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CTO: www.cto.int : CTO’s e-Governance Forum to Empower African Governments for Citizen-Centric Public Service Delivery
Submitted on Mar 23, 2010.
Visit: http://www.unpan.org/Newsevents/tabid/864/mctl/ArticleView/ModuleId/2247/articleId/21407/Default.aspx
Ministers, heads of ICT implementation agencies, ICT regulators and operating company executives are meeting at an African e-Governance Forum in Maputo, Mozambique from 23rd- 25th March to discuss the latest trends and benchmarks for using ICTs to improve governance in Africa.

Organised by the London-based Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), the event is under the auspices of the Government of Mozambique and has attracted more than 100 high-level officials and experts concerned with e-Governance initiatives within Africa and beyond. Sub-themed “Effective Governance, transparent public services and citizen empowerment through Information and Communication Technologies”, the Maputo conference will enable ICT decision-makers and stakeholders to discuss ways in which to accelerate Africa’s socio-economic development through the more effective application of ICTs to various aspects of the governance process.

Subjects to be given focussed attention during the CTO conference include overall e-governance policy and strategy planning, the regulatory dimensions of e-governance, application of ICTs to electoral processes (e-democracy); tax collection; the public services; networking central, provincial and local governments; as well as two-way government-to-business and government-to-citizen communication. Other areas for discussion will include the role of the private sector as well as other agents of change, such as NGOs and CBOs. Topics will also cover e-agriculture, e-health/telemedicine, e-commerce, e-learning and e-training opportunities, and the challenges posed to effective governance by issues such as weak ICT infrastructure and low connectivity for rural people, poor electrification, illiteracy, inadequate local content to facilitate e-governance, and the financial costs of ICT deployment, maintenance, and repair in order to sustain e-initiatives.

Supported by leading ICT stakeholders, such as Intel, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network, Oracle, Vodacom, UTICT, Face Technologies, Global Voice Group, besides others, the conference promises to be one of the most decisive and rewarding in the region, with an impressive speaker list that includes Government ministers and officials from Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. Other speakers include from regions around the world - Canada, the USA, India, Korea, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Singapore, Malta, Sweden, Germany Nigeria and South Africa, as well as leading ICT operators.

As part of CTO’s mandate to facilitate and promote ICT development through knowledge-sharing events, the conference will cover key topics on issues faced by ICT stakeholders in the region, including a focus on empowering marginalised groups such as women, the youth and rural communities. It will examine the challenges for setting up programmes to engage women and youth in small-scale ICT businesses through the deployment and utility of community ICT centres and other shared ICT platforms.

“The approaches for encouraging women and youth to participate in ICT training programmes offered in these centers is an important step towards achieving socio-economic development,” said Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, CEO of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO). “While the women are the backbone of rural development, the youth are the future of the country and both can play a pivotal role in the future development of the country.”

Dr. Spio-Garbrah also emphasised the importance of a multi-layer stakeholder alliance approach needed by ICT stakeholders for the betterment of the region, “It is important for African governments to evolve and upgrade their ICT practices to meet the demands of changing trends in order to deliver effective services and to improve the quality of life of their citizenry.

To do this effectively on a Continent where some 60-70% of the populations of most countries reside in rural areas, requires the formation of Public-Private-Peoples-Partnerships which ensure that the “people” element is central to all planning, project design, project finance, and project management, maintenance and repair, to assure greater sustainability.

Through the CTO’s innovative ICT efforts to empower the rural people of Africa, this event, which envisages to bring together decision-makers, operators and drivers of ICT development under one roof, will provide ICT evangelists a unique platform for vocalising on key issues and the opportunity to imbibe global best practices.”

Also taking place alongside the CTO’s 4th Annual e-Government Africa Forum is a unique one-day workshop, “The Road to 4G”, led by experts from Motorola who will explain to delegates various wireless technologies and the long-term evolution to 4th generation of mobile network technologies. The highly technical workshop will focus on GSM, CDMA, WiMax and LTE standards, besides others.

Source: http://www.cto.int/Default.aspx?tabid=109&ModId=464&CategoryID=1&CatalogID=637&View=1&MainView=ViewOne&cat_fk=0
Categories: Local Content, Digital Divide, Poverty eradication, Governance, Knowledge Sharing
Country: Mozambique
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