The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) - United Nations ...

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government established a National Task Force to facilitate the Policy development process. This was a multi-sectoral Task Force with representation from all key sectors. In the Malawi process, national dialogue, serving as a national consultative process, was carried out as a key activity of the study underlying the development of the Framework (2002) and the Policy documents (2003). The process was a consultative one that brought on board all key stakeholders, government, private sector and civil society. Recognizing the essential need for spatially referenced data and geoinformation products to support the achievement of national development priorities, the ECA has been assisting countries in the development of integrated NICI/National Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDI) e-strategies resulting in geo-enabled NICI’s. Geospatial information enhances and adds value to the infostructure through spatial analysis introduction in the e-strategy priority sectors. This initiative calls for strong coordinating mechanisms and interaction between the two groups of stakeholders. Countries which have developed ECA assisted integrated NICI/SDI strategies include Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Swaziland. Stakeholders should also develop strategies for engaging with governments and decision-makers to strengthen the emerging democratic culture in African countries. The adhesion of decision makers and all stakeholders to the Information Society concept is therefore essential for the success of the NICI plans to be developed in member States. 2.6.2 Stakeholder networks To sustain the involvement of stakeholder groups in the AISI implementation at national and sectoral levels, the ECA continues to provide member States and development associations with support in the formation of stakeholder networks. National networks provide a mechanism for broadening and sustaining the modalities for stakeholder participation and enabling them to effectively participate in decision-making. Networks serve as a vehicle for peer reviewing, sharing of ideas, communication and as opportunities for continuous personal and professional development. ECA has been involved in intensive training activities to build the capacity of various stakeholders on key Information Society issues and encouraging their active participation in the policy formulation and implementation processes through the creation and maintenance of networks. More than 900 stakeholders from 15 countries have benefited from such training. These countries include Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Stakeholder networks for the media, news agencies, the youth, private sector and women now exist in most of these countries. These networks now play a key role in the implementation processes of respective NICI plans. Members of Parliament have been involved in the building of an African Information Society through training courses including hands on practical lessons on the use of the Internet and on basic computer applications. These activities were conducted in the Gambia, Kenya, Niger, Swaziland, and Uganda, and in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). ICT committees were established within the Parliaments of the Gambia, Niger, Uganda and Swaziland. 24
A I S I Chapter 3 Indicators for Benchmarking and Measuring the Information Society: The Scan-ICT Initiative 3.1 Background At the launch of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), it was recognised that the regional efforts to harness ICT for development would only be realized if nations designed and implemented effective and appropriate tools enabling them to measure the impact of ICTs on various sectors of the economy and citizenry. The fact that there was more demand for limited development resources necessitated the need for such tools. Empowering decision makers at all levels and providing them with timely and relevant information about the application and utilization of ICTs would enable them to identify the gaps and plan for future course of action. This would also facilitate the use of improved mechanisms for the monitoring and evaluation of ICT initiatives in the region and the design of appropriate R&D strategies. Currently, reliable basic indicators for gathering and consolidating data on the impact of ICTs in Africa are scarce because most African nations’ lack basic information on key economic and social indicators and ICT -related activities. To respond to this challenge, the Scan-ICT Initiative was launched in November 2000 as a collaborative project between the Acacia programme Box 12: Elements of Scan-ICT • Indicators and Benchmarks: which are essential for measuring progress made based by countries on the Information Society. • Policy Issues: The results of the Scan-ICT project should assist countries overhaul unfriendly policy environments, and create enabling frameworks. • Human resources: Scan-ICT can be used as an instrument for monitoring the growing demand for ICT skills. • Applications: tailored for entrepreneurs, communities, and those involved in social services, such as education and health care. Within these, the programme is meant to: • Determine ICT status and collect and disseminate ICT-related information in Africa; • Develop and continuously refine a set of indicators that can be used to measure ICT activity and progress in Africa and to guide investments that can enhance social and economic development; • Develop a continuous benchmarking strategy that can be implemented to improve performance of ICTs in Africa; • Promote effective use of national capacity; and • Create public awareness about the importance of ICTs for development. 25
Page 3 and 4: Economic Commission for Africa The
Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbr
Page 7 and 8: Acronyms and Abbreviations AAU Addi
Page 9: SAMTRAN Southern African Media Trai
Page 12 and 13: initiative (which included social i
Page 14 and 15: cialists to develop similar databas
Page 16 and 17: • The world’s lowest resource a
Page 18 and 19: Box 2: Resolution 812 (XXXI): Imple
Page 20 and 21: 1.4 The AISI Vision The AISI propos
Page 22 and 23: 1.6 The African Development Forum,
Page 25 and 26: A I S I Chapter 2 AISI and National
Page 27 and 28: On the action lines, the Plan of Ac
Page 29 and 30: Fig. 4: Status of NICI Policy Devel
Page 31 and 32: 2.4 Links to national, regional and
Page 33 and 34: The NICI policy was therefore set w
Page 35: Whilst governments have a leading r
Page 39 and 40: • Individual numbers of staff usi
Page 41 and 42: Even though mobile costs were comin
Page 43 and 44: The chart below (Fig. 12) shows the
Page 45 and 46: Scan-ICT II countries are expected
Page 47 and 48: The model classifies ICT4D indicato
Page 49: These include: • Public sector ma
Page 52 and 53: knowledge environment, increase dia
Page 54 and 55: countries organised sub-regionally
Page 56 and 57: Given this background, it is eviden
Page 58 and 59: • Marginalisation of Africa in th
Page 60 and 61: • Definition of offences in relat
Page 62 and 63: 4.5.2 Harmonization and domestic la
Page 64 and 65: and standards of service delivery a
Page 66 and 67: 5.2.2 On-site and On-line Learning
Page 68 and 69: the skills of the customs officers
Page 70 and 71: The training was comprised of lectu
Page 72 and 73: 6.2 WSIS and stakeholders involveme
Page 74 and 75: technical coordinator, the ECA led
Page 76 and 77: Box 20: 3rd Phase: Innovation/imple
Page 78 and 79: quires access to the technologies n
Page 80 and 81: • PICTA Bulletin (http://www.unec
Page 82 and 83: Box 26: Mr. Mkpe Abang, IT & Teleco
Page 84 and 85: In the area of education, governmen
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Burundi, Kenya, Benin, Tanzania, To
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• Bamako 2002: African Civil Soci
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appropriate right risk balance and
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proposed action-laden recommendatio
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websites but they have been unable
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6.7.4 Reluctance of Governments to
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ety Framework” which define benef
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-- -- -- The development of a proto
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-- Development of an inter-universi
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• Reviewed available outcomes of
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up action: capacity building, incub
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pre-conference workshops were organ
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Preparation of the Action Plan was
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Development Cooperation (SDC), e-Po
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Nations system’s commitment to su
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joint administration of ePol-NET Af
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9.9 Partnership for Measuring ICTs
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objective being the improvement of
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instance, the emergence of new indu
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lack of expertise in policy analysi
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10.5 The African private sector The
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equired to participate meaningfully
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Security on the Internet is crucial
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Fig 27: The AISI Roadmap African Te
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