[afnog] CATIA Newsletter: November 2005

[Brian Longwe]

Fast link to desired section content:	November 2005
Low-Cost VSAT | ISPAs and IXPs | ICT Policy Advocacy | Pro-Poor  
Broadcasting Policy | Policy and Regulatory Capacity Building |  
International ICT Decision-Making | Low Cost Computers and Open  
Source Software | Networking African Radio Stations | OKN
This quarterly newsletter from the Catalysing Access to ICTs in  
Africa (CATIA) programme aims to provide you with a brief update on  
the activities of the nine components of the CATIA programme. A more  
general overview of the CATIA programme and each component can be  
found at http://www.catia.ws


New Resources available
Report on the participation Africa and its Private Sector in WSIS (in  
French) by CIPACO, on the CIPACO website
“Spits and spurts - ICT advocacy and the media in Africa – the  
CATIA experience” available on the CATIA website
Model Guidelines on Satellite and Wireless Policy and Regulation in  
West Africa available through WATRA
FOSS Policy Toolkit available on bridges.org website
Report on the regulation of Convergence on CIPACO website in French  
and English
Report on “Trends in Universal Access and Service in Central and  
West Africa” in on CIPACO website for comment
Briefing document on ICANN available on CIPESA website
Ethiopia FOSS Network (EFOSSNet) website: www.efossnet.org

Upcoming Events
NetTel at Africa Executive Development Forum in Kigali
NetTel at Africa Policy makers workshop, 23-27 January, South Africa
Upcoming IXP workshops in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Burundi
Upcoming ISPA workshops in Rwanda, Angola, Namibia, Ivory Coast,  
Burkina Faso, Burundi
Training on the VSAT One Stop Shop for ARICEA/COMESA, February 6-8,  
Zambia

Low-Cost VSAT
Facilitating Low-Cost Satellite Internet across Africa
In Western Africa, the West Africa Telecommunications Regulator  
Association (WATRA) guidelines on Satellite and Wireless Technologies  
Policy and Regulation were finalized and adopted at the WATRA  
Ordinary General Meeting held in Accra in September and  
recommendations were made for their implementation. This  
implementation began with a three day training on information  
management and the One Stop Shop.

In the COMESA (Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa) region  
an initial awareness-raising workshop was held with ARICEA  
(Association of Regulators on ICTs in Central and Eastern Africa)  
members in July which resulted in recommendations and an action plan  
for taking forward the work of this component in the region.

In Southern Africa, the Telecommunications Regulators Association for  
Southern Africa (TRASA) the subcommittee has been actively pushing  
forward the implementation of the TRASA model guidelines on wireless  
and satellite technologies.


ISPAs and IXPs
Robust African Internet Backbone with Exchange Points (IXPs) at the  
Core and Strong ISP Associations
New IXPs have been or are being established in Botswana, Malawi,  
Zambia and Ghana. Over the last quarter this component has also  
delivered workshops to support the establishment of IXPs in Botswana,  
Malawi, Zambia, Benin and Ghana. Further workshops are scheduled for  
Angola, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Burundi.

ISPAs have been or are being registered in the following countries:  
Swaziland (SISPA), Botswana (BISPA), Uganda (UISPA), Malawi (MISPA),  
Zambia (ZISPA), Mozambique (ANAPI). Successful workshops to support  
the establishment and strengthening of ISPAs have been held in  
Botswana, Mozambique, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Benin and Swaziland.  
ISPA workshops are being planned for Rwanda, Angola, Namibia, Ivory  
Coast, Burkina Faso and Burundi.


ICT Policy Advocacy
Well-informed, Lively and Inclusive Policy Debates across Africa,  
Shaping the Local Policy Environment
In DRC, Alternatives has initiated a research process on the state of  
the network infrastructure in DRC and the advantages of a national  
backbone network.

In Kenya, the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) continues to grow  
and push policy reform in Kenya. New members include the ICT Media  
Network, Linuxchix Africa, ACEG, ISOC Kenya and KENIC. Lobbying  
activities by KICTANet have resulted in liberalization of VOIP in  
Kenya. KICTANet has started a consumer awareness campaign and is  
supporting a series of consumer awareness seminars in partnership  
with “Power Up with Information Technology 2005”, an initiative  
with the Kenya ICT Federation (KIF). They have also held a Public  
Forum Career Workshop, in partnership with LinuxChix Africa, for high  
school girls to encourage them to pursue careers in computing.

