[huridocs-tech] Chakula no. 1, July 2002

CHAKULA NO. 1, JULY 2002

Newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications
(APC) Africa Internet Rights ICT Policy Monitor to mobilise African
Civil Society for ICT policy for development and social justice
http://africa.rights.apc.org

1. Editorial
2. Featured initiative: The Think Tank that Led the Way
3. Policy alerts: South African Electronic Communications and
Transactions Bill
4. World Summit on the Information Society Update: Prepcom, Geneva 2002
5. National ICT Policy Fact File: Tanzania
6. The APC Hafkin Prize
7. Glossary term: ICT

1. Editorial

Chakula is the Swahili word for 'food'. We have named our Africa Policy
Monitor newsletter Chakula because we believe that the information we
will share will be a form of nourishment for organizations working in
the field of ICTs for development in Africa.

Chakula is part of an APC project called the APC Africa ICT Policy
Monitor, the primary goal of which is to enable the consideration of
civil society needs in ICT policy development. The ultimate aim being
that governments and policy makers recognise that access to and the use
of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is a basic human
right.

The main knowledge outputs of the project include a website
(http://africa.rights.apc.org) and newsletter. The primary aim of the
newsletter is to build and support a network of organizations and
individuals in Africa that are engaged with ICT policy developments at a
local, regional and international level. The website will act as an ICT
policy clearinghouse for African civil society organizations to make use
of in advocating for equitable policy. The newsletter, thus, will become
the predominant locus of discussion.

The Association for Progressive Communications (http://www.apc.org) is
an international network of civil society organisations dedicated to
empowering and supporting groups and individuals through the strategic
use of information and communication technologies, especially
Internet-technologies. APC and its members pioneer practical and
relevant uses of ICTs for civil society, especially in developing
Countries. APC is an international facilitator of civil society's
engagement with ICTs and related concerns, in both policy and practice.

2. Featured initiative: The Think Tank that Led the Way

One muggy day in Dar es Salaam in early 2000, David Sawe decided that he
had had enough of talking. He and a few friends who were interested in
ICTs had been talking for a while about getting together to discuss
their ideas for how Tanzania could move forward in ICT development.

Having met and worked together on the Tanzania Y2K committee, they knew
that they made a good team and wanted to continue with other projects.

Wanting to give fruition to their ideas, they decided to get together
once a week and present a paper on how societies in transition were
making use of ICTs as a tool for development. The Thursday afternoon
meetings became a lively space for debate.

According to Sawe, a shift of focus occurred when 'We realized that
knowledge is power, but only if shared,' says Sawe.

This understanding led to a re-think of the group's objectives as they
planned to chart out a vision and mission, developing a statement of who
they were and what they needed to do. This led to birth of 'eThinkTank',
an active network of committed individuals from the private, civil
society and public service sectors in Tanzania as well as a number of
individuals around the world who offered advice and support.

A smaller working group then approached the UNDP for assistance and met
with the head of the Tanzanian Civil Service Department in early August
of 2001. Using a dynamic mailing list system, the group collaborated on
developing a draft ICT policy framework for Tanzania. The document was
handed over to government in November, edited and then launched in May
this year.

Parliament will be debating the bill which should come into effect later
this year.

The objectives of the policy are to provide a national framework that
will enable the sector to contribute towards achieving national
development goals by exploiting digital opportunities in a sustainable
way. It also calls for a comprehensive e-government strategy to be put
in place.

eThinkTankTz continues to do highly effective work around ICTs for
development in Tanzania. Who knows what they might achieve together with
their next project?

Interview with David Sawe, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 27 June 2002.

URL: www.eThinkTankTz.org

3. Policy alert: South African Electronic Communications and
Transactions Bill

What's all the fuss about?

The recent furor over the upcoming Electronic Communications and
Transactions Bill in South Africa has brought to light important
questions concerning the need to ensure the independence of Internet
administration bodies worldwide.

.za Domain name administration was initially conducted by volunteer,
Mike Lawrie. Since then, Lawrie has initiated a process to shift
responsibility for the domain to Namespace ZA formed by the local
Internet community for this task. Namespace is the chosen administrator
of .za, selected by Mike Lawrie, supported by ISPA and ISOC, and
established in consultation with DOC.

