IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

This is just a sampling of the exciting age of technological innovation that is opening up in Africa. But developing information and communication technology (ICT) is posing a huge challenge -- in Nigeria, growth is so fast that networks can barely cope, and poor connectivity and congested lines are frequent problems. Across the continent, there is a huge backlog in the provision of broadband Internet.

At the event organized by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications, Ghana, National Communications Authority and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrisu called on African governments to pay attention to ICT infrastructure for economic development.

According to Bekele, thanks to social media, women now surpass men in the use of ICT and have firmly moved away from seeing technology as that of a man's domain.

The internet, she said is being utilized more by women, where women are increasing their rights, representation, and participation.

On Tuesday, up to 1000 delegates concluded the high-powered summit meant to set a faster tone to broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity for Africa. The Summit also sets out to meet the World Summit on the Information Society goals for capacity building, establishing an enabling environment for investment, and e-government services.

The Director made this observation at the end of a conference held on Thursday in Acrra. The conference had the theme: “International Development-African led Solutions”

Gosier said: “While the young show a lot of interest in ICT, with many of them being conversant with it, the elderly do not appear to be all that keen to learn ICT.”

The Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN body, Dr Hamadoun Toure, said ensuring adequate protection for the Eastern African Sub-Marine Cable System (EASSY), aimed at linking Africa, was key to its success.

Aber das sind nur Durchschnittszeiten in den Cybercafes zwischen Addis Abeba und Kinshasa. Im Büro verlangsamt sich der Datenverkehr des überteuerten Breitbandanschlusses plötzlich auf Dial-up-Niveau. Da hilft nur abwarten, es wird schon irgendwann wieder schneller gehen. Und auch wenn das Modem nach sekundenlangem nervösen Flackern den Geist aufgibt oder ein Stromausfall den frustrierten Nutzer stundenlang "offline" zwingt, ist das eben afrikanischer Internet-Alltag.

Schweizer Senioren haben jetzt die Möglichkeit, von Kindern Grundlagenwissen zur Bedienung von Computern und Telekommunikationsgeräten zu erlernen. Wie das Schweizer Projekt Compisternli zeigt, eignet sich die Zusammenarbeit von Jung und Alt bestens zur Überwindung der drohenden digitalen Kluft. Gestern, Donnerstag, fand der von der UNO 1990 ins Leben gerufene 'Tag der älteren Menschen' statt. Vor diesem Hintergrund haben Experten am dritten Tag des Ambient Assisted Living Forums 2009 die Frage, wie Generationen im Umgang mit Computer- und Informationstechnologie voneinander profitieren können, in den Mittelpunkt gerückt.

The Asia Pacific (Apac) region is the most digitally divided in the world, with more than two billion people not having access to digital technologies, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

So, what are tech companies and telcos doing to realise a digitally inclusive society in the region?

Vice President Jejomar Binay represented President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino in the 12th Asean Telecommunications and IT Ministers (TELMIN) meeting during November 15 and 16, noting that ASEAN is stronger when connected and in creating ICT jobs.

It would be easy to think that the notion of a "digital divide" is now outdated. Whose life isn't digital in some respect these days?

As shown in the recent Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) report, Australians' digital lives, 92% of Australians use the internet across a range of technological devices. This suggests only a small minority of Australians are not using the internet. Perhaps they can't due to lack of availability or they don't out of choice.

The report says that in an age where delivery of information, communication and services are becoming increasingly digital, those without access are experiencing new forms of disadvantage and being further socially and economically excluded.

United Nations (UN) World Summit Awards (WSA) board chairman and International Centre for New Media (ICNM) honorary president Peter Bruck said more should be done to bridge the digital divide.

"Today, 90 per cent of the content on the Internet is in English, but English is not the mother tongue of most of the people on this planet," he said.

He made the call while formally declaring open a two-day launching programme of Mission 2011, organised by Bangladesh Telecentre Network (BTN) at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.

A common demand among all of information and communications technology (ICT) stakeholders and investors in telecommunication sectors, is for a reduction of the government’s VAT on internet and transmission services.

Over the past fifteen years, Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), Internet Service Providers’ Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO) along with experts and educationalists, have expressed their demands on the issue but the policy makers have done nothing about it.

When information and communications technology (ICT) has made inroads into almost every sphere of human activity, governance cannot be an exception. However, unlike in the sphere of trade and commerce, the challenges of digital governance do not lie simply in storing and transmitting data generated from day-to-day office work digitally. The real challenge is bringing about changes in the age-old work culture of the humongous bureaucracy. This is because, with digitisation, information not only can pass instantly within the government offices, it also becomes accessible just with a keystroke by clients seeking service from the government. This is about openness, which comes up against the long-nurtured mindset of guardedness about official information. Even so, given the political will to effect the necessary changes is there, it will not be a big deal to get around the remaining inertia in the administrative-work culture. The good news is that the government has meanwhile made much headway in this direction. Thus the progress made over the past years in digital government has been duly recognised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) as it has ranked Bangladesh 119th among 193 nations. The ranking is the outcome of the surveys the UN body carries out every two years. The grading has been done in the shape of E-Governance Development Index (EGDI), which reflects the modest progress Bangladesh has made over the past years in e-governance through its initiatives to increase efficiency and capacity in the area of delivering public service.

The Asia Foundation which conducted the study on the business environment in Bangladesh found only 69 of the 3,800 firms surveyed had at least one female owner.

The study shows that women are about 40 percent less likely to use the internet than men, irrespective of income and education status.