Act 2005 under way next week

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 26 Sept 2005

The seventh annual African Computing and Telecommunications Summit (Act 2005) will take place from 4 to 7 October at the Crowne Plaza in Sandton.

Organised by Advancing ICT Knowledge in Africa (Aitec Africa), the conference aims to match investors and partners with African ICT enterprises and projects.

Over 70 ICT industry players are set to speak, with educational presentations that cover computing, the Internet and telecommunications.

"Act is not concerned with the rhetoric and hype that surrounds so many African ICT events these days," says Sean Moroney, head of Aitec Africa. "We are getting on with the job of promoting ICT knowledge, encouraging networking and providing a marketing platform which is firmly fixed in the realities of the continent`s ICT sector, with all its challenges and opportunities."

Forty countries worldwide will be represented, with over 150 delegates coming from various parts of Africa, according to Moroney.

The theme this year is "ICT partnerships for growth", which, says Moroney, emphasises Act`s role in incubating a number of partnerships in the ICT sector over the seven years since it was launched.

Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri will present a keynote address discussing partnerships as the key to accelerating ICT development in Africa.

The event includes the African Internet Forum, with presentations on broadband, wireless and satellite solutions, as well as bandwidth management; the African VOIP Forum, which will focus on how improved levels of service can be achieved; and the Mobile Telephony for Development Forum will look primarily at content and applications.

There will also be forums that focus on the latest developments in Africa and abroad. Applications that can strengthen government and improve services to citizens will be reviewed, as will enterprise solutions for priority areas like security, CRM and capacity building.

The summit will also have seven training workshops covering strategies for data security, satellite communications, open source software deployment and banking applications for Africa. Registration forms are available on the Aitec Africa Web site.