nakaseke Telecentre
• Ethiopia
• -         Telecentres initiatives
• -         Touch Screen Kiosks in local language
• -         Open source applications
• -         Woreda Study to determine how ICT is
  used to deliver better public services.
• -         African Virtual University

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Outreach on Information Society Development

•  Good practical examples have been be filmed
  (ctd)
•  
• Ghana
• - Traditional Governance VICI Initiatives
• -         HealthNet Ghana
• -         Busy Internet, the largest Internet
  Café in West Africa
• -         Earth Scan projects for environmental
  protection
• Rwanda
• -         Projects that are underway to turn the
  country into an ICT economic hub
• -         E governance.
• -         Interviews with NICI focal points.
• -         ICT 4 D Practioners and decision
  Makers.
• -         Interview with President Kagame of
  Rwanda to highlight his
  leadership role in Promoting ICT

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Outreach on Information Society Development

•  Outreach
•  
• Stakeholders discussions lists platforms are
  functional and constitute a framework for
  Information and Knowledge sharing and capacity
  building on Information Society issues
• Websites

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2006-2007 Work Programme

• MAIN OBJECTIVE
• To further strengthen an African information
• society that better addresses the continents
• development challenges

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Stakeholders in implementing the subprogramme

• UN agencies
• International agencies
• African Union/NEPAD
• Regional Economic Communities (RECs)
• Other stakeholders

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Expected Accomplishments

• Improved capacity of African countries in NICI
  processes with consideration given to gender
  equality and SDI integration.
• Indicators of Achievement
• I) Increase the number of Countries that made
  progress in e-strategies formulation and
  implementation (Baselines 2002-2003 10
  -2004-2005 18 - Target 2006-2007 26 countries)
• ii) Increase the number of regional agreements
  and activities to support NEPAD and the RECs on
  ID (Baselines 2002-2003 2, 2004-2005 6,
  Target 2006-2007 9)
• Improved availability and use of information for
  development at the national, regional and
  sub-regional levels
• Indicators of Achievement Increase the number of
  Pilot programmes, including incorporating gender
  dimension at the national, regional and
  sub-regional levels, Baselines (2002-2003 4,
  2004-2005 17,Target 2006-2007 24)

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External Factors affecting the achievement of
objectives and expected accomplishments

• ICTs remaining a priority in Government
  development policies
• Continued support from partners

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OUTPUTS

• Intergovernmental and Expert Bodies (CODI
  IV-ATAC)
• Technical Cooperation (Advisory services, Group
  training, Fellowship, Field projects)
• Other Substantive activities (AISI10, Reports on
  ICT-GEO-Library trends, WSIS)

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MERCI QUESTIONS