[governance] Second ICT Africa Summit coming...

[Pascal Bekono]

Press release issued by ICT Africa Summit

Cape Town, 24 Jun 2011



The second ICT Africa Summit will be held in Tshwane (formerly known
as Pretoria), South Africa, from 24–26 October 2011 at the CSIR
International Convention Centre.



After the successful 2010 summit in Cape Town, attended by
representatives from more than 12 African countries and international
guests, the second ICT Africa Summit will continue to focus on
regional integration through ICT.

Click here



The 2011 dialogue will be hosted under the theme: "Building a smarter
continent through ICT networks".



Last year's summit attracted more than 200 delegates, and was an
auspicious event, which provided a true platform for African ICT
stakeholders to discuss the real issues pertaining to the continent's
economic integration through ICT networks, a platform that revealed
the myriad business opportunities presented to Africa today.



Africa is undertaking a number of major ICT initiatives, many of which
are regional in nature. All these regional initiatives require
significant co-operation between countries to co-ordinate policy and
regulatory frameworks. As such, further regional integration is needed
to continue to strengthen various projects on the continent in ICT.
After the Connect Africa Conference, held in Kigali in 2007, a number
of goals were set for Africa to achieve regional integration in ICT.



"There has to be a platform on the continent that is strongly
committed to connecting the public and private sectors to synchronise
policy and regulatory frameworks with business opportunities sought
after by the private sector, and the ICT Africa Summit is the best
place for that," said Rocky Kabeya, Project Manager of the Summit.



Africa needs to work together now more than ever before to achieve
regional integration from both the back- and front-end infrastructure
support development, to lower costs in accessing broadband and
Internet connectivity. This continues to be the biggest challenge in
closing the gap on the digital divide, and will be one of the focus
areas of the event.



In last year's presentation: "Unlocking the broadband economy to
support national competitiveness and social inclusion", Peter
Masemola, Director at Cisco Systems South Africa, noted the importance
of collaboration between governments, businesses and citizens in order
to achieve socio-economic growth.



"As Africa, we need to plan more thoroughly among ourselves on how to
take advantage of these opportunities and natural resources on the
continent. The major challenge is our competitiveness, and we need to
begin to plan as one and work together as one. There are a few plans
afoot, but they are slow in coming to fruition. Collective planning is
key," he concluded.



Sergey Novikov, Head of the Global Research and Analysis Group EMEA at
Kaspersky Lab, also noted that when it comes to cyber security, "there
are no standards and global co-operation is problematic.



"The increasing number of connected devices on the continent requires
a closer collaboration between various stakeholders in order to ensure
maximum protection from cyber threats," he concluded.



Looking ahead, ICT Africa Summit is aiming to position itself as a
platform that gives all Africans the opportunity to come together to
share and exchange ideas, experience new technologies developed on the
continent and beyond. The 2011 event will be held concurrently with
the ICT Africa Expo and is expected to host more delegates. "Millions
of dollars have been invested into ICT infrastructure in the last 18
months on the continent, and this should continue to bridge the gap
between Africa and the rest of the world, and reduce access costs for
all," said Moses M Mwanjirah, the Event Director. With major
supporters such as MTN Business, Kaspersky Lab, CSIR, APC by
Schneider, ICDL, Skyrove, CellSmart, Woolworths, Frost and Sullivan
and many more, the event is set to be Africa's biggest ICT platform.



To register as a delegate or to attend as a partner or a sponsor
organisation, please contact rocky at ikapamedia.co.za or
moses at ikapamedia.co.za. For updates, follow us on twitter
@ictafricasummit or visit http://www.ictafricasummit.co.za.



Editorial contacts



ICT Africa Summit

Tendai Nyanguru

tendai at ikapamedia.co.za
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