In Nigeria, lobbying and awareness raising on community radio policy  
continues. In Senegal the focus is on building the capacity of and  
reporting by media. In Ethiopia the focus is on Free and Open Source  
Software (FOSS) which is being driven forward by the newly  
established eFOSSNet. They have recently established a website:  
www.efossnet.org.


Pro-Poor Broadcasting Policy
Positive Policy Environments for Radio Broadcasting across Africa
This component is supporting dialogue on broadcasting policy in a  
number of countries. In Sierra Leone, a two day national media policy  
seminar was organized by the Independent Media Commission (IMC) with  
the support of Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA). This follows up on  
the five workshops organized successively on the broadcast media, the  
print media, the ICT and the advertisement sectors and was focused on  
contributing to the formulation of a national media policy. The  
seminar aimed at formulating a media policy document reflective of  
the concerns of the various sectors of the media as expressed during  
the previous workshops. This document will be presented to government.

In Burundi, the commission in charge of studying the recommendation  
on the tax advantages for the press sent its report to the  
Communication and Finance ministries. There is currently an  
information campaign on this issue with radio spots being broadcast  
through seven local stations.

In Mozambique, politicians, broadcasters and members of the public  
are participating in live radio discussions on the role of radio. In  
Nigeria, discussions are underway with local and regional partners to  
implement community radio pilot projects. In Burkina Faso, radio  
representatives from ten countries came together for a meeting on the  
roles of radio, in which they emphasized the importance of  
broadcasting in African languages.


Policy and Regulatory Capacity Building
An African-led Network of Institutions Activity Strengthening African  
Expertise Involved in Setting ICT Related Policy
Training and peering activities continue to be rolled out across  
Africa. Students being supported by NetTel at Africa have started the  
Masters programme being offered by universities across the continent.  
An executive development programme for high level staff from the  
regulators in TRASA was held and evaluated to enable improvements as  
this course rolls out.

Peering and exchange between regulators has recently taken place with  
Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda. This peering has enabled  
sharing of experiences on a range of topics such as price cap  
regulation and costing methodologies and spectrum management and the  
related regulatory principles. A high level workshop for Policy  
makers from 15 African countries is also being planned.


International ICT Decision-Making
Increased Capacity for African Developing Countries to Participate in  
International ICT Decision-making
CIPACO, focused on international ICT policy issues for Central and  
Western Africa, participated in Highway Africa and PrepCom3 of WSIS  
and supported an e-debate on African civil society participation in  
Prepcom 3 (organized by the African civil society network ACSIS, also  
in partnership with APC). The CIPACO coordinator participated in the  
drafting of proposals by the African civil society during Prepcom 3.  
Two experts were selected and received CIPACO grants to participate  
in international events. The first expert participated in WSIS  
Prepcom 3 and helped the African Civil society to contribute to WSIS  
documents (see contributions at http://www.itu.int/wsis/preparatory2/ 
pc3/index.html). The second expert participated in a workshop on  
norms in Tunis and the WSIS summit. The French version of the report  
on the regulation of convergence has also been published in print  
form and has been translated into English. The report on “Trends in  
Universal Access and Service in Central and West Africa” is online  
for comment.

In October, CIPACO participated in the training of a dozen of  
francophone journalists on ICT policy issues in Dakar which was  
organized by PIWA. CIPACO commissioned six of these journalists to  
assess the participation of the six countries in WSIS. In November,  
CIPACO participated in WSIS where it organized a number of activities  
and made a series of presentations (contact CIPACO for more  
information on these). This included the presentation of the  
provisional findings of its new report on the participation of the  
African private sector in WSIS. The report received support from the  
UN ECA and also gives some facts on the participation at the  
continental level in the summit and raises important issues regarding  
governance, notably in the private sector – it’s  
available             at http://www.cipaco.org/article.php3? 
id_article=400&lang=en. The second regional advisory committee  
meeting of CIPACO was held at the end of the summit in Tunis.

