|
Get AfricaFocus Bulletin by e-mail!
Print this page
|
Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
by the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC) from 1995 to 2001 and by Africa Action
from 2001 to 2003. APIC was merged into Africa Action in 2001. Please note that many outdated links in this archived
document may not work.
|
Africa: Inclusive Information Society
Africa: Inclusive Information Society
Date distributed (ymd): 021204
Document reposted by Africa Action
Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
Africa at http://www.africaaction.org
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+
SUMMARY CONTENTS:
This posting contains several articles from the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC) on the use of Information and
Communication Technology in Africa, including (1) the report from
a workshop sponsored by the APC and the Economic Commission for
Africa, and (2) articles related to the APC Africa Hafkin
Communications Prize and the winner Schoolnet Namibia. Check out
the links below both for background on Schoolnet Namibia and
examples of their innovative work in connecting schools in Namibia
to the internet. And test your knowledge of African geography with
their Africa map puzzle at:
http://www.schoolnet.na/games/map/africa.html
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
http://www.apc.org
Our policy work in Africa:
http://africa.rights.apc.org
APCNews mailing list
APCNews@lists.apc.org;
http://lists.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/apcnews
Contact:
Heather Ford, APC Africa ICT Policy Initiative
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel: +27 82 8727374 Email: heather@apc.org
PRESS RELEASE
13 November 2002
Viva African Civil Society Building an Inclusive Information
Society! Viva!
JOHANNESBURG - These were the words that began one of the most
vibrant and challenging discussions about civil society's
engagement in ICT policy-making in Africa to date. Organised by the
Association for Progressive Communications (APC), and hosted by the
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with the support of Article
19, the workshop on ICT Policy and Civil Society sparked the
formation of a network of ICT policy mobilizers dedicated to
building an inclusive information society in Africa.
The workshop took place over three days starting November 6 at the
UNECA headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Over 80
representatives from non-governmental organizations, human rights
organisations, media groups, women's organizations, development
groups and researchers from 24 countries throughout Africa gathered
to discuss the role of African civil society in ICT policy-making
and to outline a plan of action to move forward in mobilizing other
organisations on these issues.
Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane of the ECA opened the workshop by
expressing the need for civil society organizations to become more
engaged in ICT policy processes on the continent. She challenged
the organisations present to organise and unite so that civil
society can have a greater voice in the formation of policy. APC
Communications and Information Policy Coordinator Peter Benjamin
outlined the plan for the week, impressing on participants the need
to take action on the issues and tasks that had to be completed by
the end of the three days. The aims of the workshop were, firstly,
for civil society actors to share their experience and build on the
knowledge that already existed, secondly, to identify the needs of
those organisations in developing ICT policy at both national and
international levels, and lastly, to identify the strategies
required to meet those needs.
Participants at the workshop came from diverse fields in the civil
society sector and from countries throughout Africa. The debates,
especially those around issues such as the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD), were intense and challenging, as
participants critically analysed the role of civil society in
governance and policy development. "This workshop is one of the
milestone events in ICT policy-making in Africa from a civil
society perspective," said participant, Ewan McPhie, Policy
Director at Bridges.org. "It is difficult to estimate the value of
providing a venue where civil society organisations from Africa
could meet, share views and experiences and get to know each other
better."
Smaller working groups formed around four main areas of ICT
policy-making including the right to communicate, freedom of
expression and information exchange, diversity of content,
language, ownership and control and global, regional and national
governance of the information society. These discussions led to the
formulation of action plans and a statement on African civil
society's engagement in ICT policy development from participants.
The statement begins with the recognition of the importance of
civil society in ICT policy-making: "Given the centrality of civil
society to the development of an inclusive information society, and
the proximity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to the needs of
people and society at large, CSOs need to play a central role in
developing and implementing ICT policy." The statement goes on to
assert recommendations on the themes of 'freedom of expression',
'policy and enabling environment', 'governance', 'content creation
and overcoming barriers', 'open source' and 'brain drain'.
The Action Plan sets out a clear course of action for participants
to engage in information sharing, lobbying at national and
international levels (especially at the World Summit on the
Information Society), a free/open source software task force, and
the development of a cross-regional information exchange for
community radio organisations.
The Civil Society and ICT Policy Workshop was funded by Open
Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA), the Open Society
Initiative of West Africa (OSIWA) and the International Institute
for Communication and Development (IICD). This workshop was
organised as part of the APC's Africa ICT Policy Monitor project,
supported by HIVOS and the International Development Research
Centre.
ABOUT APC
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an
international network of civil society organisations dedicated to
empowering and supporting groups and individuals through the
strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs),
especially Internet-related technologies. APC and its members
pioneer practical and relevant uses of ICTs for civil society,
especially in developing countries. APC is an international
facilitator of civil society's engagement with ICTs and related
concerns, in both policy and practice.
