e-governance in Africa let s speed up the process! Economic Commission for Africa

e-governance in Africa let s speed up the process! Economic Commission for Africa

What is this presention is about Some iinitiatives on ICTs for development The African Digital Agenda AISI - The African Stakeholders Network (ASN) Africa s Participation to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS): From Bamako to Tunis via Geneva 2

the African digital challenge to address the Continent most pressing development challenges to create the adequate environment for a better integration of the region to improve economic performances and ensure linkages with the global economy to create welfare for Africa s people 3

key objectives o to create a sustainable Information Society in Africa by the year 2010 o to strengthen Africa s capacity to join the Global Information Society o to bridge the Digital Divide and turn it into a Digital Dividend 4 Africa s Digital Inclusion

several initiatives... in Africa worldwide 5 AISI ACACIA Leland AAI AC Regional initiatives: > SADC, ECOWAS, CEMAC etc. UN ICT Task Force G8 Dot Force Francophony Agency ITU DFID DOI etc... e-africa2002 for e-governance

several initiatives... 6 they all share the same eventual goal > build Africa s digital inclusion and create digital dividends they have variety of approaches priorities time frames stakeholders implementation processes level of progress funding and support

African Information Society Initiative The first regional framework for ICT development

Africa s Digital Inclusion through the conceptualisation, adoption, implementation and assessment of the African Information Society Initiative ADI has been on top of the agenda for more than five years o o o o governments private sector civil society development community 8

AISI today vision > action plan 9

AISI today vision > action plan enabling environment impact of ICT activities sector applications 10 + cross cutting issues + cross cutting issues > gender, youth & rural communities > capacity building > IPR > etc.

AISI today vision > action plan implementation process 11

AISI today vision > action plan implementation process May 1996 Adoption of the AISI by Ministers of Planning & Economic Development 1996 AISI launched during ISAD Conference in Midrand SA 1996 AISI endorsed by the OAU Summit in Yaounde 12 1997 Denver G7+1 Summit Global Knowledge conference

AISI today vision > action plan implementation process 1999 ADF 99: the challenge to Africa of globalisation and the information age 2001 African Common Position: ATAC, African Dot Force members, ITU, UNESCO, AC, African private sector, academia 2001 Contribution to MAP, OMEGA, NAI, NEPAD 13 2002 NEPAD Financing Conference in Dakar, Short-Term Action Plan Durban, UN Agencies Working in Africa

AISI today vision > action plan implementation process partnership 14

AISI today vision > action plan implementation process African Technical Advisory Committee > set up in 1997 PICTA > more that 30 institutions, bi-laterals, multilaterals, private sector, NGOs GKP GIIC 15 partnership UN ICT Task Force (ASN) G8 Dot Force (Canada with e-policy resource centre & CCA) etc..

AISI today vision > action plan implementation process partnership 16 achievements

vision > action plan implementation process o o o AISI today Policy level decision-makers more aware + 20 NICI plans supported by IDRC and EU + flexible regulatory frameworks Sector applications education (SNA, AVLIN, ALN) health e-business Training and capacity building: ITCA, IDEP partnership o Evaluation process SCAN-ICT 17 achievements o Strong alliances

but a lot remains to be done

A more efficient co-ordination of regional and sub-regional initiatives 19 build on comparative strengths avoid duplication and overlaps optimise use of resources present a harmonised position to partners === The UN Agencies Working in Africa recommended to implement NEPAD within existing frameworks such as: AISI; PICTA; and The African Stakeholders Network of the UN ICT TF

The African Stakeholders Network (ASN) Of the UN ICT Task Force Created on 21 January 2002, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Adopted the African Common Position Set up a Regional Secretariat Set up an Interim Steering Committee 20

Main mandates of the ASN Develop an African correspondent Network to UN ICT TF Share information on major African activities and initiatives Sensitize and mobilize major actors to ensure African ownership and support from partners Assist in linking the network with African and international initiatives 21 Mobilize resources for the ICT sector

Africa s digital inclusion: a challenging agenda let s accelerate its implementation, through, for example: 22 the e-governance e activities of and e-africa2002e

Discussion lists on e-governance 23 From 15 July to 7 September 2002 From 7 October to 7 November 2002 to provide a space for discussion on e- government in Africa to provide realistic strategies for accelerating the e-government process to sensitize decision makers To feed in the WSIS process Contributions and summaries are available at:http://www.bellanet.org/lyris/helper/in dex.cfm?fuseaction=visit&listname=aisi-l

From discussions to action 24 Training Workshop to strengthen the role of the civil society in WSIS process (6-10 /11/02) Second WSIS PrepCom (February 02) Regional consultations of s Committee on Development Information (theme: ICTs and Governance) 2003 Fourth Meeting of the African Development Forum (on governance) 2002 Developing national e-government strategies in selected African countries

Bamako 2002

Palais des Congrès - Bamako, Republic of Mali 28-30 May 2002 Attendance two heads of state (Mali and Senegal) representatives from 51 African countries delegates from many other countries African regional, sub-regional organizations bi-lateral, multilateral and development organisations governments, private sector and civil society 26

what Bamako was about to launch a process: Africa s participation in the WSIS to share information on countries and regions achievements to set African digital needs and priorities Internally Externally understand the challenges harness ICT for development Africa s voice: more audible, better heard 27

pre-meetings 25-27 May NICI strategies African languages and internet Media and ICT Forum Gender and ICTs Cultural diversity and knowledge ownership African NGO consultation Review and appraisal of ICT impact: Scan-ICT Project Private sector forum Free software: the stakes for Africa Law and the Web Local communities and ICTs Training:LDCs participation in WSIS activities How was Bamako organised main conference 28-30 May plenary sessions 4 thematic workshops on: What the Information Society brings to Africa What Africa brings to the Information Society What Africa wants to preserve in the Information Society How Africa can benefit from the Information Society: bridging the digital divide round table Africa s image in the media 28 several UN agencies were involved

Main results definition of priorities infrastructure national strategies > NICI plans sector applications > education, health, business content development > African languages ICT and governance impact evaluation strengthened partnership within Africa: Gov. civil society, private sector between Africa and external partners 29

Bamako 2002 / WSIS the way forward from Bamako 2002 to Tunis 2005 via Geneva 2003

WSIS -the way forward Develop the process and build upon the positive momentum that led to Bamako 2002: African conference on telematics in 95, launch of AISI in 96, ADF 99. Bamako 2000, ICT in NEPAD that will lead to Geneva, then Tunis Organize follow up activities - in particular national and regional consultations CEMAC workshop use the NICI process 31 Outreach activities to disseminate Bamako results optimize African participation in the WSIS process

Merci de votre attention for additional information, please contact 32 Development Information Services Division ecainfo@uneca.org www.uneca.org/aisi Tel: + 251 1 51 14 08 Fax: + 251 1 51 05 12