The Commonwealth Centre for Electronic Governance is supporting the eGovernance Forum at the ACT Summit by providing scholarships for up to 10 government policy-makers.
The scholarships will be covering the costs of airfares, registration, and accommodation for each of the delegates. The Summit, with the theme "Human networking to connect Africa" is being held at St George Hotel, Pretoria, from 30 July to 3 August.
"eGovernance is crucial for the effective business management of governments - but also for the growth of effective democracy in Africa. The eGovernance Forum at ACT will enable us to share ideas and experience with colleagues from the rest of the continent and benefit from learning about the interesting innovations other countries have initiated in this field," said Andile Ngcaba, director-general of the Department of Communications, which is the co-sponsor of the Summit.
Announcing the scholarship funds, Sean Moroney, Group Chairman of AITEC, organisers of the event, said: "The Commonwealth`s commitment to good governance has resulted in its promotion of effective IT applications in the public sectors. We welcome the funding the Commonwealth is providing for scholarships to enable delegates from Africa to attend."
Thomas Riley, chief executive of the Commonwealth centre for electronic governance and visiting professor from the university of Glasgow, will provide the keynote address at the forum.
The recent initiative by the Commonwealth Secretariat to launch The Commonwealth Centre for Electronic Governance (CCfEG) was to bring to the fore initiatives aimed to realise a framework for the development of best practices in the harnessing of the potentialities of the new information and communications technologies (ICTs) in government, taking consideration of member countries` individual circumstances and national aspirations for the realisation of good governance.
Rogers Okot-Uma, chief programme officer, Commonwealth Public Sector Informatics Programme, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK-based, said: "In a world which continues to make efforts in respect of democratic development, good governance and human rights, the CCfEG will be recognised as the focal point in the use of the new information and communications technologies as a tool for reinventing good governances. It will also assist in the transition to electronic government, or rather eGoverment in the initial instance, and to electronic democracy, or eDemocracy in the long run.
"The CCfEG will also promote good practice," continues Okot-Uma, "as well as to enhance a sharing of learning experiences, dissemination of information and management of knowledge in eGovernment and eDemocracy among various human and institutional networks and communities of interest in the Commonwealth and beyond."
The centre will continue to source and maintain alliances and partnerships with diverse human and institutional communities of interest and expertise in the Commonwealth, national governments, government establishments, academic institutions, knowledge-based organizations, public and private sector institutions.
With sponsorship from the Commonwealth secretariat, the CcfEG, in collaboration with the Eastern Africa Electronic Governance Consultative Group, will take a leadership role in the deliberations of the African eGovernance Forum at ACT 2001.
Dr John Onunga, co-ordinator of the East African Electronic Governance Consultative Group, will speak about e-Readiness for networked governance. Dr Onunga holds a BSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering from the university of Nairobi and a PhD degree in Computer Communications from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
With nearly two decades of experience with computers, 10 of which as a telecommunications engineer, Dr Onunga is a founding member and the current chairman of the Information Technology Standard Association (ITSA) of Kenya.
The programme will cover the following topics: Discussion Leader: E N OleKambainei, Co-ordinator, African Connection, Tanzania
Keynote:
Thomas Riley, Chief Executive, Commonwealth Centre for Electronic Governance & Visiting Professor, University of Glasgow
National IT Strategies:
Selected perspectives for good practice in public sector management Rogers Okot-Uma, Chief Programme Officer, Commonwealth Public Sector Informatics Programme, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK
e-Readiness for networked governance Dr John Onunga, Co-ordinator, East African Electronic Governance Consultative Group, Kenya
Lessons from South Africa`s SAITIS Project Neville Nicholas, SAITIS Project Director, South Africa
For more information on the ACT summit, please visit our site at www.aitecafrica.com
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