Chapter 10 of the ECT Bill proposes to set up a new .za Domain Name
Authority with board members effectively chosen by the Minister of
Communications. The new authority is being proposed in order to be more
representative and to enable all South Africans to have a say in South
African Internet administration, which is seen by many as an important
national asset.

Those who oppose the Bill, however, say that government involvement,
rather than control, would best serve the development of the Internet in
South Africa. They also say that the International Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, forbids the takeover of domain
administration by any body that is not sanctioned by the local Internet
community. ICANN will most probably take no action to intervene in the
conflict, says ITWeb journalist, Phillip de Wet.

The APC

The Association for Progressive Communications believes that both groups
need to get together and reach a compromise in order to create a truly
democratic, accountable and representative domain name authority in
South Africa.

We recognise that this has been the intention of Namespace ZA
and that they have endeavoured to involve the Department of
Communications in the process from its outset.

We trust that DOC has the best interests of the Internet in South
Africa at heart, and believe that they, and other sections of
government, should play an active role in Internet development and
administration.  However, we believe that locating control of Internet
domain name administration within government is not necessary,
and not advisable.  Government already has a huge burden in the
form of ensuring that ICT infrastructure in South Africa expands
equitably.  It should not have to take on control of tasks such as
domain name administration which can be easily and cheaply
managed by the Internet community, with active government
involvement, and within a clear framework of policy and regulation.

APC believes that the Authority that registers domains in South Africa
should be accountable, both to the South African Internet society, and
to the public at large; be representative of a broad range of interests;
be self-sufficient, being funded by licensing services rather than
government; have a Board of Directors which is elected by members of the
.za domain; and limit its responsibilities to the technical task of
domain administration, leaving policy making to government.

The APC believes that the interest of Internet users, including those
potential users that do not yet have access, can be served better by a
domain name management system which is independent from government and
from the Internet industry, but that works closely with both, and that
includes civil society representatives.

. For an interesting read on this issue, go to
http://africa.rights.apc.org/resources.shtml? And click on the article:
'Redelegation of Country Codes Top Level Domains'

. Visit www.africa.rights.apc.org (Policy resources page) and
www.ectbill.co.za to find out how you can add your voice to the debate!

4. World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Update: Civil society
group makes small but sure inroads into the WSIS process, Geneva,
Switzerland: 1 - 5 July

About 800 people, 150 of which belonged to civil society organizations,
attended the WSIS Prepcom in Geneva, Switzerland at the beginning of
this month.

The CRIS campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society
was the main mover for civil society, initiating discussions on how the
group could influence the proceedings of the formal plenary before the
Prepcom formally began on Monday, the 1st of July.

According to one of the African caucus representatives, and coordinator
of the APC Africa ICT Policy Monitor Project, Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna,
'We agreed that we wouldn't be able to contribute to the formal agenda
by participating in a separate plenary, so it was decided that the CRIS
grouping would gather every morning at 8am to discuss a strategy for
turning things around and ensuring that civil society could participate
in the WSIS process.'

The civil society plenary therefore arranged to make inputs to the
formal plenary and modified the CSO group's prepared programme to
address the issues that were most relevant for engaging and
participating in the main processes of the Prepcom. Subcommittees were
formed to address issues such as:

- Rules of procedure, accreditation and models of participation
- Content and themes
- Funding and supporting NGO participation in WSIS

Regional caucuses, including the Africa caucus consisting of about 15
people, were also formed. The Africa caucus met and worked tirelessly to
prepare inputs which were then fed into the overall civil society group.
The caucus also ensured that the Africa region was represented in all of
the subcommittees and also various working groups, as well as the formal
plenary running alongside the civil society activities.

At the end of the day, the results from the formal plenary were less
than what was hoped for by the civil society organizations present. Much
work still needs to be done and it is encouraging that may of the
caucuses that were active during the Prepcom are continuing with their
activities by sharing ideas and knowledge in order to achieve consensus.

