8th EuroAfrica-ICT Concertation Meeting

June 23, 2010. Brussels, Belgium. The 8th EuroAfrica-ICT Concertation Meeting, was organised by the European Commission (DG INFSO, International Relations Unit) with the support of the EuroAfrica-ICT EU/FP7 funded project.
EuroAfrica-ICT concertation meetings have been launched in 2006 and are organised in Brussels on a regular basis with the aim of facilitating closer interaction and the development of synergies between the EuroAfrica-ICT initiative and other related initiatives addressing Euro-Africa S&T cooperation on ICT research.

The meeting was attended by 73 participants from 17 different countries in Europe and Africa, which was divided into three distinct parts: 1/. Cooperation perspectives on ICT with sub-Saharan Africa; 2/. Sharing visions and experiences; 3/. Specific workshop: identifying ICT policy and research priorities. Q&A discussions have taken place at the end of each main session contributing to exchanging visions, ideas and opinions. Also, several breaks throughout the day have been dedicated to develop networking among all participants.

Extracts:

• Nicolas Chevrollier (ICT4D Team Leader of TNO Information and Communication Technology – Netherlands) looked at the mobile services as a mean to produce better health in rural areas (Innovation for development).
• Mohamadou Arabani Saibou (Director, ESMT – Senegal) illustrated problems and expectations encountered by the African organisations when taking part in European projects: an interesting case study to understand why it is difficult for an African organisation to participate in European projects.
• Bernard Yvetot (Vice President, Strategy International Business, France Telecom / Orange – France) presented the France Telecom / Orange’s strategy in Africa and how it can contribute to the development of telecommunication services in the Country. More and more mobile services will be available in the coming years: the mobile banking has already transformed the way people transfer money (successful initiatives in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali, Madagascar).

Workshop: identifying ICT policy and research priorities

The last session of the day – chaired by Daan du Toit (Minister Counsellor S&T, South African Mission to the EU, DST – South Africa) – started with a presentation of Andrew Cherry (the Africa Unit, ACU and EuroAfrica-ICT project partner – United Kingdom). Through this specific workshop, Andy introduced to the audience the work undertaken so far by the EuroAfrica-ICT project in identifying Euro-Africa ICT policy and research priorities and the obtained preliminary results. Andrew Cherry presented the different steps of the methodology which will be used to identify the relevant research priorities which will lead to recommendations to be taken into consideration in facilitating the rapid emergence of Euro-African collaborative projects addressing identified ICT research areas (consultation, analysis, recommendations and validation).
Presentations, agenda and attendees list are available here.