Acacia CONFERENCE 2003

Networking Africa's Future

Lessons of empowerment from communities

The Acacia conference to be held in Southern Africa from 13-16 April 2003 will help to close the loop between research and practice. In every way, the conference aims to be an innovative learning experience and to stimulate fresh thinking amongst Acacia’s stakeholders from different regions of Africa. The event will be held in rural South Africa at the Kwa Maritane game lodge, and will feature a state-of-the-art Internet satellite system as the platform for a website covering the discussions. Three Pan African studies on the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in development are to be launched. Reflecting Acacia’s first four years of development research, the studies highlight experiences and insights gathered in the field by researchers seeking to understand how ICTs strengthen African communities, notably through experiments with telecentres, school networking and community development.

The conference will focus on key emerging themes. Over three days, presentations, discussions and debates will take place within  five plenary sessions,  entitled:

1.      ICTs, poverty and African communities

2.      ICTs and education in Africa: Schoolnets

3.      What road to universal access in Africa—beyond Telecentres?

4.      Policies for Africa in the Information Society

5.      Innovative ICTs for development

Top speakers will review global and local issues, while delegates have “seven minutes of fame” in plenary to describe what has actually been achieved on the ground to combat poverty and improve infrastructures for growth. The end objective of the conference is to stimulate thinking about ICTs in Africa and help recommend new avenues for research.

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