Read the Workshop Statement:
http://africa.rights.apc.org/workshop_dec_eng.shtml [English]
http://africa.rights.apc.org/workshop_dec_fr.shtml [French]
PRIZE-WINNING PROJECT MAKES INTERNET ACCESS FOR ALL SCHOOLCHILDREN
IN NAMIBIA A REAL POSSIBILITY
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
http://www.apc.org
Contact:
Karen Higgs
APC Communications
Cassinoni 1085 11200
Montevideo Uruguay
Tel: +598 2 400-6460 Email: khiggs@apc.org
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, November 7 2002 - SchoolNet Namibia, a
volunteer-driven organisation that is working to see all Namibian
schoolchildren get access to a computer and the internet, was
awarded the APC Africa Hafkin Communications Prize for
people-centred information and communications technology (ICT)
policy at a ceremony attended by the prize finalists and other
champions of the ICT and development sector in Addis Ababa this
evening. Second place went to the policy programme of Bridges.org,
a research and advocacy non-profit from South Africa that promotes
access to ICT by researching, testing, and promoting best practices
for sustainable technology use.
"Network architecture. Sector liberalisation. Infrastructure.
Regulatory frameworks. Universal access. Universal service
obligations. Radio frequency spectrum. Software and applications.
They're all areas of ICT policy. You can see why civil society
organisations and others are often intimidated by the
technicalities from taking on the challenge of working for positive
change in national ICT policy!" said Nancy Hafkin, networking
pioneer for whom the prize is named. This is why APC - a non-profit
association which has worked to promote Internet and ICTs for
development since 1990 - chose to focus this year's Hafkin Prize on
inspirational African ICT policy initiatives.
"ICT policy decisions impact any citizen who wants to take
advantage of the opportunities that can come with new
technologies," Hafkin pointed out in her congratulatory message.
"Will the national policy favour technology that is state-of-the
art but not affordable to the rural areas? Will government provide
service subsidies to the poorest or to the disabled? Will
government encourage the development of software that the
illiterate can use? All of these are the very real and
non-technical questions that are determined by national ICT policy
choices. Both SchoolNet Namibia and Bridges.org have been leaders
in demystifying ICT policy and bringing its realities to people in
Africa."
SchoolNet Namibia's objective is to provide appropriate computer
technology and Internet access to ALL schools in Namibia. Primarily
a hands-on training and support organization, their successful
introduction of computers and internet into over 200 schools since
2000 led SchoolNet to become actively involved in policy-making at
the national level in Namibia.
SchoolNet Namibia is an exemplary role model for the sustainable
introduction of ICT across the education sector. The SchoolNet
model which includes the adoption of appropriate school computer
technology, the use of open source and free software solutions,
free Internet Service provision in partnership with local
government-owned telecommunication agencies, and solar-powered
school computer laboratories can be replicated by education systems
across Africa. The Namibian government has recognised SchoolNet
Namibia in its National Development Plan for 2000-2005 as a key
actor in the roll-out of ICT in education and job creation.
Awarded with a very honourable mention was the policy programme of
Bridges.org, which is committed to raising awareness of the impact
of policy decisions at both the policy level and at the grass-roots
level. The policy team drafts issue-based reports and briefs, gets
information into the hands of government officials who can use it,
informs policy-making, involves people at ground-level in policy
debate, and acts as a bridge between international views and best
practices and local circumstances. Bridges.org has worked closely
with South African government officials to provide practical input
to their ICT legislation and planning.
Bridges.org also catalyses public support for ICT policies by
explaining the issues in laymen's terms, helping citizens
understand the potential benefits of ICT for their daily lives. The
policy team publishes community articles that detail the
implications of policy issues in a meaningful way, and covers
topical issues such as digital public records and citizen rights to
privacy.
"Since APC first started awarding the Hafkin Prize and its
international equivalent, the APC Betinho Communications Prize in
2000, we have become more and more convinced that it is essential
to publicise and promote the types of ICT initiatives that embody
APC's core development values such as community-initiated, -driven
and -managed ICT projects, especially those that contribute to
empowering and supporting organisations, social movements and
individuals to make meaningful contributions to human development,"
explained APC's acting Executive Director, Maureen James regarding
the motivation for the prize. "The Hafkin Prize plays a small but
important role by recognising and rewarding real life examples of
how the Internet can be, and is being, used as a powerful tool for
development and social justice."
The Hafkin Prize winner and finalists were all present at the award
ceremony which was held during a workshop on civil society and ICT
policy co-organised by APC.
ABOUT THE APC HAFKIN AFRICA COMMUNICATIONS PRIZE
The $7,500 USD APC Hafkin Prize - a biannual award - recognises
outstanding examples of African initiatives in information and
communications technology (ICTs) for development.
