Dear all,

Here is the latest issue of the APC Africa ICT Policy Monitor e-updates

No. 11, a selection of the latest content added to the Africa ICT Policy Monitor

Website chosen by our editors.

Editor

APC Africa Policy Monitor Website

http://africa.rights.apc.org/

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News > Access

Community phones change the lives of farmers in Rwanda
11/07/2005 (East African Standard) -- Greedy middlemen used to pay dirt cheap prices for Rwandan farmer Cyprian Habumuremyi’s potatoes grown around this lush northern hilltop village. Then a kiosk owner bought a wireless phone and Habumuremyi’s fortunes changed. A quick call to his relatives in the capital Kigali and the 55-year-old knows what the middlemen are trying to hide — how much potatoes are selling for in urban areas.

Uganda Telcoms brings wireless Internet service
05/07/2005 (NewVision) -- Uganda Telecom (utl) has introduced a high-speed wireless Internet service. The service, the first of its kind in Uganda, enables clients easily access Internet using mobile devices like laptops and PDAs (hand-held devices), Miriam Wanjohi, the brand manager of utl, said in a statement recently. .

News > Telecommunications

Cut your overheads or perish, Tanzania Telecom told
07/07/2005 (IPP Media) -- The financial woes of Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) are likely to take a turn for the worse unless immediate steps are taken to cut down the firms overheads, Celtel International Operations Officer, Omar Issa, has said.

Ghanaian ISP Launches African Version of Skype
03/07/2005 (Ghanaweb) -- Ghanaian ISP NCS has just launched its own version of Skype called Clicktel (www.clicktel.biz) to its own customers. It offers free PC to PC telephone commmunication and global PSTN calling.

News > E-Governance

Rwanda: Govt to constitute new ICT body
06/07/2005 (The New Times) -- As part of its wide information technology reforms, the government is soon set to replace the Rwanda Information Technology Authority (RITA) with the National Information Communication Technology (NICT) as the overseer in the execution of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) plan from 2006 to 2010.

News > Freedom of Expression

New Website Documents Extensive Free Expression Violations
14/07/2005 (IFEX) -- International free expression groups today launched a new website detailing the state of free expression in Tunisia and challenged the government to end Internet blocking in the lead-up to the November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). International | Freedom of Expression

News> Internet Governance

Internet Governance report released
14/07/2005 (WGIG) -- The United Nations Secretary-General today transmitted the Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance to the President of the Preparatory Committee of the World Summit on the Information Society, Ambassador Janis Karklins, and the WSIS Secretary-General, Mr Yoshio Utsumi.

US Government To Retain Control of Internet
02/07/2005 (WashingtonPost) -- The U.S. government will indefinitely retain oversight of the main computers that control traffic on the Internet, ignoring calls by some countries to turn the function over to an international body, said Michael D. Gallagher, assistant secretary for communications and information at the Commerce Department.

News > Intellectual Property

WIPO Negotiators Tackle Proposals On Reform For Development
23/06/2005 (IP Watch) -- Negotiators at a 20-22 June meeting to discuss possible reform of the World Intellectual Property Organisation to better address developing country needs began on the second day tackling the details of various proposals put forth by member governments.

News > Laws and Regulation

Kenya: Operators alarmed by slow ICT reforms
11/07/2005 (East African Standard) -- Reforms progress in the fast growing telecommunications sub-sector could suffer a major setback if plans by the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) to outlaw VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) are implemented. Last week industry sources indicated that CCK Director-General John Waweru was planning to restrict the provision of the popular Internet telephone service that has drastically lowered international call rates to one provider – a stance he has maintained since his days at Telkom Kenya.

News > Media

Zambia: Media freedom under threat says watchdog
04/07/2005 (IRIN News) -- Zambian police are investigating charges of sedition and criminal libel against two journalists, raising concern that freedom of expression is under threat.

Kenya: Give us broadcast policy and Bill
04/07/2005 (L. Muthoni Wanyeki - The East African) -- The power of radio broadcasting in Africa has been noted time and time again. During the heydays of the African coup d'etat, the national broadcaster was always a primary target for whoever was trying to capture power, while independent broadcasters were often the subject of harassment by the state machinery.

