Weekly News roundup - africa April 14, 2008

Location: Kampala, Uganda
Created By: Esther on 14-Apr-2008 1:22 AM

Farmers using SMS to get coffee prices in Uganda
In this article, Ndesanjo Macha writes about how farmers are using mobile phones to better their trade.

“Tonight, a hundred and fifty farmers and their families who I have never met will be going to bed better off. Not only is this significant for the farmers, it's also significant for me. Because without FrontlineSMS, which is being used to provide coffee prices to these smallholder farmers, this would not be happening.”

Methodology To Asses ICT Impact On Poverty
UNESCO developed this approach based on ethnographic action research techniques to evaluate the efficacy of ICT innovations in reducing poverty. A handbook, entitled "Ethnographic Action Research" was produced through the experiences of nine project sites established by UNESCO in South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) under the project "Putting ICTs in the Hands of the Poor".

Series of Webcasts on ICT as Enabler for Growth and Public Sector Reform
Here is a series of live webcasts,which are a knowledge sharing and training program prepared for the annual World Bank PREM Conference and Learning Week
2008 with the overall theme of ICT as Enabler for Growth and Public Sector Reform. We have been very fortunate to attract excellent speakers to these events. We hope that you will find the program to be relevant to your work,
innovative and stimulating and that the sessions will provide you with knowledge that you will use in your daily work. There will be four events in this series:

April 15: BBL on India's Emergence as a Global IT Player: The Role of NASSCOM
April 16: PREM Conference: Session on Global Sourcing of Services for Achieving Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
April 17: Government Enterprise Architecture as Enabler of Public Sector Reform
April 23: ICT Applications for the Public Sector
These webcasts can be accessed at: http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment/live

Wikipedia Founder Proposes Support for Open Textbooks
Wikipedia co-founder James Sanger put out an appeal last week in the Journal of Higher Education to donate money to create textbooks online that would be free to children in grades K-12 worldwide. While that is a great idea, the appeal should be re-worded to say "support existing efforts to create open educational materials for students worldwide."
A large open education movement already exists primarily supported by the Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, CA. Of course, Hewlett Foundation could use more support in terms of dollars and volunteers since this a global movement, but the movement does not need another group doing the same thing.

East Africa Com meeting a record-breaking success
INTERNATIONAL. Competition will allow operators to enjoy East Africa's growth opportunities if they get the basics right, said participants at East Africa Com in Tanzania.

The mood was upbeat in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this week, where over 450 telecommunications executives gathered for East Africa Com, their annual event in the region. The conference and exhibition brought together the leaders of the region's stakeholders to discuss the
commercial and technology strategies to maximise growth and improve services for users. From the debates that took place over the two days, it was clear that East
Africa is one of the continent's most dynamic markets.

UN appoints new members to the global alliance on ICT
United Nations, 09 APRIL –The United Nations announced today the appointment of new members to the Global Alliance for Information and Communications Technology and Development (GAID).
The new members replace the members of the GAID Steering Committee and Strategy Council hosted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The new members will carry on the strategic work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals through ICT policies as laid out by the outgoing members.

World Bank: ICT and Education
Globalization and rapid technological change have made knowledge a critical determinant of competitiveness in the world economy. The World Bank is playing an important role in assisting countries in taking advantage of the opportunities in information and communications technologies (ICTs) to contribute to education goals and poverty reduction strategies. With globalization, the information revolution, and increasing demands for a highly skilled work force, it is clear that nations must accord high priority to building the capacity to effectively utilize technology in education.
The World Bank is playing an important role in assisting countries in taking advantage of the opportunities in information and communications technologies (ICTs) to contribute to education goals. This website describes that role, and provides information derived from those efforts which may be of wide interest.

The UNESCO Institute for Information Technology in Education
Established in 1997, IITE aims to strengthen national capacities for applying ICTs in education. The Institute promotes the collection, analysis, dissemination and exchange of information on the use of ICTs in education. It provides advisory services, offers technical assistance in the design of curricula and courses, and organizes pre- and in-service training for educational personnel. While international in scope, the Institute focuses in particular on central and eastern Europe, the Baltic States and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Read more about IITE on the UNESCO website:

Africa's Internet registries lag
Africa lags behind other regions when it comes to the size of its Internet domain registrations, with the biggest registry being SA's .za, which has 400 000 registrations,
says communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.
Country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registries fast-track economic development and social participation of citizens, as they attract more consumers to use the Internet, she said.
Speaking at the African Top-Level Domains conference, in Sandton, this week, Matsepe-Casaburri noted globally, ccTLDs account for 58 million of the 160 million domain names registered to date.

African languages absent in cyberspace
The challenges facing Africa in relation to ICT policies are many but that has been offered to address the digital divide? Bamuturaki Musinguzi finds out
In a continent woefully short of almost its entire languages in the virtual World, 23-year-old Deogracious Kiganira Kijambu has a dream to access the Internet in his indigenous language of Lusoga to expand his e-commerce business.
So far, he has managed to build his e-commerce agro-business from a humble Shs200,000 ($117) in 2003 to Shs600,000 ($352) today amid all the obstacles involved with rural communication. He is optimistic
that if all his clients, agents and suppliers were able to
communicate in Lusoga, a language used in his area of operation in Mayuge District about 100 kilometres east of Kampala, then his business would blossom to greater heights.

Contact Name: Esther Nasikye

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