Pretoria University plans to open the first Centre of Information Ethics in Africa, said professor Robin Crewe, principal of Pretoria University, at the African Information Ethics Conference yesterday.
The three-day conference aims to examine the ethical challenges Africa faces in the Information Age, as well as coordinate Africa's input into Unesco's code of ethics framework.
The event attracted over 100 delegates from 22 countries, on five continents.
The conference was jointly organised by Pretoria University and the University of Milawukee, in Wisconsin, in the US, and supported by the Department of Communications, Unesco and the New Partnership for Africa's Development eAfrica Commission.
Crewe said the centre would bring together experts on information ethics and conduct research on issues relating to African ethical challenges in the Information Age. The centre will also take on collaborative projects with international partners, he noted.
It is unclear how much money will be required to set up the centre. However, a number of speakers at the conference indicated African and international experts in the information ethics field will be encouraged to form a network of experts that will support the centre's work following the conference.
Technology implications
As part of the conference proceedings, participants will also review the Unesco code of ethics and provide input from Africa's perspective, said Mokwining Nhlapo, COO of the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development.
"We would also like to see a declaration on information ethics made by participants at this conference."
The event also gives stakeholders in the ICT sector, including those in government, insight into the implications of the faster, more efficient technologies that they can develop and deploy, said communications director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole.
"We see this conference as the implementation of the World Information Summit on the Information Society."
Shope-Mafole said the conference would also ensure the African agenda is included in the code of ethics being developed by Unesco. Africa's role in developing information ethics has not been as coordinated as it should be, she added.
The conference also increases the role and voice of academia in the discussion on information society, she noted. There should have been bigger, coordinated contribution by academia to the content during the World Summit on the Information Society conference, Shope-Mafole commented.
Unesco programme specialist Boyan Radoykov said a similar consultative gathering is being organised for Europe in September.
Related release:
Governance and ethics in ICT: Critical for long-term success
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