CIPESA has a new director, Vincent Waiswa Bagiire. CIPESA is focused  
on international ICT policy issues for Southern and Eastern Africa  
and has redeveloped its website of resources – visit www.cipesa.org.  
CIPESA has also launched it’s Media Awards targeted at journalists  
writing on international ICT policy issues. It has disseminated a  
briefing document and commentary series on ICANN. CIPESA has  
participated in a regional workshop on e-government and deliberations  
on WSIS in Uganda.

Low Cost Computers and Open Source Software
Support for Low Cost Computers and Open Source Software in Africa
The Policy Toolkit on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Policy  
Toolkit is now available. This is the final output of this component.

Networking African Radio Stations
Stronger Network of Community Radio, FM and Public Service Radio  
Stations across Africa, offering Pro-poor Radio programmes
The Lusaka hub is being updated to provide a basic production  
facility to trainees and Oneworld Radio Africa members. In addition,  
radio stations in DRC and Senegal received equipment during the last  
quarter to support their programming. This equipment is making a  
difference. Radio Gaynako in Senegal, for instance, received a solar  
panel. In the past the station could be on air at only at the rate of  
4 hours per day due to the high cost of the diesel generator. With  
the new panel the station has no time restrictions for broadcasting  
and is able to connect to internet without using the generator and  
save more money.

Delivery of training continues. Last quarter there were sixteen  
onsite trainings at radio stations and two at each of the hubs in  
Kampala and Dakar. In addition, in collaboration with Intermedia and  
the University of Dakar in Senegal, 30 personnel from community radio  
stations from francophone sub-African region are attending a two year  
course in community radio. There have also been a series of workshops  
and networking meetings.

A range of new content is available including:

AIDs radio has been expanded into AIDs channel which means that there  
is more room for CSOs to interact with broadcasters on the portal.  
The AIDs section on the French portal also has significantly more  
content.
The Food Security and Human Rights thematic networks have been  
completed.
The Gender thematic network is being developed.
Simbani did a live webcast for the G8 in partnership with African and  
UK community radio stations.
Training in Senegal has resulted in the addition of new content on  
the OneWorld French radio portal.
AMARC Africa is hosting the websites of six community radio stations  
from Senegal, Benin, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa.
OKN
A Thriving African-based Open Knowledge Network (OKN), Catalysing the  
Creation and Exchange of Local Content
OKN is currently active in six countries - Kenya, Senegal, Mali,  
Zimbabwe, Uganda and Mozambique.

In Senegal, the ENDA CyberPOP has seven Access Points active in Dakar  
with plans for expansion into each region of the country. Content is  
being produced in French and Wolof, with a major focus on community  
mobilization and health information. ENDA has received their first  
container of refurbished computers from ComputerAid and is starting  
to sell them. The ‘Wolof Portal’ is now up, bringing together a  
great variety of content in the main local language of Senegal  
www.pasteef.org (‘Pasteef’ means ‘commitment’ in Wolof).

In Kenya, the Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) continues to run  
the Hub which has 6 Access Points, mainly ‘focal points’ for  
agricultural extension work. They are developing content in English  
and Kiswahili, particularly on agriculture and livelihoods. They have  
plans to expand the number of Access Points. OKN also has a mobile  
telephony project in Kenya which uses SMS to offer a range of  
services – community news in the Kibera area of Nairobi; jobs news;  
health information; and women’s information. There are now around  
20,000 users.

In Zimbabwe, the hub partner is the Southern Alliance for Indigenous  
Resources (SAFIRE). There are five operating Access Points and plan  
to expand. Content is being developed in English, Shona and Ndebele,  
with a particular focusing on the use of traditional crops to improve  
livelihoods.

In Mali, two organizations make up the OKN hub: Jamana and AfriBone.  
There are seven Access Points based at Jamana radio stations  
producing content in French and soon also in Bamana. This project  
works closely with the UNESCO Community Multimedia Centre (CMC)  
programme in the country.

In Uganda, the OKN hub partner is SchoolNet Uganda. There are now  
five Access Points. This project will be linking closely with vibrant  
community radio sector in Uganda, with radio talk shows and  
information sharing.

The newest project is with the Centro de Informatics, Universidade  
Eduardo Mondlane (CIUEM) in Maputo. They will be training at least 4  
sites in content creation as part of the OKN.


CATIA contact details:
Web: www.catia.ws Email: info at catia.ws

Newsletter subscription:
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