News > National ICT Strategies

ICT policy has succeeded – says Rwanda Information Minister
08/07/2005 (The New Times) -- A lot has been realized in the social and economic spheres since Rwanda adopted the first phase of the ICT policy in 2001. This was disclosed by Information Minister Professor Laurent Nkusi, during the official opening of discussions on achievements, failures and the way forward for the ICT policy in the country. Rwanda | National ICT Strategies

News > Security and Privacy

South Africa: No more phone spam, says mobile industry
07/07/2005 (ITWeb) -- Leaders in the South African mobile services arena (the South African Wireless Application Service Providers Association - WASPA) have signed a mobile service code of conduct designed to protect consumers from phone spam and hidden charges.

News > Training and Education

Ethiopia: State Minister calls for enhancement of ICT utilization
04/07/2005 (ENA) -- The Ministry of Capacity Building has indicated the need to facilitate ways for the expansion of education in Information Communication to enhance utilization of the Information Communication Technology in Ethiopia.

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Laws and Regulation

Regulatory Reform as a Tool for Bridging the Digital Divide
29/06/2005 -- This paper examines one narrow aspect of the digital divide, the effects of regulatory reform on telecommunication networks. While regulatory reform is only one part of the global digital divide problem,it can play a key role in helping telecommunication markets bridge some of the gaps on their own. It is therefore imperative that policy makers consider regulatory reform as a necessary but not sufficient step towards overcoming the digital divide.

Time to end advance phone licence fees
27/06/2005 -- Growing competition in the telephone industry is characterised by targeted pricing of voice and data services. The level of competition depends upon the specific market conditions and the regulatory framework under which competition is introduced. The licensing framework should assist development of new and innovative services. However, regulatory and trade barriers in telecommunications constrain the diffusion of new services.

National ICT Strategies

Rwanda: Fundamental public policy issues of information management systems
05/07/2005 -- One of the organizing themes for an urban/regional information systems management policy is expressed by the following objectives statement: Enhancing or expanding the ways, purposes, and extent to which better policy information and technology yield better policy information, better policy advice, better policy decision-making and better policy decisions.

ICT Policy of Ethiopia
05/07/2005 -- Ethiopia has no coherent policy in place to support the growth of IT industry. The Government of Ethiopia has embarked on a major effort to put in place many of the building blocks required for developing a robust ICT sector in Ethiopia. Existing high import tariffs (40%) on computer and communications equipment make the widespread use of such systems rather expensive, particularly for smaller businesses and institutions.

Telecommunications

A Draft Discussion Paper On Liberia Telecommunications
07/07/2005 -- This document presents the Government of Liberia’s (GoL) policy for the telecommunications sector. It reflects the GoL’s vision for the evolution of the sector and describes the main policy steps towards achieving that vision. This Policy establishes the framework for the evolution of the Liberian telecommunications sector, and the transformation of Liberia toward an information-based economy and society. The policy is based upon the following objectives and vision for the major elements of this framework.

Privacy and Security

Wi-Fi Liability: Potential Legal Risks in Accessing and Operating Wireless Internet
05/07/2005 -- This paper explores several theories of liability involving both the accessing and operating of wireless Internet, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, wiretap laws, as well as trespass to chattels and other areas of common law. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of key policy considerations.

Internet Governance

US Government wants to keep Internet control
05/07/2005 -- The United States government has kicked off another round of heated discussions about Internet governance. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Gallagher on 30 June announced that his government clearly intends to keep the final control over the root zone file that lists all top-level domain entries. This move came a bit unexpected, and the experts are now discussing what the implications will be for the upcoming ICANN meeting and the release of the report of the WSIS Working Group on Internet Governance.

WSIS

Report of the African Civil Society Forum ; Abuja, Nigeria, July 1-4
15/07/2005 -- The African Civil Society on the Information Society held its Abuja Forum as a pre-event to the African Regional Preparatory Meeting (ARPM) of the World Telecommunications Development Committee (WTDC). This forum was made possible by the support of the people and the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through its Nigerian Communications Commission – NCC.

African Youth Commitment on the Information Society
07/07/2005 -- We, the African youth of Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, gathered at Limpopo from 27 – 28 June 2005, for the NEPAD Youth Conference on Information Society;

Africa's civil society and WSIS 2
11/07/2005 -- Earlier this month, stakeholders in Africa's civil society met in Abuja for three days to discuss inequities in the global information system and the proper role of civil society at both international and national levels. This meeting was one of several regional forums to prepare the ground for Africa's effective participation in the second World Summit on the Information Society, WSIS 2, holding in Tunis in November. The first summit, WSIS 1, held in Geneva in December 2003.

