[kictanet] Key CTO Forum in Kenya to examine solutions to African rural connectivity]

[alice]

CTO Forum in Kenya to examine solutions to African rural connectivity

Africa’s search for real solutions that will lead to the early 
connection of the nearly 80% of the Continent that is still without 
telephone and internet access will take a giant leap forward when 
ministers, regulators, operating company executives and high-level 
officials from various development partner agencies converge in Nairobi 
for the Connecting Rural Communities Africa Forum 2007, and is preceded 
on the 20th August by a meeting of the Commonwealth Connects programme. 
The Forum is taking place at the Grand Regency hotel in Nairobi, Kenya 
from the 21st to the 24th August. This key event, organised by the 
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and hosted by the 
Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), will provide a forum for 
discussion of research findings, policy options, regulatory strategies, 
business models, financing and investment facilities, available 
technologies and public-private-people-partnerships that could enable 
improvement in African rural connectivity. The Conference proceedings 
are expected to contribute to a major study to be launched by the CTO 
on Africa’s Rural Connectivity within the context of the Commonwealth 
Connects programme, and recommendations from the Conference will go a 
long way to outline the agenda for subsequent meetings, workshops, 
programmes and projects in the sector.

The advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) in 
developing nations are facilitating socio-economic development, as well 
as the general progress and well-being of individuals and communities. 
ICT has been identified as playing a leading role in enabling countries 
to attain their Millennium Development Goals, such as the elimination of 
poverty, combating of serious disease, improving access to education and 
providing equal opportunities to women. This conference will discuss 
each of these issues and highlight the work of African governments, 
regulators and the private sector in providing universal access.

For ICTs to be sustainable and provide widespread ubiquitous access to 
all citizens, it is generally considered imperative that governments, 
regulators and the private sector work together to provide solutions and 
enhance connectivity. As part of its commitment to bridging the digital 
divide, the CTO has produced this knowledge-sharing event, designed to 
bring together the giants of the ICT sector, from both the public 
sector, private companies, the development and academic community and 
civil society, especially non-governmental and community-based 
organisations.

CTO’s CEO, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, states: “We are delighted to be able 
to assemble such a high faculty of speakers and delegates from all over 
Africa, and also from many other regions of the world. Participants in 
this Conference are those who have come to acknowledge that of all the 
challenges the global community faces in the ICT sector, that of 
connecting Africa’s rural populations must be the epi-centre. All who 
are committed to the use of ICTs to advance the development process 
should be interested in this fundamental challenge. We look forward to 
seeing and meeting with as many of Africa’s development and investment 
partners as possible.”

The CTO Conference will significantly contribute to the development of 
universal access to ICT in the African region. Based on the success of 
last year’s CTO event on Connecting Rural Communities in Abuja, Nigeria, 
the CTO has decided to increase the duration of this year’s forum to 
three days to incorporate a Focus day which will cover amongst other 
things, telemedicine and improving the accessibility of education. The 
Conference be preceded by a half-day workshop on the use of satellites 
to connect rural communities in the afternoon 21st August; a half-day 
meeting between the CTO and heads of Universal Service Funding agencies 
in Africa, on the morning of 21st August, and by another all-day meeting 
on 20th August of representatives of African Commonwealth countries 
whose Points of Contact will discuss various issues involved in the 
Commonwealth Connects programme, that has been mandated by Commonwealth 
Heads of State and Government.

According to an official of one of the several companies that has agreed 
to sponsor the event, ‘Connecting Rural Communities Africa’ is a timely 
opportunity for all stakeholders who are spearheading rural connectivity 
to network, discuss best practices for harnessing ICT to deliver 
socio-economic benefits, share strategies for connecting rural Africa 
and consider different solutions for bridging the digital divide through 
sustainable ICT connectivity”.

For more information and to register to attend, or for opportunities to 
support this event, contact:

Toby Davies
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation
Tel.: +44 870 777 7697
t.davies at cto.int 
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About the CTO - The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) 
is an international development partnership between Commonwealth and 
non-Commonwealth governments, business and civil society organisations. 
It provides the international community with effective means to help 
bridge the digital divide and achieve social and economic development, 
by delivering to developing countries unique knowledge-sharing 
programmes in the use of information and communication technologies 
(ICT) in the specific areas of telecommunications, IT, broadcasting and 
the Internet.