"Africa missed the industrial revolution, we can't afford to stand aside and let the communication revolution go by too" Felix Houphouet Boigny
This statement, a warning since 1987 from former Ivory Coast President Felix Houphouet Boigny, to his countrymen, points to the fundamental need for African Nations to make every effort to be part of today’s information age.
With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and The Louisiana Board of Regents, we are pleased to announce ICT Africa 2008. This conference will bring together a fine mix of practitioners and academicians in the area of ICTs for sustainable development.
There is a growing body of research that point to the critical role of information and communication technologies(ICT) in improving the socio-economic and political status of developing nations in general and sub-Saharan Africa(SSA) in particular. Such technologies have indeed been penetrating the SSA region at an exponential rate. For example, SSA has the fastest growth rates in wireless (cellular) telephone penetration. Other examples include:
- TeleMedicine: Hospitals in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda now use information technologies to offer medical services in cases where the physician and patients are in different geographic locations.
- TeleEducation: Universities such as the African Virtual University use telecommunications networks to offer online education for many African students based in countries with just 1 or 2 universities.
- TeleDemocracy/E-Government: Countries such as Tanzania and South Africa now use ICTs for accountability, tracking corruption and promoting freedoms of speech and association.
- Despite this apparent growth of ICTs, there appears to be lacking a coherent policy formulated to direct the growth of ICTs in such a manner as to sustain and reap the benefits of these technologies.
It is quite interesting to see IT experts having a conference in Cameroon. This is very important during this period when there are so many problems in the telecommunication sector in Cameroon. There has been the slow diffusion of telecommunication infrastructure to the rural areass of Cameroon. This has been one of the main reasons for the increasing rate of rural poverty in the country. The geographic dispersion of ICT infrastructure is not even in the country and is urban bias. This has rendered the rural poor to lack access to employment opportunities, market channels as well as information on agricultural innovations and other innovations.
The conference stakeholders should try as much as possible to ensure that people in the rural areas are highly represented, in order for them to get to know more about the importance of ICT to development. It should be noted that, if left to the administrators of the country to disseminate information on ICT to the rural people, this would not be achieved in the nearest future
Posted by: AJUH JOSHUA FON | August 15, 2008 at 10:53 AM
looks like ICT has really invaded all over Africa heh? this is a great thing. this only means lots of great opportunities for IT experts.
Posted by: Chelsea Larosa | June 17, 2009 at 11:01 PM