ICT Update's List: Rural-ICT-Policy

As the Internet becomes more accessible across Africa, social media, such as the micro-blogging site Twitter and Facebook, are gaining popularity. This development will open up new lines of communication between scientists, policymakers and the public. But its benefits will come only if all parties are ready to start engaging each other as equals — and if African governments welcome the personal liberty and openness that social media promote.

Twenty-five African nations appear to have a recent/current ICT plan. Approximately 60% of these plans are official active through at least 2011. The successful implementation of a national ICT (NICT) plan, also known as national information and communication infrastructure (NICI) plan, requires a great deal of planning on the part of the government. National ICT plans face an array of challenges including costs, stubborn government leaders, lack of infrastructure (ie. electricity), and a limited number of trained consultants.

The ICT Regulation Toolkit is a live resource for policy-makers, regulators, the telecom industry, and consumers. It provides a global overview of how telecom policy is best implemented with practical materials highlighting experience and results.

L’utilisation du nouveau protocole IP version 6 (IPv6) est vitale pour l’Afrique, a soutenu ce mardi au cours d'une conférence à Ebène, à Maurice, le directeur général de AfriNIC (le registre régional Internet pour l’Afrique), Adiel Akplogan. 'L’IPv6 n’est plus aujourd’hui un des éléments du futur mais bien du présent. Nous entrons dans l’ère de l’Internet de demain; un monde où la norme attendue de tous est l’omniprésence de la connectivité et de la gestion à distance', a-t-il déclaré.

Senegal's own National observatory for Information Systems, Ntworks and Information Highways. Keept up-to-date and producing a good newsletter called Batik, wtih news on Policy, Projects and Ideas related to ICT policy and practical IT innovationsé Economic/business content with some 'rural development' content, especialy policy related.

This paper is an exploratory study that looks at early stages of the decentralization and other reforms in the policymaking and planning processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The paper develops a conceptual framework and adopts an innovative mapping tool to identify capacity and incentive challenges impeding the effective design and implementation of policy processes.

The Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) was established in 2004 to monitor the compliance of member states of the African Union (AU) with selected standards of good governance, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
AfriMAP works with national partners and civil society groups to compile systematic country reports on governance issues, using a framework linking respect for human rights to progress in development. Reports are based on a standardized template, allowing cross-country comparison and learning, encouraging debate, and highlighting best case practices. All materials produced are publicly available. AfriMAP works with national and regional partners to raise awareness of the reports’ findings on good governance and human rights.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities offered by E-Government to Africa by documenting few initiatives on the continent that have developed innovative models that contribute to governments' efficiency, accessibility, transparency and accountability through the implementation of ICT based services.
It consists of a documentation of three case studies that would serve as a basis for a publication of the E-Strategies Division of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and support for the teaching materials of the Masters in e-Governance program at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). It is also intended to inform government officials of e-government initiatives on the continent and allow them to assess the possibility of replicating similar projects in their respective countries.

The Government of The Gambia in response to the recognition that ---- information , knowledge and technology in one form or another increasingly becoming the key drivers for socio-economic development world-wide, developed the nation's ICT4D (or NICI) Policy with technical support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in the framework of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). The NICI Plan development process was led by Prof. Clement Dzidonu, Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute for Information Technology (INIIT), Accra , Ghana . Funding of the process was provided by ECA and the Republic of Finland.

The Government in developing this Policy Statement did recognize that: for these policy provisions and commitments to make an appreciable desirable impact on Gambia's socio-economic development process they will need to be integrated into the overall developmental objectives, priorities and programmes of the country. Such an all-inclusive comprehensive ICT4D policy and strategies must be aimed at the implementation of initiatives that could contribute to addressing the key developmental challenges facing The Gambia.

The Gambia in acknowledging the crucial developmental potentials of ICTs set its national ICT4D Policy Statement within the general framework of meeting in the short to medium term its PRSP goals and objectives and as well as the MDGs. The longer term vision is to use these technologies and its resources to substantially transform Gambia 's under-developed low-income agricultural-based, technologically and industrially weak economy into a high income information-rich and knowledge-based economy and society in the emerging information and knowledge age.

