IST-Africa 2009 Conference
Call for Papers - Deadline 09 November 2008

A multi-stakeholder initiative focused on reducing the Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan Africa

Over the past three years (2005 - 2007) with European Commission funding under the IST Programme of Framework Programme 6 (FP6), IST-Africa has trained over 1,000 government officials and researchers in Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania (in key areas including eGovernment, eHealth, eLearning) and organised two very successful international research conferences in Africa; IST-Africa 2006 (304 delegates from 38 countries) hosted by the Government of South Africa through the Department of Science & Technology, and IST-Africa 2007 (over 470 delegates from 51 countries) hosted by the Government of Mozambique through the Ministry of Science & Technology.

IST-Africa 2008 was very successful, attracting over 460 delegates from Europe & Africa. Plenary speakers included Ministers of Science and Technology/ICT from Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, Director-Generals from DG Information Society and Media and DG Research of the European Commission and DST South Africa, Directors from the African Union Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and SADC Secretariat. A high-level Round Table on the Implementation of the Africa-EU Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space took place during the Opening Plenary session, which was highly successful. The 2008   Conference Report provides an overview of the findings of the conference.

IST-Africa Initiative (2008 - 2009)

IST-Africa (Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa) is a collaborative Initiative between IIMC (Ireland, Coordinator), Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (Botswana), Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology (Lesotho), Commonwealth Network of Information Technology for Development (Malta), ICT Policy Implementation Technical Unit (Mozambique), Ministry of Education (Namibia), Wits Commercial Enterprise (Pty) Ltd (South Africa), COSTECH - Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, and Uganda National Council for Science and Technology.

Over the next two years, IST-Africa will focus on raising wider awareness of African research capacity, promote participation of African organizations in the ICT Theme of FP7 (FP7-ICT) and identify co-operation opportunities in fields of mutual interest. The goal is to increase visibility of mutual RTD potential and network relevant European and African stakeholders.

ACP-ICT Programme - Deadline 16 September '08

The European Commission has published the ACP-Information and Communication Technologies [@CP-ICT] Programme under its 9th European Development Fund. The Contracting Authority is the ACP Secretariat. The deadline for submission of proposals is 16 September. Click here for more information and to download relevant documentation .

IST-Africa 2009 - Call for Papers Deadline 09 November

Hosted by the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of ICT, IST-Africa 2009 Conference & Exhibition will take place 06 - 08 May 2009 in Uganda . Part of the IST-Africa Initiative, which is supported by the European Commission under the ICT Theme of Framework Programme 7 (FP7), IST-Africa 2009 is the fourth in an Annual Conference Series which brings together senior representatives from leading commercial, government & research organisations across Africa and from Europe, to bridge the Digital Divide by sharing knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and good practice and discussing policy related issues.

Core Thematic Priorities for IST-Africa 2009

• eHealth - Health Information Systems
• Technology Enhanced Learning & ICT Skills
• Digital Libraries and Content
• Open Source Software Applications
• ICT for eInclusion and eAccessibility
• eInfrastructures
• ICT for Environmental Sustainability
• Networked Enterprise
• eGovernment - Secure Services to Citizens & Business

IST-Africa 2009 will also feature an Exhibition that provides the opportunity to showcase research results and applications through technology demonstrations, whether funded commercially or at national, regional or European level. The Call for Exhibitors will open in late January and close on 28 February.

Goals

The goals of the IST-Africa Conference Series are Community Building to facilitate EU-African research cooperation and successful exploitation of research results, to stimulate take-up of RTD results by industry, Small and Medium Sized Businesses and the public sector, to promote knowledge sharing between commercial organizations, government agencies and the research community, to exchange experiences about the current state of eAdoption at a sectoral, national or regional level, support International Cooperation and open up the European Research Area (ERA) to Africa.

The IST-Africa Conference will provide a collegiate setting for presentations and discussions of national and regional developments, issues of concern and good practice models. It will also provide an excellent networking environment for delegates to discuss problems, share knowledge, obtain feedback, and learn more about opportunities to participate in ICT Calls under Framework Programme 7 (FP7).

http://www.ist-africa.eu/home/

Contact: IST-Africa Secretariat
See also: Call for Papers (.pdf, 1.4 MB)