Says Njuguna, 'We also really need to strengthen African participation
in the upcoming Prepcoms by being well prepared for making inputs. Let's
start talking about these issues and about how to move forward rather
than merely waiting for the next Prepcom to start talking again.'

The formation group of the Gender Caucus consists of representatives of
organizations, including the APC Africa Women's Programme, that
responded to an invitation by UNIFEM to begin this work in the African
Regional Preparatory Meeting in Bamako, May 25-30, 2002. The group is
still hard at work to ensure that gender dimensions are included in the
process of defining and creating a World Information Society that
contributes to sustainable development and human security.

The work of the WSIS-Gender Caucus will involve lobbying and advocacy at
national, sub-regional regional and global level; providing input into
WSIS Preparatory process; conducting policy research to support policy
and advocacy; drafting recommendations, resolutions etc as input to
WSIS; making presentations on analysis of gender and ICT issues;
resource mobilisation; organising meetings; and sharing information on
strategies, plans and preparations for WSIS and related events.

Contact: Gender Caucus

If you would like to know more about the work of APC WNSP and gender in
the WSIS process contact Karen Banks on email karenb@gn.apc.org

To register your interest in working with the WSIS Gender Caucus, go to
the following URL: http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/globalpartnership.html

Contact: General

Press statements and discussions regarding next steps are all available
on the website and mailing list archive specified below. Specific
reports from the various subcommittees and caucuses are also available
online or can be forwarded to those interested.

For those interested in joining in a specific discussion list related to
WSIS issues, go to the Afrocn mailing list at
http://globalcn.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/afrocn

Source of quotes: Report on the WSIS Prepcom by Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna,
11 July 2002.

Website: http://www.wsis.info

Mailing list for discussions related to events, news and communiques:
http://lists.cpsr.org/wsis-prep1/

Contact person: Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna (Njenga@apc.org)

5. National ICT Policy Fact File: Tanzania
Source: ITVision, June/July 2002, Issue 08

Policy: Draft document presented in May, should be debated in Parliament
in July, ready for implementation in September.

Objectives: To provide a national framework that will enable the sector
to contribute towards achieving national development goals by exploiting
digital opportunities in a sustainable way. The policy also calls for a
comprehensive e-government strategy to be put in place.

Key ratios:
Source: Country ICT Survey for Tanzania, November 2001, Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency
(http://www.tzonline.org/pdf/Tanzania%20ICT%20Survey.pdf)

Number of fixed line telecom operators: 2
Number of mobile line telecom operators: 5
Number of Internet Service Providers: 13
Population: 30 900 000 (1999)
Number of fixed lines: 165 000 (July 2000)
Number of fixed lines per 1000 inhabitants: 5.3
Percentage of digital switchboards: 95%
Number of mobile phone subscribers: 250 000
Number of mobile telephone subscribers per 1000 inhabitants: 8.1
Number of Internet Subscriptions: 10 000 - 15 000
Number of Internet Subscriptions in the Capital: 80% of the above
Number of Internet Subscriptions per 1000 inhabitants: 0.26 to 0.38
Number of Internet hosts: 816
Number of Internet hosts per 1000 inhabitants: 0.02
Number of Internet cafes: 1000+

Teledensity - fixed line: 0.6%
Teledensity - mobile: 0.0081%
ISPs: 16
Dial-up subscribers: 10 000 - 15 000 (+ Internet cafes)
Internet cafes: Tanzania has the most in sub-Sarahan Africa
National Internet Exchange Point: launch in June

A selection of civil society organizations involved in ICT for
development:

DigIT (Digital Information Technology in Africa): Publishes ITVision, an
ICT Magazine based on publishing issues relating to ICTs in Tanzania.
Email: itvision_tz@yahoo.com

ESRF (Economic and Social Research Foundation: The main objective of
ESRF is to build and strengthen human and institutional capabilities in
economic and social policy analysis and decision-making and to enhance
the understanding of policy options within the Government, public
sector, donor community and in the growing national non-governmental
sector mainly, but not only in Tanzania. http://www.esrftz.org/

eThinkTank: The vision of eThinkTank is to offer ICT leadership by
catalyzing policy changes and by supporting related developments aimed
at enabling Tanzanians to participate effectively in the modern
Internet-based global economy, benefiting their Nation and partners.
http://www.eThinkTankTz.org

