Africa: ICT is Transforming the Continent Says Kagame Despite being a ‘late-comer’ in embracing the use of Information Communication Technology, Africa has embraced ICT tools that have put the continent on the right development path. “Being late-comers in embracing, and indeed starting from a low base in creating information and communication technology sectors, ICT is nonetheless fundamentally transforming our nations and continent,” Kagame told the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 2009 Summit which opened in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday.
Kagame said that since the October 2007 Connect Africa summit held in Kigali, investments in communications infrastructure across the continent have exceeded $ 8 billion.
“These billions of dollars in investment and returns in Africa are neither aid nor loans that lead to national debt traps,” Kagame told his audience. In the Rwandan context, Kagame said that the country has registered a number of developments in the telecoms sector since it hosted the Connect Africa Summit
Mobile Phones: When style dictates your choice
Mobile phones are increasingly becoming efficient and convenient tools for communication and at a greater rate reducing the over reliance on the
traditional PC. With the high end sets many can transact business, view,send or respond to e-mails, blog, send and receive pictures etc while on the
move.
The market is now awash with different phone makes, advertised every week,on the billboards, television, magazine and online advertisement, It is
sometimes difficult to find unbiased information from the commercial attacks. Buyers, however, find it difficult to make informed choices.
“There are buyers who don’t know what they want in their phone,” says Samsung phone co-ordinator, East and Central Africa Martin Njoroge. Top-notch brands such as Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola make handsets at regular intervals. The latest handsets on the shelf are blended
with style and high-end functionality.
Source: The East African Standard
A new phase in the use of ICTs for Development: Make comments
The ICT4D 2.0 Manifesto is a new online paper from the Centre for Development Informatics. It argues we are moving to a new phase in use of ICTs for development, and outlines the new technological priorities, new implementation and innovation models, and new worldviews that are emerging. The paper has an educators’ guide to facilitate its use in training. To add your own thoughts about emerging ICT4D trends and priorities, please click on the above link.
Amy Mahan Research Fellowship Program to Assess the Impact of Public Access to ICTs
Up to 12 Research Fellowships will be awarded, each providing a grant of up to 22,000 € and specialized guidance to enable emerging scholars to carry out their own new and original study examining the impact of public access to information and communication technologies (ICT).
Emerging developing country researchers from Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America and the Caribbean are invited to apply for the Fellowship. The deadline for applying is Midnight Eastern Standard Time, 31 December 2009. Applications may be submitted in English, French, Portuguese or Spanish.
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