Weekly news roundup - Africa February 6

Created By: Esther on 6-Feb-2008 2:55 AM

In the 21st century, ICT is no luxury
The government of Rwanda has not only been keen on putting up a policy on ICT, but has also gone ahead to implement it in the rural areas. This is an act well done because the biggest percentage of the population lies in the rural areas.
The programme of a credit scheme of a cellphone-per-household is also spot on. One can hardly believe that the cost of a mobile phone has
been slashed to Frw13, 000.

Participative Web and User-Created Content: Web 2.0, Wikis and Social Networking
The Internet is becoming increasingly embedded in everyday life. Drawing on an expanding array of intelligent web services and applications, a growing number of people are creating, distributing and exploiting user-created content (UCC) and being part of the wider participative web.
This study describes the rapid growth of UCC and its increasing role in worldwide communication, and draws out implications for policy. Questions addressed include: What is user-created content? What are its key drivers, its scope and different forms? What are the new value chains and business models? What are the extent and form of social, cultural and economic opportunities and impacts? What are the associated challenges? Is there a government role, and what form could it take?

The UN E-Government Survey 2008
The results of the global survey indicate that governments are moving forward in egovernment development around the world. However, given the high demands placed by e-government on a multitude of foundational pillars which include prerequisites of infrastructure, appropriate policies, capacity development, ICT applications, and relevant content that need to be in place to fully implement e-government services, progress is slow. Only a few governments have made the necessary investment to move from egovernment applications per se to a more integrated connected governance stage. In terms of connectivity, a robust broadband network is critical to the roll out of egovernment applications and services. In this year’s Survey, the governments that invested in broadband infrastructure scored relatively high. A closer look at the infrastructure index reveals that investment in cellular phones has been dramatic over the past three years in both the developed and developing countries.

 Critical Infrastructure Protection in India
In recent years, the frequency and sophistication of cyber security attacks on global critical infrastructure has greatly increased. Cyber-security experts have been warning of the vulnerability of critical infrastructure like power, transportation and water systems to malicious hackers.


Outage Cripples Internet Connection to North Africa, Asia
Egypt had only about 40 percent of its Internet capacity on Thursday ecause of a disruption to an undersea cable that has also affected he Persian Gulf region and south Asia.
The cable connection broke off Egypt's northern coast on Wednesday, slowing or stopping Internet access for users across large parts of Asia and forcing service providers to try to reroute traffic via other cables or satellites.

Nigeria: Laptops Taking Over the PC Market
Managing Director of Technology Distribution, TD, Mrs. Chioma Ekeh, last week said that the laptops market would be very active in 2008 predicting that both resellers and end users would have reasons to smile to the banks.
She said that recent developments in mobile technology and growing awareness among educationists that every student needs a laptop to achieve meaningful learning, have also helped to boost the market potentials of the laptop.

Books 'most popular online buy'
More books are sold on the internet than any other product and the number is increasing, research suggests.
Polling company Nielsen Online surveyed 26,312 people in 48 countries. 41% of internet users had bought books online, it said.
This compares with two years ago when 34% of internet users had done so.
The company said much of the increase was in emerging markets, such as South Korea and India, with British consumers in 10th place.

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