APKN Portal is the web portal of the Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network, a network of African Parliaments which supports capacity building activities, common information services, sharing experiences and best practices among African Parliaments. It builds on the regional and continental dimensions to create synergies and the critical mass necessary to deliver high quality and sustainable services for all African Parliaments.

A 5 year, US$15 million project funded by the worlbank and implemented by the PNG Dept of Communications and Information. Approved on 22 July 2010, colsing in August 2015.
The Rural Communications Project will improve access to telecommunications infrastructure and services in rural and remote areas of Papua New Guinea.
The project will provide access to telecommunications to over 420,000 rural Papua New Guineans in the provinces of Chimbu and East Sepik, and facilitate public Internet access in about 60 district centres. The project will provide technical assistance to the National Information & Communications Technology Authority to strengthen the competitiveness of the telecommunications market for the medium-term and address emerging challenges. It will also work with a newly established universal access and service regime and associated fund in order to develop regulations and operating procedures. Three demonstration projects will be financed under the project. A demonstration project for Internet service will also provide a one-time capital subsidy to prospective bidders to establish Internet points of presence in about 60 district centres, affecting 4.9 million people. These public access Internet facilities are expected to be commercially operated, in the interests of financial sustainability.

L'Afrique a besoin d'ordinateurs et de portables, de câbles de fibre optique et de téléphones cellulaires pour nourrir sa révolution technologique. Un marché très demandeur en nouvelles technologie de l'information et de télécommunications (TIC), qui occupent une place croissante dans les économies du continent. Les enjeux sont considérables: formation, éducation, investissement financier, les TIC sont un des moteurs de la croissance. Les organismes de régulation des télécommunications, qui contrôlent la structure du marché et la diffusion des nouvelles technologies, font désormais partie du paysage réglementaire. Entre 2000 et 2007, le nombre de pays d'Afrique à s'être dotés d'un tel organisme est passé de 26 à 44.

This multimedia book reports on an initiative in West Africa that seeks to create safe spaces in which food providers and consumers can discuss how to build an agri-food research system that is democratic and accountable to wider society. An explicit aim of the entire process is to strengthen the voices and effectiveness of small-scale producers and other citizens in the governance of agricultural research as well as in setting strategic research priorities and validating knowledge. The book combines text, photos, video and audio recordings to describe the methodologies used in processes of deliberation and inclusion that involved small scale producers (farmers, pastoralists, fishermen and food processors) and holders of specialist knowledge on agricultural research. The policy recommendations that emerged out of two citizens' juries and farmer led assessments of agricultural research are presented here along with some critical reflections on the process so far. The outcomes of these citizen deliberations have significant implications for current debates on the future of food and farming in West Africa.

These information and communication technology (ICT) training modules from the United Nations - Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT) Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders cover

This briefing for journalists intends to set out the main issues around the topic of empowering people through ICTs and shows how journalists can use academic research as both a starting point and a reference in their reporting. Specific areas of journali

Public-sector programs have attempted to overcome information-related asymmetries barriers to technological adoption by providing
agricultural extension services. While such programmes have been widely criticised for their limited scale, sustainability an

Drawing on a rich experience of mainstream and online media as well as strategic and creative public communication, the CivicTEC network are planning several campaign initiatives to inspire a more connected public sphere. With the support of international

Telecommunications legislation in Bolivia was revolutionised by the adoption of a new constitution in January 2009. The new constitution also establishes the right to universal and equitable access to basic services that also include telecommunications. T

A blog by Richard Heeks, posted on 30 october 2010. An interresting take on the transformation of ICTD activities in development agencies. Discusses the limit of stand-alone ICT departments in Dev-institutions, failure of early ICT strategies and impleme

This report is a valuable reference source for policymakers in developing countries since it monitors global trends related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) from a development perspective.The 2010 edition pays special attention to the