The Theme in 2001: People-Centred Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) Policy in Africa
More about the prize finalists and winner:
http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin/2002.shtml
Prize Winner - SchoolNet Namibia:
http://www.schoolnet.na
Honourable mention - Bridges.org:
http://www.bridges.org
The Hafkin Prize is supported in part by the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is one of
the world's leading institutions in the generation and application
of new knowledge to meet the challenges of international
development. For more than 30 years, IDRC has worked in close
collaboration with researchers from the developing world in their
search for the means to build a healthier, more equitable, and more
prosperous society.
---
Message from SchoolNet, the Winner of the APC Africa Hafkin
Communications Prize in 2001
"We are very excited and honoured by the award - the APC Hafkin
Prize 2002 - and the impact we trust this significant award will
have on our further work in Namibia and further afield; importantly
it comes at a time when a lot of attention has been given to Open
Source solutions in education and other civil society development
areas, and I can only hope that our government (and those of other
African countries) will appreciate the great value of such Open
Source solutions! We intend to use the prize to seed a start-up
Open Source R&D team comprising young African "geeks" (computer
technicians), empowering them and subsequent youthful local
expertise to develop open source applications in education -
curricular content, life-long learning skills, distance learning
and special education needs of persons with disabilities.
On behalf of the Board of Governors of SchoolNet Namibia, I would
also like to express SchoolNet Namibia's deep appreciation of APC
and its alliance of partners in recognising our efforts here in
Namibia! Viva APC and all the many wonderful CSOs pushing back ICT
frontiers in Africa!" -- Joris Komen, Director, SchoolNet Namibia
(November 11 2002)
BBC News Online: "Award for Namibia schools project"
An ambitious initiative to provide computers and net access for all
schoolchildren in Namibia has been recognised with a prestigious
award.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2421311.stm
Examples from Schoolnet Namibia web site:
The Impact of AIDS on Katutura:
http://ant.schoolnet.na/projects/Katutura_AIDS/
Test your knowledge of Africa with this puzzle:
http://www.schoolnet.na/games/map/africa.html
For an earlier innovative Namibian ICT project, see
http://www.africafocus.org/docs99/bio9908.php>
Another Article on Schoolnet Namibia
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/27878.html "Namibia wisely
spurns M$ 'gift' in favor of Linux"
By Thomas C Greene in Washington, Posted: 31/10/2002
[excerpts only: for full text see link]
The African nation of Namibia is large in area and small in
population with considerable distances between communities. Imagine
the challenges of getting its schools wired to the Net. SchoolNet
Namibia, a chiefly volunteer organization, struggles to do
precisely that with a free ISP and numerous other initiatives to
get the nation's schools, many of which lack any library resources
at all, on-line.
Imagine the pleasure with which SchoolNet would initially have
confronted a charitable overture from Microsoft involving free
software. Now imagine the disappointment of learning that accepting
the 'gift' would entail outlays of money in the range of fifteen
times the value ...
The idea was to obtain fifty inexpensive laptop computers from Acer
and for Redmond [Microsoft] to donate some of its Great Software.
It appears that SchoolNet had at least briefly labored under the
illusion that the operating system software would be donated as
well, but this was not to be. The company was willing to donate
only free licensing for Office Pro, valued at $2,000," while
SchoolNet would have to lay out an extra $9,000 for OS licensing
...
Redmond had also made a generous offer to provide networking
hardware and software, presumably to get SchoolNet off Linux,
which it uses for both its networking and client services. ... but
there were a few rough spots in this deal as well.
According to a letter from SchoolNet Namibia Executive Director
Joris Komen to Microsoft South and East Africa Regional Manager
eorge Ferreira, the cost of allowing Microsoft to exercise its
generosity would be ironically prohibitive.
"From the outset of our consultative meetings with Microsoft, it
was made abundantly clear that SchoolNet and NetDay would be happy
to provide Microsoft with an opportunity to develop a potential
alternative to our viable Open Source LTSP refurbished LAN and
stand-alone Linux-PC solutions for schools and teachers in Namibia
and further afield in Africa. ... "
Unfortunately, as Komen explains, Redmond's understanding of the
deal was a bit out of sync with his own.
"It became imminently clear that the development of a potential
Microsoft alternative ... at five pilot schools in Katutura would
incur considerable cost for SchoolNet, given the revised
understanding that Microsoft would not be paying for the
refurbished hardware, but would only provide the software platform
at some unknown Research & Development (!!) cost ...
"Such a change of direction would result in SchoolNet having to pay
out in the order of US $4,500 per school ..."
Komen says he has no desire to turn his organization into a
platform for Microsoft publicity, especially when the networking
deal would cost the organization something like $22,000 by his
reckoning, in addition to the $9,000 he would need to accept
[Microsoft's] $2,000 offer regarding the laptops.
...
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by
Africa Action (incorporating the Africa Policy Information
Center, The Africa Fund, and the American Committee on Africa).
Africa Action's information services provide accessible
information and analysis in order to promote U.S. and
international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human rights.
|
