IST-Africa promotes collaboration

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 05 May 2006

Representatives from government, business and academic institutions from 37 countries met in Pretoria this week to discuss the impact of ICT on Africa, and how collaboration could bridge the digital divide in sub-Saharan Africa.

The first Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa (IST-Africa) conference, which took place from 3 to 5 May, was sponsored by the European Commission, the Department of Science and Technology, City of Tshwane, Microsoft and HP.

Collaboration between government, business, academia and civil society is needed to ensure African governments successfully deploy ICT, speakers said. Successfully deployed technology would enable the delivery of services to Africa`s citizens, they agreed.

Keynote speakers included Mosibudi Mangena, SA`s science and technology minister; Prof Venacio Massingue, Mozambique`s science and technology minister; Peter Zangl, deputy director-general of information society for the European Commission; and Heikki Tuunanen, ambassador of Finland to SA.

Trans-continental

Mangena spoke of the importance of fostering African-European partnerships in the deployment and use of ICT in Africa.

"Through international cooperation, progress within science and technology systems can be fast-tracked," said Mangena, "while south-south cooperation permits the pooling of expertise to address problems which are specific to the developing world."

Government should also create a legal and regulatory framework that encourages the full participation of stakeholders, speakers said. This will draw investors to ICT projects in Africa, they said.

Ingo Juraske, HP`s public sector VP in Europe, Middle East and Africa urged governments to change the way they work with service providers. "Don`t just hit us with a tender. We appreciate it as well, but if we are to improve the chances of the project`s success, you must let us share the lessons we learnt while doing similar projects with you," he said.