Building the African information society with public and private sector cooperation: a report on the Africa Regional Meeting hosted by the Gobal Information Infrastructure Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

Abstract

In order to support the implementation of the African Information Society Initiative (AISl) and the thirty second session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the twenty-third meeting of the conference of ministers responsible for economic and social development and planning, the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC) and the ECA hosted an Africa Regional symposium entitled, meeting the challenges of national information and communications infrastructure development in Africa with public and private sector cooperation. The symposium theme supported the overall theme for the Conference of Ministers meeting which was Accelerating Trade and Investment in Africa. This conference adopted the African Information Society Initiative (AISI): An action framework to build Africa's information and communications infrastructure. The first step, in each country moving into the information age in Africa, is to develop a national vision and a national policy covering the necessary infrastructure for information and communications technology development. This means physical infrastructure, strategic information systems, applications that meet national priority needs and the enabling environment to make this development possible.