ICTTanzania: ICTTanzania, a project of the International Institute for
Communication and Development is a portal that is meant to network the
numerous ICT initiatives across Tanzania. Its where anything that
concerns Information and Communication Technology in Tanzania is
discussed, traded, criticized or applauded and passed on to share with
others.  http://www.icttanzania.org/

TAMWA: The Tanzania Media Women Association is a professional activist
organisation established in 1987 with a vision "to use media to
sensitize society on gender issues, and to advocate and lobby for policy
and legal changes which favour the promotion of human rights of women
and children". Apart from the general role of contributing to the
development of the country through media advocacy, the main objective of
the association is to educate women and children on their rights.
http://www.sn.apc.org/sangonet/class99/famw/tamwa.htm

TANGO: The vision of TANGO is to create and maintain a strong and
vibrant society in which NGOs are taking an active and effective role in
promoting people-centered development. TANGO seeks to participate in
advancing development initiatives that are based on the values of
justice, peace, good governance, human rights, gender equality and
equity, and sustainable human development. http://www.tango.or.tz/

Tanzania Online: Tanzania Online is a gateway to information on
development issues in Tanzania. It is a UNDP/UN, Government of Tanzania
and Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) initiative to address
problems faced by Government officials, policy makers, private sector,
civil society, donor community, researchers and academicians accessing
information on development issues in Tanzania. Its objectives are to
provide an interactive facility for easy access to a comprehensive set
of documents about development in Tanzania, analytic work about
priorities in development and progress towards poverty reduction and
other development targets. http://www.tzonline.org

6. THE APC AFRICA HAFKIN COMMUNICATIONS PRIZE 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: September 15, 2002

THIS YEAR'S THEME:  People-Centred Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) Policy in Africa

THE PRIZE IS OPEN TO: civil society organisations, government
institutions, educational organisations, community-based groups,
networks, social movements and individuals anywhere in Africa

WE ARE LOOKING FOR ICT *POLICY* INITIATIVES THAT:
* are people-centred and mobilise participation
* raise awareness and build capacity
* are Africa-driven and that develop Africa
* have positive community impact at community level

THE PRIZE: USD$7,500.00 will be shared amongst up to three winning
initiatives.

MORE ABOUT THE APC AFRICA HAFKIN PRIZE:
http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin/2002.shtml or write to hafkin-
prize@apc.org

7. Glossary term: 'ICT'

Acronym for 'Information and Communication Technology', ICT replaced the
common term, 'IT' (Information Technology) in order to incorporate the
human component of communicating and interacting with one another as the
ultimate aim of new technologies.

'ICT's are the technologies and tools that people use to share,
distribute, gather information and to communicate with one another, one
on one, or in groups, through the use of computers and interconnected
computer networks.'


(Source: APC)

Another definition:

'ICTs are a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to
communicate, and to create, disseminate, store and manage information.
ICTs are not single technologies but combinations of hardware, software,
media and delivery systems. They encompass a great range of rapidly
evolving technologies such as: television and radio, phone lines with
operators, phone lines with automated touch-tone answering systems,
personal computers (PCs), networked PCs, and PCs with CD-ROMs, fax
machines, electronic benefits transfer, smart cards, credit cards,
Internet (e-mail, world wide web), kiosks, computer-mediated
conferencing and videoconferencing, commercial applications (such as
word processors, spreadsheets, simulations) and proprietary applications
(such as decision support models and management information systems).'

(Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA),  African
Development Forum 1999: Information and Communication Technologies for
Improved Governance in Africa)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chakula: Africa ICT Policy Monitor newsletter
Contact: heather@apc.org for questions, comments and contributions
Africa IR Policy Monitor Project
http://africa.rights.apc.org
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
http://www.apc.org




========== HURIDOCS-Tech listserv ==========
Send mail intended for the list to <huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.
Archives of the list can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/maillist.php
To subscribe to the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: subscribe huridocs-tech
To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: unsubscribe huridocs-tech
If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact <owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.