Resources

Campaigning for Freedom of Expression
A new IFEX campaigning handbook is a 120 page manual that provides a toolbox of tips, good practices case studies and resources for campaigning.

The African Community Radio Managers Handbook
Across Africa, more and more people are becoming excited about this thing called community radio. The problem has always been trying to explain it in a way that makes sense to people, wherever they live. The handbooks is meant to describe the process of community radio as precisely as possible.
Produced by: AMARC

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01/07/2005 - 30/07/2005, Uganda
Telecentre Sustainability in Developing Countries (Jul 1-30 2005)
This online conference is designed to provide a platform to address issues of rural access to and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) through telecentres, sustainability of these centres, and more. In addition, the conference shall document sustainability issues concerning; dimension, indicators, factors and constraints, approaches and models, and the role of networks in telecentre sustainability.

09/07/2005- 21/07/2005,, South Africa
Gender Research in Africa into Information and Communication Technologiess for Empowerment [GRACE]
The first capacity development workshop will be held in Durban, South Africa from 9-21 July 2005. An intensive two-week capacity building workshop aims to lay the foundation for the GRACE- members’ continued learning process. The workshop will comprise research as well as ICT capacity building elements which will be integrated into one coherent design. This project aims to explore the ways in which women in Africa use ICTs to empower themselves, the external, structural barriers as well as the internal factors which prevent them from using ICTs to their advantage, and the strategies they employ to overcome these impediments.

11/08/2005, Tanzania
World Youth Development and ICT (WYDI 2005) Conference (Aug 11-12 2005)
This conference is being organised with a theme of "Young People Creating Global Culture". The conference aims to bring together more than 250 young professionals, community leaders, non-governmental organisation (NGO) leaders, university students, information and communication technology (ICT) professionals, among others.

22/08/2005, South Africa
Building Partnerships for the Information Society (Aug 22-27 2005)
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology, with the support of the Cape Town City, the Centre for e-Innovation in the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the South African Department of Communications, will be organising and hosting the "Information Society" event.

24/08/2005, South Africa
Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN) 2005
The Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN) 2005 Conference is open to receive research, policy and praxis based papers around the major theme of ‘partnerships’.

31/08/2005, Botswana
World Information Technology Forum (Witfor) 2005
The Government of the Republic of Botswana, in collaboration with the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) will host the second World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR) in Gaborone from August 31 to September 2, 2005. WITFOR is a state-of-the-art, high-level international forum, aimed at ICT policy-makers and practitioners.

05/09/2005, Cameroon
CTO Forum 2005 - Yaounde, Cameroon, 5 - 6 September 2005
Organised in partnership with the Government of Cameroon, the CTO will host this unique gathering of opinion leaders and decision-makers in response to the growing need for access to ICT in emerging markets in the Commonwealth and beyond.

12/09/2005, South Africa
Highway Africa Conference 2005 'Reinforcing journalism in the information society'**
The Highway Africa 2005 will explore the above issues and seek to assist in overcoming the challenges. Highway Africa’s programme includes a unique mix of plenary and keynote presentations, panel discussions and hands-on workshops where delegates acquire practical skills and expertise.

19/09/2005, International
PrepCom-3 of the WSIS Tunis phase to take place in Geneva
The third meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom-3 of the Tunis phase) will take place in Palais des Nations, Geneva (Switzerland) from 19-30 September 2005.

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ABOUT APC

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 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-related
technologies. APC and its members in more than 30 countries pioneer
practical and relevant uses of ICTs for civil society. APC is an
international facilitator of civil society's engagement with ICTs and
related concerns, in both policy and practice.
APC: http://www.apc.org.

APC and ICT Policy Advocacy in Africa

APC's Communications and Information Policy Programme aims to contribute
to more enabling ICT policy environments through promoting inclusive
policy processes. In Africa APC is doing this through the Africa ICT
Policy Monitor project which aims to enable civil society organisations
to engage in ICT policy development to promote an information society
based on social justice and human rights.

APC's Africa ICT Policy Monitor: http://africa.rights.apc.org

The APC Africa ICT Policy Monitor is supported by HIVOS and the
International Research Development Centre (IDRC).

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[APC Africa-ICT-Policy Monitor] e-Updates No.11